free@last annual report 2010

ANNUAL REPORTTHE STORY 2010

VISION

To improve the lives of the children and young people of Nechells. 

MISSION

free@last is committed to providing opportunities, activities, mentoring and support for

children and young people in Nechells, and to further their interests by working with

their families, other agencies and relevant professionals.

VALUES

Giving opportunities to all young people in Nechells without distinction.

AIMS

To engage children and young people in a range of developmental and 

progressive activities which provide opportunities for 

success and to broaden their horizons.

To support children and young people through life’s challenges and difficulties.

To support their families to provide the best possible environment

for their children to grow, develop and flourish.

To take a multi-agency approach to improving the 

lives of children and young people.

OBJECTIVES

Aim 1: To engage children and young people in a range of developmental andprogressive activities which provide opportunities for success and to broaden their horizons.

Objectives

To run weekly youth club activities.

To run weekly workshops for children to enjoy with their dads/father figures.

To organise school holiday programmes.

To encourage young people to be involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and to help

them to complete each section of the award.

To organise a range of adventure activity programmes including rock climbing, kayak/canoeing,

mountain biking and archery.

To run a sports programme that includes football, netball, table tennis and cricket.

Aim 2: To support children and young people through life’s challenges and difficulties.

Objectives

To identify the issues young people face and how to overcome these issues.   

To provide support, advice, guidance and signposting where appropriate for children and young

people who are facing specific difficulties and challenges like, grief, homelessness, drugs, alcohol,

domestic violence, bullying, education, careers, relationships, sexual health etc.

 To provide appropriate staff and volunteers to mentor and support children in need.

To develop specific programmes (with�other�agencies�where�appropriate) that address issues that

are not being met by other statutory or third sector organisations in Nechells.

To use the Common Assessment Framework for children who require multi-agency support.

To meet the needs of the local schools who have children at risk of 

exclusion, through alternative education programme.

Aim 3: T o support children and young peoples’ families to provide the bestpossible environment for their children to grow, develop and flourish.

Objectives

To provide one to one and group support for mums and dads to enable and equip them to support

their children through their growth and development from birth to adulthood. 

To provide support services for parents whose relationships are 

struggling/broken and having a negative impact on their children.

To provide support, advice, guidance and signposting where appropriate for parents and other

adults who are facing specific difficulties and challenges like, debt, unemployment, 

grief, homelessness, drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, etc.

To provide positive opportunities for parents and children to spend quality time together and

develop their learning, relationships and positive memories together.

Aim 4: To take a multi-agency approach to improving the lives of children and young people.

Objectives

To promote our services to both local people and other organisations.

To network effectively with other agencies and professionals working in the area in order to

rationalise service provision, avoid duplication and work in partnership.

To attend multi-agency meetings and arrange 1 to 1 sessions with 

other professionals to explain our services.

  To produce effective resources that can be given to local people, 

professionals and funders to promote our services.

with a bang as we began by increasing our team of staff,

volunteers and trustees – all of whom are proving to be great assets to free@last and Freax (our

adventurous�activity�company). We now have a dedicated team of people to focus on all 3 areas

of work – children & young people, families and advice & guidance; led by 3 excellent staff

leaders. We also have a dedicated team developing Freax and have had our best year to date,

working with over a 1000 children, young people and adults providing a wide variety of

adventurous activities, team building and residential programmes.

In our time of growth we have also agreed the purchase of a large 7000 sq ft building in Nechells,

which will significantly enable us to be more effective at providing the right support and

opportunities that our community needs. We hope to be in this new building by the

next annual report!

In this difficult time of economic decline God continues to bless free@last, confirming that this

truly is a Godly vision and not a man made d  ream. We thank God for His blessings and direction

and we thank you for all your support and encouragement as you believe in our work and join in

our journey. Thank you.

