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Charity Number - 1136735
Yellow Submarine Impact Report 2013
Young People’s Services: September 2012 to August 2013
“lifesaver” 18% gain 6337 hours “my daughter is being stimulated & socialising after years of isolation”
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1. Overview
In the 2012/13 academic year Yellow Submarine delivered
6337 hours of support for young people with learning
disabilities in Oxfordshire. This included 33 Explore trips, 10
Windrush Activity Days, 8 Early Intervention Hub (EIH)
sessions, 5 Oxford Activity days, 6 Residential Breaks, a
weekly social club and a work experience programme.
What impact?
This report attempts to evaluate the effect that all these
activities have had on the young people and families we
support. In September 2013 we measured 8 outcomes where it is hoped our services would have impact. We
decided that parents were best placed to judge and report detailed changes in soft outcomes. The information we
collected from the young people (via a touchscreen device) helped us to understand our ‘counterfactual’ impact –
what they would have done if Yellow Submarine’s services hadn’t been available. Young people were also given
digital cameras to create their own photo and video diaries of our activities. Finally we asked parents a qualitative
question: what the ‘most significant change’ was they had seen in their child over the last year which could be partly
attributed to Yellow Submarine.
Outcome measurement
We reviewed existing measurement tools such as Triangle’s ‘Outcome Stars’ and NPC’s ‘Happiness Index’, but felt
that neither were fit for purpose for young people with learning disabilities. As such we developed our own tool and
online survey. We asked parents to score (between 1 and 10) how ‘satisfied’ they were with 8 areas of their child’s
life, such as ‘confidence’ , ‘life skills’ and ‘access to age appropriate activities’. We also asked parents to score what
their satisfaction has been with these same 8 areas in the previous academic year (2011/12).
With this data, we have been able to assess which areas of their child’s life parents are most and least satisfied with.
This helps us to shape future services to target areas of dissatisfaction. The data also importantly allows us to
measure the progress of change for the child and where impact can be seen. All the results can be presented as an
‘outcome spider’ for an individual child. Averages can be taken to produce an ‘outcome spider’ for the whole group,
or for specific sub groups such as 11-15 year olds and 16-19 year olds. This allows us to measure both overall
progress across our population, and if there are any differences in changes between age groups or other sub factors.
Data sample
We sent our survey (paper and online) to 54 parents whose children had used our services in 2012/13. 32 completed
this, so a very significant sample – 59%. Of the respondents 18 had children aged 11-15 and 14 had children aged 16-
19. We collected feedback from the young people using touchscreen devices at 4 different events we ran in August
2013. 26 young people responded – 48% of our total population - so again a significant group.
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2. “Outcome spider” for the young people we support
Parents were asked to score (out of 10) how satisfied they were with 8 areas of their child’s life this this year
(2012/13) and how satisfied they had been with the same areas last year (2011/12). As expected results varied
significantly between individual children but common themes can clearly be identified when the data is collated. The
table below shows the average of all the feedback received from 32 families.
2011/12 2012/13 Change % Change
Social contact 6.1 7.7 1.6 26%
Life skills 4.3 5.4 1.1 26%
Social skills 5.2 6.3 1.1 21%
Access to Activities 6.4 7.7 1.3 20%
Sport/Exercise 5.2 6.2 1 19%
Confidence 5.6 6.5 0.9 16%
Self esteem 6.1 6.9 0.8 13%
Behaviour 7 7.6 0.6 9%
Overall 5.74 6.79 1.05 18%
Key Findings
Collectively, across all 8 areas, parents reported an 18% improvement in satisfaction
Parents have been most satisfied with their child’s access to age appropriate activities [7.7] and their social
contact with other children [7.7]
They are least satisfied with their child’s life skills [5.4] and the amount of sport/exercise they do [6.2]
The biggest progress reported by parents in their children was:
o the amount of access to age appropriate activities [1.6 point gain; 26%]
o the amount of social contact they had with other children [1.3 point gain; 20%]
The least progress reported by parents in their children was:
o in the child’s self esteem [0.8 point gain; 13%] but their satisfaction level here was reasonable [6.9]
o in the child’s behaviour [0.6 point gain; 9%] but their satisfaction level here was high [7.6]
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3. “Outcome spider” showing change by age group
Within the total results, we broke down scores by age group to see if there was any variation in trends between 11
and 15 year olds (typically still at school) and 16 to 19 year olds (typically at college).
