Project: Breaking the Cycle2
Grant: £5,000
Fund: Rectory Homes
Startup is a charity that focuses on supporting female ex-offenders and those at risk of offending. This project – Breaking the Cycle2 – has incorporate learnings from initial work carried out in Oxfordshire and taken the delivery across the county border into Buckinghamshire.
The project included two days of coaching and training for each young woman with an emphasis on life skills and employability.
What difference has this grant made?
- Improved life skills: each of the young women supported have been able to define their individual goals, explore key skills in the workplace, develop action plans and work out how these can be directed towards the job market.
- Employability Support: each of the young women supported have been able to develop a CV, learn and practise interview techniques and how to best present in an interview.
- Self-employment: each of the young women supported will be better informed about becoming self-employed. Already over 10 have started to develop their business idea and move towards or reach their goals.
- Peer mentoring: each of the young women supported will have enhanced self-esteem, increased confidence and feel more motivated to find employment or become self-employed. They should feel empowered to make better choices that will help them take control of their lives.
Since the delivery of the Breaking the Cycle2 (until the end of March 2019), 104 young women living in Aylesbury Vale have been supported.
So far, 17 have reached their goals around employment, further education and self-employment. This is slightly below target (25 by year end) although not unexpected as the first part of the programme focuses on initial assessments, goal setting, coaching and training with the latter part of the year focusing on supporting the beneficiaries to reach their goals.
In addition, six peer mentor led workshops were delivered in Aylesbury. These form part of the peer mentoring programme which each of the young women have had access to. So far they have involved 20 peer mentors and local volunteers.
To find out more about Startup click here to visit their website.