JOHN STREET (Director)

The start of our second decade has taken off

For many of you reading this column, I suspect like me that you can scarcely believe that another

year has come and gone by so quickly. Firstly I would like to pay tribute to all the employees,

volunteers, trustees and general supporters of the charity who have as always worked and

contributed tremendously to the furtherance of the organisation, and more importantly it's aims

and achievements within the community as outlined in this our annual report. Much like a child at

birth although you may outwardly recognize the child's distinct identity it is still unclear as to what

will become of the child in terms of its character. Over the past year I sense that like a new born

we have continued to develop our distinct identity within the community, but also we have taken

another step in exhibiting the charities character and passion to assist the individuals within the

Nechells area, via the activities delivered by our employees, whom I consider to be nothing short of

National Treasures. With that said given the current climate of uncertainty within our society, I

believe that the work of the charity will be of even more vital importance during the coming

year. As I have come to realise, over the last year the charity is not in the business of just delivering

a ‘hand�out’, but delivering a ‘hand�up’ to those within the community who wish to be free@last.

Thank you again for your continued support in 2010. Now lets get on with 2011.

WINSTON SERGENT (Chairman)

Children & Young People

The heart and soul of free@last is focused on the children and young people in Nechells,

with the aim of broadening their horizons through a plethora of opportunities and

unconditional support to help them through the difficulties they face on a daily basis. We

are a needs led organisation that builds positive, meaningful relationships with the young

people, and through these relationships we are able to constantly adapt and develop our

work to reflect the desires and dreams of those we are here to serve.

A wide cross section of young people attend our clubs and activities, providing a good

representation of the hugely diverse community in which we work. This year, with the

appointment of our first Senior Youth Worker and an increase in the youth team (the

strongest�and�most�effective�that�we�have�ever�had) we have begun the journey with many

new youngsters whom have been met in the schools, out on the street and in other

centres. It is a delight to have such a good, committed team of professionals

giving so much for these children’s lives.

At free@last we believe it is important for young people to have stability and routine,

and we always aim to provide regularly, weekly activities as well as ad-hoc opportunities

when they are presented to us. We have a clear structure and well defined aims in order

for us to be more effective in helping children and young people develop better 

social and emotional skills.  

The core activity is our Tuesday night youth clubs which we run at the NechellsRegeneration Centre. The first one runs from 4:30 to 6pm which is for children in

primary school years 1 to 6; and the Senior club runs from 6:30 to 8:30pm, which is foryoung people in secondary school years 7 to 11. 

This is a traditional style youth club with activities like table tennis, computer games anda tuck shop – but also provides the opportunities for the youth team to build relationships and challenge behaviour!

As part of the Nechells Extended Services we deliver another youth club at The Pod,which is held every Thursday from 4.30pm to 6.30pm for primary school children inyears 4 to 6. Again this is a similar style club where the children get involved with boardgames, game consoles, and art and craft activities, but we also provide opportunities formore reflection and discussion, particularly through the use of weekly art based diary’s.This year the children have been able to enjoy trips out to see the Birmingham SymphonyOrchestra, ten pin bowling and to Sutton Park

Our youth activities owe a lot to the efforts of our Youth Team and to our volunteers who

come along regularly to support and encourage the children and young people. It is

fantastic that 2 of our youth workers have recently qualified for their NVQ Level 2 and 3

in Youth work. Well done Moz and Dawn.

Mentoring

During the year we have revitalised our mentoring project and provide support,

encouragement, challenge and direction to young people who are finding life at home

and school a bit more difficult than their friends. It gives us the opportunity to work with

some young people that we already have a relationship with as we liaise with them, their

families and the school teachers. Outcomes have included helping them to make more

regular and consistent positive choices about their behaviour and relationships, which is

already impacting positively on their future. 

Duke of E dinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) programme is a real adventure from beginning toend. The Duke of Edinburgh award is a challenging programme of activities which helps

young people to learn new skills, help others, experience adventure and gain a great sense of achievement.

Many of the opportunities offered by free@last for the scheme involve the young people in new and challenging activities which help

them to push the boundaries of their comfort zone.

