Members Update - July 2023
We wanted to give you a quick update on the progress we've made with Young Medway since out inauguration as a charitably incorporated organisation (CIO). Our founding trustees included representatives from three previous youth centre charities, and our first action was to fill the vacancies on our board.
Our current trustee board consists of:
- Ben Cooper (Chair)
- Mark Jones (Secretary)
- Peter Martin (Treasurer)
- Karen Self
- Esther Horner-Aird
- Cllr Elizabeth Turpin
- Cllr Adam Price
Right from the start, we've been working closely with the Young People's Foundation Trust (YPFT), an umbrella organisation that supports local youth partnerships (LYPs) in London and across the UK. This partnership has been invaluable during the early stages of our charity, and we have formalised our membership with them.
As a YPF, Young Medway’s goal is to collaborate with organisations across Medway to improve communication and coordination in the local youth sector.
We secured funding from the Kent Community Foundation, which is helping to cover support costs and the development of our membership offer. Some of these funds were used to commission an artist from Nucleus Arts to design our awesome logo, with input from young people.
As well as that, we are receiving fantastic support from Navis Accountancy, a local business that generously provided us with 14 free days of training and support on bookkeeping using QuickBooks.
In September 2022, with the support of YPFT, we successfully accessed a grant from the Department of Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) to further our development. This allowed us to hire a consultant who worked with us from October 2022 to March 2023.
Our achievements since then:
- Finalised and signed off on key policies and procedures.
- Conducted three consultation events with local youth organisations.
- Launched our membership offer.
- Worked on developing Young Medway's Theory of Change with support from YPFT and the Centre for Youth Impact.
- Collaborated with YPFT and its partners on branding and marketing.
- Commissioned a professional website that will provide access to training, information, as well as a forum and a directory for local youthwork professionals.
- Created a fundraising strategy.
- Submitted a funding bid to Children in Need for three years of core costs.
Moving forward, here are our next steps:
- Expand our membership by reaching out to local youth organisations.
- Organise regular networking opportunities for our members.
- Recruit two young trustees and provide youth volunteering opportunities within our organisation.
- Collaborate with YPFT on other opportunities that benefit Medway.
- Build relationships with local businesses and private sector partners to establish a corporate giving facility. We aim to create a platform for private sector funders to contribute to a local youth fund, which can then be distributed to member organisations through a straightforward bidding process.
If our fund raising is successful, we intend to recruit a CEO and Administrator, each working three days per week. This will alleviate pressure on Medway Council Youth Service, which will transition to a strategic partner.
We'll keep you updated on our progress. Thank you all for your continued support and dedication to Young Medway.
