Annual Review2015-2016

“The training was really inspiring, any worries I had prior to the training were completely alleviated, I am excited to be part of the project!”New Mentor

“If nothing ever changed there would be no butterflies” is a quote that sums up this year for

MAPS. Change for me is a dichotomy; it can be challenging, time consuming and sometimes sad but it can also be refreshing, exciting, inspiring and can breathe new life into something.

I am sure you have all heard of the phrase a “change is as good as a rest”. Well I don’t know about rest, but change has been a constant companion for MAPS this year. Not least with us saying goodbye to three fantastic team members, some temporary goodbyes, others permanent. Connie, Ruth and Andrew, all of whom are enjoying new chapters in their lives, but have played a significant role in all that MAPS has achieved this year, and will be sorely missed.

However, with every goodbye there is a ‘Hello’ and I am delighted to introduce new members of the MAPS family, Sarah, George and Tina who bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience alike. We are very excited to see what ‘butterflies’ they bring to the project in the coming year.

Although looking at the future is exciting, it’s also important to look at what we have achieved. This year has seen VCS introduce its new strategic plan. We have introduced a new volunteering opportunity for advocates, we have delivered 7 rounds of training, 2 team members abseiled the ArcelorMittal Orbit for charity, and our very own Teresa won a Sutton Community Award for “Improving Lives”. It’s amazing what you can cram into 12 short months!

However none of this would be possible without our amazing funders! MAPS would like to say a huge thank you to London Borough of Sutton (LBS), BBC Children In Need, GamesAid and Big Lottery Reaching Communities for their support over the past year. Their backing has enabled us to work with a record breaking number of children and young people and change lives for the better.

Y u Are Here

Helen GasparelliMAPS Manager

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T eNu bersYear on year the number of young people that MAPS support continues to rise. 2015-2016 saw us connect with over 350 children and young people across all 18 wards of the borough, which is a new MAPS record!

This year we have delivered 3 rounds of peer mentor training and introduced the programme to 1 new school. We have implemented a mentoring stream dedicated to young carers, welcomed 3 new team members into the MAPS family, 1 team member became an award winner, 3 team members qualified as Emotional, Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA) and as if that wasn’t enough, we have provided a number of exciting and enriching events for our young people and volunteers which include Panto, West End theatre productions, Forest School, Go Karting and Air Hop. We have had a mentor social, facilitated 2 twilight training events, ran two youth consultations and implemented a new strategic plan.

Whilst all this makes good reading, what is more important is who we have supported and what the impact has been. Using the 40 Developmental

Assets Framework MAPS can evidence significant improvements across all measurable outcomes. In particular MAPS can evidence a 35% increase in ‘Empowerment’ and ‘Positive Identity’, demonstrating that young people feel in control of the things that happen to them, have improved confidence and self-esteem and are feeling positive about their future.

The evidence: Mentoring works!

Disability

Here are the stats!

200

250

100

150

50

0

228

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Dis

abili

ty

24

Lear

ning

15

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23

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6

Oth

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Vis

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Having built on our pilot year, MAPS is now the borough provider of advocacy support for children that are Looked After, Care Leavers or are subject to Child Protection Plans, ensuring that their voices are heard in meetings where decisions are made about them. With a 92% take up of service, the need for an advocate is clear.

Impact has been positive across all measurable outcomes for most young people. Results show a significant increase in ‘Decision Making & Understanding’ and ‘Participation’. This demonstrates that children and young people accessing the service feel that they are an important part of the advocacy process and that they can fully participate if they wish, allowing their views to be heard. Importantly, they are able to make their own decisions and understand the outcomes and impact on their future, and also know how to make a complaint if they so wish.

Ethnicity

Advocacy RADA

SuPPORT

EMPOwERMENT

BOuNDARIES & ExPECTATIONS

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10

0

POSITIVE IDENTITY

SOCIAL COMPETENCIES

POSITIVE VALuES

COMMITMENT TO LEARNING

CONSTRuCTIVE uSE Of TIME

Mentoring RADAStartDestination

KEY:

StartDestination

KEY:

white BritishNot StatedAny Asian background Black AfricanMixed white black CaribbeanMixed white black AfricanAny other mixed backgroundAny other ethic groupAny other white backgroundMixed white black AsianBlack CaribbeanPakistaniChinesewhite Irish

%

CHILDS VOICE HEARD

CONfLICT RESOLuTION POSITIVE VIEw Of fuTuRE

PARTICIPATION DECISION MAKING& uNDERSTANDING

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Demographics

The MAPS population is diverse with over 22% of children and young people supported representing BME groups which are comparable to the borough BME index of 23.1% (2013).