We have had 7 young people this year work towards their bronze award. It has been achallenging year for these young people, some of them taking exams at school and

others training hard to play for their school football team, so to see these young peopleon a regular basis has shown us the degree of commitment and self motivation they havewhen doing something that they value and enjoy. We successfully completed a practiceexpedition with all 7 young people navigating around Cannock Chase and making it back

in time to cook dinner.  

The young people have been continuing to look after the community garden at St Josephs church as part of their voluntary service section and they have improved their

archery skills for their physical section.

In 2011 we are hoping to offer a wide range of volunteering opportunities to help theyoung people complete their service section of the award. We will be calling on local

business and voluntary groups to offer young people the chance to gain new skills and grow in confidence.

NEET (Not�in�Education�Employment�or�Training)

free@last has created its ‘Money for Nothing’ programme aimed at aged 16-25’s helping

and supporting young people in Nechells getting back into education training and

employment through both formal and informal education. The Money for Nothing NEET

programme has now been running for 6 months and as of 25th May 2010 free@last has

become a recognised National Open College Network (NOCN) training centre which has

enabled the charity to develop and run NOCN courses for young people.

Counselling,�mentoring,�budgeting�advice�and�one�to�one�support�are�available�throughout�the

entire�course�to�ensure�that�the�young�people�have�the�best�possible�chance�to�achieve�meaningful

long�term�employment�education�and�training�in�a�career�that�they�have�chosen�for�themselves.

After wide publicity the first course started on June 2nd 2010,

since this time we have been able to work closely with 12 young people,

helping them to achieve their aspirations andcontinue to progress along their chosen

career path.Most of these young people are now either in employment or education, and those that

aren’t all have clear ideas on how they wish to progress in their future career goals.

Wales Residential

In August we took 20, 11 -16 year olds from the youth group on a week long holiday to Tresaith,

Cardigan Bay. We were blessed with good weather and the young people really enjoyed

themselves. The accommodation was situated five minutes away from the beach and so the young

people were able to make the most of the sun, sea and sand, going sea canoeing, building sand

castles or simply enjoying the sun. During the week the young people experienced ‘Oakwood’,

Wales’s only theme park and whilst there they braved the parks top rides and everyone had a great

day. We also took them to a laser shoot and paintballing day, a chance to get their own back on all

the adults who’d been bossing them about all week. Everyone took part and fun was had by all

although some staff came back with a few more bruises than they intended to!

Over all, the holiday was a great success and a really good opportunity for some quality time with

the young people and a chance for them to try out new experiences and  make new friendships.

Families

Since 1998 free@last’s Dads Do It Too! project has been providing support and training

for dads and professionals. The service expanded in January 2009 with the introduction

of a range of free workshops for dads and father figures to enjoy with their children.

This was thanks to the successful securement of a four-year funding grant

from the Big Lottery.  

The Workshops

We�have�retained�the�three�different�themes:�

bike maintenance

Showing how to strip down, repair and rebuild bicycles, learn cycling 

skills and join in bike rides with other dads and their children. 

Quizzes, video clips and diagrams have been developed to 

support learning in the bike maintenance workshops.

multi media

Introducing dads and their children to the many possibilities of digital photography and 

music editing, producing digital cds of sounds and pictures. 

Over half of the digital photography workshops are now held in places of interest 

around the city. We even had the opportunity to take photos on 

the Birmingham wheel while it was still on Broad Street.

arts and gaming

A mix of arts, crafts, competitions and gaming. 

Due to its popularity clay modeling is offered on more than one occasion during the 

craft workshops and following the enthusiasm of dads and children alike, 

a range of creative competitions have been introduced. 