Average Results for 11 - 15 year olds Average results for 16 - 19 year olds
2011/12 2012/13 Change 2011/12 2012/13 Change
Access to Activities 6.4 7.4 1 6.4 8 1.6
Behaviour 6.8 7.4 0.6 7.2 7.9 0.7
Confidence 6.3 7.2 0.9 4.6 5.7 1.1
Like skills 4.5 5.6 1.1 4.1 5.1 1
Self esteem 6.4 7.2 0.8 5.6 6.5 0.9
Social contact 6.3 7.7 1.4 5.9 7.6 1.7
Social skills 5.3 6.2 0.9 5 6.4 1.4
Sport/Exercise 5.8 6.4 0.6 4.4 5.9 1.5
Average 5.98 6.89 0.91 5.40 6.64 1.24
Outcome spider charting “change” by age groups (11-15 and 16-19 year olds)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
Access to Activities
Social contact
Sport/Exercise
Confidence
Social skills
Like skills
Behaviour
Self esteem
11 to 15
16 to 19
Key Findings
Collectively, across all 8 outcome areas, parents of 16-19 year olds reported a 23% positive change [1.21
points] compared to parents of 11-15 year olds who reported a 15% positive change [0.91 points]
Parents of 11-15 year olds gave a higher overall satisfaction score [6.89] than parents of 16-18 yr olds [6.64]
The greatest changes reported by parents of 16-19 year olds are:
o Increased social skills [1.7 point change]
o Increased access to age appropriate gactivities [1.6 point change]
The greatest changes have been reported by parents of 11-15 year olds are:
o Increased social contact [1.4 point change]
o Increased life skills [1.1 point change] but from a low start score [4.5 points]
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4. Why Yellow Submarine is important to the young people we support
25 out of 26 young people we asked (using a touchscreen questionnaire) said they liked Yellow Submarine – 1 said
he wasn’t sure. We asked why, with a range of options to select, and collected this feedback:
5. Counterfactual impact
What young people told us they did most in the school holidays when not with Yellow Submarine.
6. Impact on families/carers
Parents were asked to tell us why they found Yellow Submarine helpful to them from a checklist. The graph below
shows what % (n=32) ticked each option. Parents could add their own reason - these are listed below the chart.
Enables me to go places
I get to see my friends
I learn new things
It's something to look forward to
I get to play sport
22
20
13
13
11
0 2 4 6 8 10
Board Games
Play outside
Go places
Meet friends
Do sport
Watch TV
Computer
Be with my family
I can get other jobs done
I'm able to spend more time with othermembers of the family
It allows me to have a break to recharge mybatteries
I can relax because I'm confident my child is insafe hands
75%
78%
84%
97%
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Makes me so happy to think my daughter is being stimulated & socialising after years of isolation.
I can go to work, keep earning, and stop myself from going bonkers!
I feel happy that my daughter is doing activities that are suitable for her as I can't always do this with a toddler as well.
J spends time away from us too, which is just as important as the above.
I can work and not worry S is enjoying his summer holidays
I can work and J has a nice time
It is building my daughters confidence.
Not only is J in safe hands, he is happy and eager to go to Yellow Submarine
It gives me an increased sense of security to know that my child's ability to live a more independent , engaged and fulfilled adult life will be realised. Thank you Yellow Submarine. Disabled people like my son have much to give to the world. Yellow Submarine enables and empowers young people with disabilities. Yes they can!
7. Most Significant Change
We asked parents to describe “the most significant change” they’d seen in their child over the last 12 months which
might in part be related to accessing Yellow Submarine's services?
“Before attending Yellow Submarine M did not look forward to school holidays as she would be bored most of the
time, as her siblings would all be at work. But since joining Yellow Submarine she looks forward to each trip and has
had a great summer because of them.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Mabel Prichard School]
“Lot more confident in going to do things with Yellow Submarine.......”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Abingdon & Witney College]
“An overall increase in the level of self confidence. A year ago when she walked into a group environment she would
have been reluctant to leave me - a year later she can’t wait to get me out of the door! She is more socially able and
initiates conversations with her peers because she is getting to hang out with them in a social environment that feels
comfortable and safe and on a regular basis.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Abingdon & Witney College]
“More willing to give things a go however still gets nervous and feels he can't join in but then always does and
always has positive experiences. He is definitely increasing in confidence even if it is slowly.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Abingdon & Witney College]
“We all have experienced from Yellow Submarine in our lives.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. No Limits Programme]
“R has increased in confidence, independence and life skills a lot this year, mostly due to having moved to
Woodeaton Manor School. The skills he's learned at school this year enabled him to get a lot more out of the Yellow
Submarine trips/holiday that he's done this summer, and the trip to Blackpool certainly built on and increased all of
those skills. He was extremely positive about going, and didn't seem to have any reservation about anything - and as
far as I can see he joined in fully with all of the activities. He's not done all that many Yellow Sub activities yet, but
I'm really hopeful that he'll do more and more, and become part of your regular 'gang'. I feel that your activities are
more 'teenage' and better suited to his age group than other types of activities that he does in the holidays - he's
grown out of some of the groups that he's been going to since he was six or so.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Woodeaton Manor]
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“C had no out of school support/help/activities last year or for virtually 16 years!! Finding Yellow Submarine has
been a god send for C & myself. It's a lovely group of youngsters facing similar difficulties to my daughter & great
staff that create a laid back, fun, supportive, inspiring atmosphere that the youngsters love & need at this stage in
