Youth With A Future

Gallery

Here are a few galleries of notable events YWAF have attended or organised in recent years. Click each event to see all the pictures.

Thank you letter from YMCA Mendip

A letter from YMCA Mendip's CEO, Karen Deverell, thanking YWAF for its work.

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Christmas 2017 Ice Skating

Four young people enjoying the Christmas 2017 YMCA ice skating trip.

Bags for Life at Glastonbury

Special thanks to the brilliant team of 36 people who gave out Bags for Life at Glastonbury Festival this year - the photo shows Hannah, Cat, Bethan and Adam. Glastonbury Festival is one of our main sources of income each year and we are grateful for the opportunity to do this work.

Every penny counts!

One of the main areas of support that YWAF provides, working alongside Mendip YMCA, is by giving a moving-in grant of up to £80 to each young person moving into rooms in the YMCA supported housing schemes or their own flats to buy essentials such as cooking equipment, bedding and crockery. These items are their own to take with them when they move into more permanent accommodation. The photo shows a young person who has benefited from the YWAF ‘Every Penny Counts’ collection where our supporters save their pennies in a jam jar and then donate them towards the moving-in grants. This year’s pennies have raised a staggering £251!

Crazy Golf and fish and chips

Street Foyer residents took a trip to play Crazy Golf, followed by fish and chips.

Grantee letters

Letters of appreciation received from our grantees.

Case Studies

Young people supported financially by YWAF.

Dan (aged 17)

Dan had been living in the Glastonbury area and became homeless, due to family difficulties back in the summer. He, like many other young homeless people, started ‘sofa surfing’ – staying at various friend’s houses and sleeping on their floor or sofa. He lost his place at college through low attendance due to his homelessness – he was too far behind with course work to catch-up. After a spell in Mendip YMCA’s emergency accommodation, he was able to move into in their supported housing project in Shepton Mallet. He moved in with only his clothing and very few possessions.

YWAF provided a moving-in grant for him of £100 which bought him a set cooking utensils and saucepans, bedding, crockery, a toaster and a kettle, cleaning materials and other sundries and some food. This grant came at a time when he had no income until his benefits had come through. These items are now his own, so that when he is able to move into independent accommodation, he will take them with him to start up his new life.

Sophie (aged 20)

Sophie had a very difficult teenage period during which she fell in with a challenging group of young people, getting into drugs and alcohol and anti-social behaviour. A year ago she realised that she was on the wrong path and tried to turn her life around, moving from another part of Somerset to start a new life in Frome.

Sophie then spent the next year sofa-surfing in an exhausting round of different friends' houses and has recently moved into a flat where she is supported by Mendip YMCA staff. She lost a lot of weight during this time and her self-esteem became very low. YWAF gave her a grant to purchase some new clothes to help boost her confidence and help her feel better about herself. When she moved into her flat, she received a YWAF moving-in grant which bought some essentials and some food. She is now so much happier and settled and has started a new job and looking positively to the future.

Danielle

Danielle was concerned that she was going to have to move out of her gran’s house, due to a damp and dark green bedroom with no carpets. Danielle’s mental health and physical health was really suffering from the affects of this and she felt she could not stay there for much longer. After discussion with her YMCA support worker, she felt able to talk to her gran about this and they arranged for the damp patch to be sorted out, Danielle bought some new lighter coloured paint and she and her friends painted her room and YWAF bought her a new cream carpet for the floor.

"I am so grateful for the funding, especially realised today. I've got a cold and fibromyalgia flare up so it is so nice to be able to lie in bed with a relaxed and calming and neutral (lol) bedroom!”

The photo shows the room how it is now and she is so happy with it!