The�end�of�2009�had�seen�24�dads�and�30�children

engage�in�the�workshops.�However�both�ourselves�and

the�Big�Lottery�wanted�to�see�a�larger�uptake�of�dads

accessing�this�service�so,�following�discussions�with�dads,

their�children�and�workshop�facilitators�we�decided�to

rename�the�workshops�and�offer�some�as�after�school

clubs.��By mid –late 2010 we have seen an additional 46

dads and 72 children sign up to our workshops,

a�figure�we�hope�to�continue�expanding.�

Some�of�our�dads�are�single�fathers,�newly�finding�themselves�in�the

role�as�main�parent.�The�opportunity�to�meet�other�dads�and�discuss

each�other’s�relationships�with�their�child�has�been�a�naturally

occurring�activity�during�these�workshops.�For�some�being�able�to

watch�how�other�dads�interacted�with�their�child�was�an�invaluable

source�of�parenting�tips;�particularly�useful�for�dads�setting�boundaries

for�the�first�time.�

The workshops have not only enabled dadsto explore new activities with their childrenbut also elements of their relationships.

Dads Do It Too! and Children’s Centres

During the last year we have continued our work with Bloomsbury Children’s Centre.

Following the success of last year’s dad’s breakfast group we continued with the theme

of food by organising dads and children’s gardening workshops at the centre’s allotment.

The advantages in this were the allotment was new and provided a blank canvass and

Bloomsbury had a member of staff with a wide knowledge of horticulture. Initially

there was more digging than planting and “hard labour” may have proved too much for

some, we did however end up with four dads who attended, with their children, come

rain or shine. The finale to these workshops was to harvest our vegetables and cook

them in the nursery for the staff and children to try. 

We are currently delivering a six weeks parent programme at Bloomsbury, focusing oncommunication and conflict resolution. Although open to both mums and dads, we

have drawn on our knowledge and experience of what dads want to develop aprogramme that is practical and solution focused. Piloted earlier this year we now have

an equal number of mums and dads attending.

Last�year�Dads�Do�It�Too!�expanded�its�work�in

children’s�centre�and�began�work�at�Featherstone

Children’s�Centre in�Erdington.�The brief? To�involve

dads�and�father�figures�in�centre�activities.�A�range

of�activities�has�been�scheduled�over�the�last�year

with�varying�degrees�of�success.�Part�of�the�process

however,�has�been�to�become�familiar�with�the

demographics�of�the�area;�the�age,�background,

interests�and�availability�of�the�dads.�Whereas

gardening�and�activities�during�the�week�proved

popular�in�Nechells,�this�proved�not�to�be�the�case�in

Erdington.�Weekends�and�school�holidays�drew�the

highest�number�of�fathers�coupled�with�activities

like�story�telling�and�treasure�hunts.�We�currently

have�a�number�of�dads�who�have�joined�a�local�gym

and�we�are�in�the�process�of�delivering�a�range�of

one-off�play�based�workshops.��

Flying Start

Dads Do It Too! has enjoyed a long and successful working relationship with Flying Start,

(Birmingham) and this partnership allows us to deliver more of our one-to-one dad’s

support. The last year has seen us supporting dads undergoing custody hearings,

recovering from alcohol related problems or wishing to develop their literacy skills. As an

organisation we have also been involved in their recent Buddying project - aimed at

sharing good practice across children’s centres, hostels and private nurseries – our role in

this being to raise the profile of involving fathers.

We are currently working with Flying Start in supporting seven fathers at HeathfieldPrimary School Handsworth. This involves developing dad and child education basedworkshops and follows the several summer activities we held with the school,including a teddy bears picnic and ten-pin bowling.

Debt & Welfare Benefit Advice & Support

Thanks to the Severn Trent Trust Fund we have continued to provide a specialised service

that helps local people with their debt and benefit enquiries.  Our experience show us

that a supportive, understanding and approachable service is needed to enable people

with financial difficulties to feel relaxed and comfortable speaking about these, often

taboo, subjects. We provide a positive influence to our clients in their money

management and benefits entitlements awareness. 

Over the past year we have dealt with 222 benefit cases and 98 debt cases, with a

financial value of £1,420,123.99. To date we have been 100% successful in helping

clients in claiming their benefit, dealing with their debts and managing their money.