their lives. It's the first thing that is working for my daughter & giving me much needed respite too. Just need lots
more of it please. My daughter is starting to develop more confidence in being away from me for the 1st time & that
is the result of this group so thanks & much appreciation.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Ormerod Marlborough School Woodstock]
“Yellow Submarine is very good - the staff are excellent. S loves to go to Yellow Submarine!”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Mabel Prichard school]
“We have no grandparental support so never get a break. Accessing different activities with similar/appropriate
peers is very important for J.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. The Isis Academy, Oxford]
“J is able to meet and socialise with children and adults outside of his school which widens his opportunities for
developing social skills. He continues to have fun and is relaxed and happy.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. The Isis Academy, Oxford]
“Yellow Submarine has been such a blessing in disguise for S this year. They have been very supportive with the
transport which is really difficult to arrange when you are working full time. Yellow Submarine have helped S to build
on his independence, confidence and self-esteem through all the trips he has attended. The volunteers and staff are
really friendly and always willing to help with any issues. Thank you yellow submarine see you next year!!!!”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Mabel Prichard School]
“Actually enjoys going to see his friends.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Abingdon & Witney College]
“C's self-esteem and willingness to 'have a go' have increased over the year, he loves attending the Yellow Sub
activities and the staff have really helped him gain confidence in doing things away from family events.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Springfield School]
“T is more willing to attend activities provided by Yellow Submarine regardless of which of his peer group are
present and is happy to make new friends and new social interactions. He is more confident to try out new
ventures, and his confidence in his own ability has increased, from being with more 'like-minded' people, e.g. going
on hair-raising rides at Alton Towers over Easter whilst on residential, something he would not have contemplated
before! He is more willing to share his day's experiences with us, and keen to be more independent. “
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Abingdon & Witney College]
“M only began attending Yellow Submarine in the summer holidays but I can already tell it will help him make new
friends. I think he will become more confident and independent with Yellow Submarine’s guidance.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Kingfisher School]
“Made new friends. Without Yellow Submarine she wouldn't be able to socialise with people of her own age and
ability.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Wood Green School]
“J has become more independent and wants to do "different" activities and meet new people.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. John Watson School]
“My son's confidence in himself has grown immensely. He has enjoyed going to the social club on a Monday night.
This has brought him a circle of other young people whom he sees as his friends. He has had very few friends before.
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The social club has given my son an independent social life which he never had before. My son is in mobile phone
contact with one of the young people he has met. Having someone other than a parent, family member or paid carer
to chat to on the phone has meant a lot to my son. There are other significant changes - my son's confidence to
travel into town has improved immensely because the social club means he now has a reason to go into town. My
son's work skills has also improved significantly due to the internship he has been able to access.
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. The Isis Academy, Oxford]
“He enjoys chilling with his peers and with increased access has been less frustrated with mum and dad.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Abingdon & Witney College]
“He has become more confident in unfamiliar situations and being with people he does not know.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Mabel Prichard School]
“Wanting independence and looking forward to taking part in activities.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Springfield School]
“D has progressed over the last year in all areas. But Yellow Submarine has certainly helped his social and
independence skills as well as encouraging to develop his communication too. “
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Fitzwaryn]
“More confidence when in group situations and enjoys meeting and hanging out with other children of similar
abilities.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Springfield School]
“E really enjoys her sessions with Yellow Submarine - she now wants to be with children her own age and Yellow
Submarine enables this thank you!”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Springfield School]
“D has been attending The Yellow Submarine Activity club for the last two years. He has enjoyed all the trips that
have been provided by the charity. He has meet some wonderful paid workers and volunteers who have been in
contact with him. D has been on a interim work experience in the Yellow Submarine cafe in Park End Street, Oxford.
His confidence has grown with people in and around the cafe. It has given D the opportunity to progress in his
personal/social skills. His self-esteem has grown to a level that he could look for a part-time job in the future.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Abingdon & Witney College]
“She has become a lot more positive about going out with other young people, she really enjoys going to places and
doesn't worry as much as she used to.”
[Parent of a 16-19 year old. Abingdon & Witney College]
“Although J’s self-esteem and confidence is low, Yellow Submarine have provided a service that is helping J to grow
in this area. As J is in an achievement centre within a main stream school, he is not always able to do what the able
bodied children can do. This has meant his self-esteem and confidence has not really grown, but through using the
services of Yellow Submarine during the holidays we have noticed a growth in J's confidence.”