32% of the young people that MAPS support have a diagnosed mental health condition and/or have disclosed self-harm/suicidal thoughts, a 10% increase compared to the previous year. In addition, 41% of these young people have a parent with poor mental health, figures which demonstrate the importance of mental health support for both children and adults in our local community.

30% of the young people that were supported by MAPS during 2015-2016 have a recognised disability. Year on year we see learning, mental health and social communication as the most common disabilities. 34% of these young people have a diagnosis of dyslexia or ADHD followed by 29% presenting with ASD or Asperger’s. Recognising this enables MAPS to respond with additional training to equip and upskill our volunteers and staff enabling us to better tailor support for our young people.

For the past 3 years almost half of all MAPS referrals for Mentoring have been for young people living in four distinct wards, which are statistically the most

deprived (St Helier, Wandle Valley, The Wrythe, and Beddington South). This year, however, we see a marked shift with majority of referrals coming from Sutton Central, The Wrythe, Sutton North and Wallington South, with the remaining referral locations being spread across the remaining borough wards. This suggests a change in needs of young people and families living in these areas.

0 5 10 15 20 25

Out of BoroughSutton Central

The wrytheSutton North

wallington Southwandle Valley

St. HelierBeddington South

worcester ParkBelmont

wallington NorthBeddington North

Sutton SouthCheam

StonecotCarshalton Central

NonsuchCarshalton South & Clockhouse

Sutton west

Location

As a project that exists to serve its local community, the London Borough of Sutton, MAPS takes a keen interest in the changing needs of its residents. with an ever growing population, that has a diversity of needs, it is essential for MAPS to understand gaps in provision and tailor services to support young people as they need to be supported.

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Meet the Tea

Di GilmoreMAPS coordinator

Claire SweetenhamMAPS administrator

Louise StoreyMAPS coordinator

Sarah HamiltonMAPS coordinator

Helen GasparelliMAPS Manager

Teresa MartucciMAPS coordinator

This is us...

Georgina Millings MAPS coordinator

Tina SaidMAPS coordinator

Bernie RoweMAPS Deputy Manager

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Case Studies

Advocacy

when Angela was referred to MAPS for child protection advocacy support, she was a 15 year old with a history of self-harm, and was living in a very difficult situation which involved domestic violence and controlling behaviour by her mum’s partner. The situation very quickly escalated and she was terrified to go home and be left in the house alone with him.

The very first time we met her she told us her situation and how afraid she was, explaining that she couldn’t see a future.

She desperately wanted to move away and start a new life with just her mum. She didn’t want to be afraid any more.

Angela’s advocate represented her wishes and concerns at conference. Thankfully, by being brave enough to tell us her story, MAPS were able to support her along with other professionals to get the help that both she and her mum needed.

It has been a long road but everyone involved was pleased to say there was a positive outcome. Both Angela and her mum were moved to a place of safety and now have their own home and have started a new life.

She remained in school and took her GCSE’s. Despite how difficult this last year has been for her, she now sees a future for herself.

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Elsie has special educational needs and has always suffered with low self-esteem and lacked confidence. She was vulnerable and easily influenced into making bad choices.

When MAPS met her she told us how she wanted help to improve her friendships and stop getting into trouble because of her decisions. Although she recognised she made bad choices, she didn’t have the strategies to change.

Elsie and her mentor got on straight away. Everyday topics were discussed at first which soon developed into more serious subjects, which included trouble at school, problems with friends, and how she felt about herself. The challenges that Elsie was facing every day left her feeling overwhelmed. Her weekly mentoring sessions were a beacon of hope, helping her to focus and share her concerns.

Through mentoring, Elsie learnt how to resolve conflict positively and remove herself from negative situations. With support from her

mentor she joined a youth group where she made new, positive friendships.

Both her school and her family have acknowledged how her behaviour has changed for the better and importantly Elsie recognises this for herself.