We have had positive feedback from our clients showing peoples’

satisfaction of our service.

73% of our clients were local residents and 27% were referred 

to us from service users of local organisations. 

Since the project began in 2008 we have dealt with 489 benefit 

cases and 260 debt cases valuing £3,343,018.91.

The figures above reflect not only the struggles of a global recession but of the economic

difficulties of living in one of our inner city communities. This is a much needed service

which has become part of our core work and will continue to enable many children,

young people and families to improve their standards of living 

through improved economic circumstances.

Employment Advice

During this past year we ran a 6 months project to support as many people as possible to

find employment. Before we could help people with writing their CV’s, practicing

interview techniques or applying for jobs we first had to discover who, in our community,

actually wanted help looking for work.

We recruited a local lady as an outreach worker and during the bitterly cold winter

months she knocked on 1,176 doors in Nechells, calling back to 650 of these until

someone finally opened the door and spoke with her! Out of all these people only 36

said that they would like help with finding work, and only 10 of these actually turned

up to our office to meet with the employment adviser.

Our adviser did see another 109 people during the 6 months, who were referred by other

agencies or who were already involved with free@last. We tried holding surgeries at

other  venues but even this didn’t seem to answer the question as to why so few people

wanted help to work when our C  onstituency has the highest unemployment 

figures in the UK.

During this project we discovered that:

OUTREACH

Many people have low ambition with a widespread desire not to work.

Many people are not interested in working because of their reliance on benefits, specifically

housing benefit or disability allowance.

Whilst most people were friendly during the cold-calling process, we did encounter a lot of

suspicion, especially people assuming we were from the benefits agencies checking up on them.

Many were too afraid to open the door despite being aware of our presence.

ADVICE

Most of the people seen did show a genuine desire to get back 

into work and engaged with the process enthusiastically.

The most common enquiry from women was for childcare or cleaning jobs

The most in-demand jobs or training for men was for fork-lift truck 

licenses, driving qualifications and warehouse work.

Most clients have no access to email and many who owned mobile 

phones didn’t have the credit to make outgoing calls.

There is a great deal of dissatisfaction with services provided by job centres and the way that

clients are treated. Little seems to be done to increase the confidence of job-seekers and many

opportunities for training, re-skilling and advice are not being offered.

By far the most efficient referral/engagement strategy has been through working alongside the

debt and benefit advisor. This works both ways as clients’ problems can be helped or solved

through finding work and many of the people who have been seen who need to find work  have

problems with debt.

There are no shortages of jobs in the Nechells area. Although the current recession and the closing

of Rover have had a definite knock-on effect on light industrial jobs round here, daily searches of

current vacancies show that there are still many vacancies here and in neighbouring Saltley and

Erdington. Salaries would seem to be down though with many offering the basic minimum wage.

Although it is unrealistic to expect a short term project such as this to have a massive impact on

the area’s joblessness, the ones who have been helped back into work or onto training schemes

would probably still be stuck in a rut without it. 

We will endeavour to find financial support for this project to start again.

Businesses

There is a constant pressure for voluntary organisations to raise their own money

through social enterprise, rather than being completely dependent on trust funding or

commissioning. free@last have always enjoyed the relationships it has with funders

and continues to develop these, but we also recognise our responsibilities in helping to

alleviate the strain and pressure on diminishing resources that are needed by 

so many others.

Running businesses is never an easy path to follow and our 2 existing companies – Freax

Limited and FAL Training Limited, are no exception. FAL Training provides support and

training for workers and managers who wish to develop and deliver services for fathers.