[Parent of an 11-15 year old. Wood Green - Achievement centre]
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8. Parents suggestions as to how Yellow Submarine might develop
More of the same you are doing.............
Would love more organised outings on a Saturday if at all possible through out the year and not just during the holidays.
More YS activities for the over 18's in the West Oxfordshire area including trips to Disney. I would far prefer to go with her peers then with her family.
I would like to see more evenings doing 'normal stuff' going to the cinema snooker club or just enjoying going to the pub and playing darts/ aunt Sally normal social interactions that are almost non existent now.
Give the older ones chance to be sociable -always doing activities can be exhausting both mentally and physically being asked to 'join in' and do, sometimes its nice to just sit and enjoy (just like we do when we have a drink with our friends).
More of the same.
I wonder how many parents are like me, and need resources like Yellow Submarine as a vital service which enables them to be able to keep working? There doesn't seem to be much acceptance of this amongst the holiday clubs/activities that R participates in, which all seem to class themselves as 'respite'. I struggle to fit a working day around the hours which most offer. From his point of view, I would love him not only to access experiences in a safe environment, but also to make an actual friend with someone of his own age, which is what he struggles with the most. I wondered if there was any way that older and more experienced Yellow Subbers might be able to mentor younger ones - perhaps with a mixed group occasionally where older participants are given a bit of responsibility for the younger ones (with plenty of help from enablers, of course). Perhaps this is a mad idea, I don't know. Autistic people find others of their own age the most difficult of all to relate to, they find it easier with adults and younger children, maybe making a friend who is a little older might be easier.
An overnight trip would be a good start for YP that have never been away from home (Like my daughter).
Just lots more trips out & activities would be wonderful
After school/College & Weekend activities
Transportation always a help. We live in Kidlington Oxford so transport to & from Witney or other venues would be wonderful & gives parents more time
You are doing a great job!
S needs to do more physical activities
A day out at say Drayton Manor, Thorpe Park?
More work experience support. The new cafe is a brilliant venture.
More activities plus grouped to ability so similar kids go together eg teen group.
More links with Witney College for after college hours to help independence eg shopping.
More funding to do more of what you do. In my opinion you are the best provider in Oxfordshire!
J enjoys the leisure centre activities so more of this type of activity.
Activity short breaks.
I know S would feel confident enough to go on a short break. Would be lovely for him to go camping out door activities to try as well :-) Thank you
More of the same
The range of activities is great, C has enjoyed the Hub this summer as he said it’s more grown-up than the leisure centre days. We left it a bit late booking so unfortunately didn't get a place on the day trips this year, but the trips are always well organised and exciting! Just more of the same please, C always has a great time :)
The service has been a life saver for me. However, college has an extra 5-6 weeks holiday per year, and whilst this summer holiday, additional sessions were provided, T will finish college a week earlier than other schools at Christmas, at a time which is the busiest for most mums! The activities are varied and well-planned, and supervision is at an appropriate level, but extra-curricular activities are very much in short supply, especially once at College - could we have Yellow Submarine during term time, please! Nothing too fancy or expensive, a trip to the cinema or to the gym for a work out, even a drink with friends would be welcome, anything which makes them feel like mainstream teenagers would be appreciated. Thank you for
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all your support, T has really benefited from all the activities, and it has contributed to his growing independence and confidence.
Carry on doing all the activities they do now but more frequently. M would have happily attended many more sessions if they had been available.
Weekend trips. A weekend club would be good. Continue with the internships. Offer opportunities for parents of young people accessing YS services to engage with each other. Tap into the parents' skills. Offer services to young people beyond the 19 age group, the need is there! Have other clubs on other evenings, weekends too. Engage parents/older siblings to help which would free up staff time.
More activity days in holiday periods
No, more of same please!
More of the same please plus some evening activities where they can socialise.
E really enjoyed going to the cinema last year to see Mamma Mia. I think offering work experience in the Oxford Cafe is fantastic -if this were also possible in Witney it would be marvellous.
Weekend residentials to share special time with his peers.
The nightclub visit was very successful and more of these evenings would be great. Some after college (late afternoon) activities would be good too, as most 18 year olds go out after college but our children haven't got that option unless it has been arranged for them.
I think the only additional service I would like to see is possibly an after school club.
Need to go more new places.
Just keep going! I am particularly interested in the possibility of work experience etc for C as that is the next step in his development, but the holidays clubs are vital!
9. Young People’s suggestions for next year
Where would you most like to go on a day trip?
What type of residential holiday would you like to go on?
legoland
cadbury's world
10 pin bowling
cinema
the theatre
oxford united
19
18
16
12
7
5
0 5 10 15 20
adventure
seaside
theme park