This case study is about Elsie, a 14 year old girl who had a history of poor behaviour at school which included lying and arguing with students and staff. Her behaviour was spiralling out of control.

Mentoring

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The future2015 saw many changes for MAPS, not least with the implementation of its new strategic plan which is now firmly embedded. The focus is Inspiring Community!

VCS and MAPS want to inspire community as much as our amazing community inspires us. To do this our strategic objectives in MAPS are focused on 4 key areas:

1. Leading by exampleMAPS will lead by example to enable the Inspiring Community, represented by our mentors, to shine. Devoting development across mentoring and advocacy to grow the programme and address unmet needs through the power of volunteering.

3. Digital inclusionMAPS will inspire community through digital inclusion, by helping those that want to connect with us to do so digitally and with ease.

4. Sustainable DeliveryMAPS will be an inspired community igniting sustainable delivery by diversifying funding routes, developing purposeful social enterprise, sharing support & infrastructure functions and committing to fundraising.

2. Empowering othersMAPS will be an Inspiring Community, empowering others through passionate policy response and campaigning, ensuring excellence in volunteer management and delivering transformative training and resources. MAPS will highlight the difference we makes through an assets based model of accountability.

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“I didn’t expect to make it through school, but I did & I got good grades. I wouldn’t have made it without you, thank you”

Male aged 16

“Having a mentor has changed my life dramatically in a fantastic way. I have never met someone so caring and fun”female aged 16 “It has helped my

son to become more focused and happy”

Parent of Mentee

“I learnt that my opinion is worth listening to!” Male aged 14

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45

vo

lunte

ers recruited & traine

d

7 rounds of volunteer

training delivered

23%of young people supportedhave a diagnosed disability

32%self-harm/diagnosed mental health condition

359 young people connected with mentoring & advocacy

gifted by volunteers8,330hours

This year...

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143MAPS volunteers

Our funders:

Mentees live in different wards within the Borough18

@mapsmentoring sent 621 tweets

472 twitter

followers

£108,290social value

generated by volunteers

21-74 years Age range of mentors

225 MAPS facebook friends

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It is said, that “The only constant is change”… Change has been a running theme of this year’s MAPS Annual Review.

Chris ParkerVCS CEOIt is said, that “The only constant is change”… Change has been a

running theme of this year’s MAPS Annual Review. The ability to change and adapt is a key attribute for MAPS’ success in the midst of a difficult financial climate for voluntary organisations across the UK. Charities who are unable to change, will likely stumble, or get left behind, as the landscape rapidly evolves. For MAPS, embracing change has been a protective factor in providing consistency for young people in Sutton who need a mentor. Despite the seemingly paradoxical nature of ‘change and consistency’, in my experience, the two go hand in hand. Handled well, change in one area can ensure consistency in another, whereas change for change’s sake can upset the balance and create inconsistency… I want to congratulate Helen and her team for making the right changes over this past year, and ensuring that the changes to the ever growing MAPS chrysalis is consistently producing outstanding mentoring relationships.

Guiding a large project like MAPS through a sea of change takes exceptional leadership, a devoted team, and a community committed to making a difference. I am continually inspired by the brilliant MAPS staff, our committed volunteers and fantastic young people and simply want to say a genuine, heartfelt thank you for every second you have invested into inspiring community. The case studies inspire me, the impact of mentoring inspires me, and I truly believe that MAPS will continue to inspire volunteers and young people no matter what challenges and changes it will face in the future.

Here at the Volunteer Centre Sutton we are proud parents of MAPS. We’re proud that through volunteering, MAPS reduces isolation, builds foundations for positive self-esteem, nurtures leadership, tackles substance misuse, promotes healthy relationships, embraces education and stands up to bullying. Mentoring inspires young people to be the change they want to see in their world.

But my final words in this ‘Final Word’ must simply be Thank you!

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“I am much more confident, in my future and in myself”Male aged 15

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31 West Street, Sutton, SM1 1SJT: 020 8661 5900 E: MAPS@vcsutton.org.uk

/MAPSmentoring @MAPSmentoringwww.vcsutton.org.ukwww.mapsmentoring.co.ukVolunteer Centre Sutton is the operational name of Sutton Borough Volunteer BureauRegistered Charity No. 1048978 A company limited by guarantee in England and Wales No. 3088644