Over the past 5 years this was our most successful business but we have seen the decline

in services to fathers as Government and managerial decisions to cut funding for

organisations who deliver parenting support has meant that dads have become less of a

priority than mum’s or children. With these funding restrictions and limited marketing of

this business it has been a very quiet year for our training business. Take a look at our

website www.dadsdoittoo.co.uk

Freax, on the other hand, has taken off this year and is currently our most successful

business to date. We were blessed with a grant from BeBirmingham’s Social Enterprise

Fund and with the addition of 3 young employee’s funded through the Future Jobs Fund

we have been able to promote and market this business to schools, youth groups,

colleges and businesses. We have run climbing and bike sessions at fun days, delivered

bushcraft, archery, orienteering, camping experiences, circus skills, bike skills and

climbing on several school sites, Prince’s Trust Residentials, youth group weekends away

and team building at various venues – from 6 year olds to adults. Freax has definitely

become an exciting alternative for adventurous activity provision in the West Midlands –

and further afield. Take a look at our video based website 

www.freax.co.uk and see for yourself. 

Finance

Income

Grant�Making�Trusts����������������������������������������

Statutory�Funds��������������������������������������������������

General�&�Gift�Aid�Donations����������������������������

Building�Fund��������������������������������������������������������

Bank�Interest�������������������������������������������������������������

Freax�Donation���

TOTAL�����������������������������������������������������

Expenditure

Salaries��&�N.I.

Capital�Purchases

General�Running�Costs

Professional�Fees

Project�Costs

TOTAL

£204766

£69376

£5550

£7429

£45

£3100

£290266

£136065

£4406

£27306

£3700

£38744

£210221

The Norton Centre

In order to meet the needs of the people we serve, the sustainability of our existing

services and the growth of new services to the children and young people of Nechells we

need to purchase our own building and stop being reliant on other venues that do not

fully meet  the needs of young people.

We have spent many years trying to identify the most appropriate and effective venue for

delivering our services to the local community and we have always recognised that our

existing property is the most ideal, as long as we could own the whole site. It is therefore

a Godly intervention that last summer our landlord offered us the opportunity to

purchase the full site from him.

The Norton Foundation has chosen to join with free@last’s purpose and mission in

Nechells and have given us £100,000 towards purchasing this building, along with

£20,000 from the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation.

With the purchase of this building we will not only be able to provide a purpose driven

youth centre that meets the needs of the children in our community, but we will also be

able to increase the access and amount of other opportunities 

available in our neighbourhood.

we will be on the main roadrather than tucked away down

a side street. 

We will have a more prominent presence in our community, as

Existing and new services will be developed to meet more needs of the children in our

area, particularly those with the greatest needs, including an alterative education

provision for local primary and secondary young people; an increased provision of

physical/healthy lifestyle choices including indoor climbing, archery, fitness sessions,

table tennis club and exercise bikes. We will also develop a multi-media suite which will

enable our local young adults to run a music/recording studio and a graphics suite,

enabling other local children and young people to follow the same creative journeys that

they themselves have followed.

If you would like to be involved with the development of our building please get in

touch with John Street.

free@last Supporters Our thanks go to the following for your support during 2009/2010

Barrow Cadbury Trust

Four Acre Trust

The Tudor Trust

Big Lottery Fund

Severn Trent Trust Fund

Birmingham Community Foundation – 3g Comms

Birmingham Community Foundation

Nechells & Overseas Fund

Birmingham Council - Voluntary Advice Agency Support Team

Trustees of EH Smith Charitable Foundation

Andy Fanshaw Memorial Fund

Holte & Bracebridge Charity

William A Cadbury Charitable Trust

Nechells Regeneration Project

Flying Start, Birmingham

Bloomsbury Children’s Centre

Featherstone Children’s Centre

Nechells POD

Be Birmingham Future Jobs Fund

Be Birmingham Social Enterprise Fund

Cromwell School, Nechells

St. Vincent’s School, Nechells

Heartlands Academy, Nechells

St. Joseph’s Church, Nechells

St. Mathews School, Nechells

Nechells Junior and Infant School, Nechells

Key Birmingham

Peakhouse Pantry

John Morse-Brown

Ben Llewlyn - Slib Design

and all the individual friends and supporters of free@last

The teamDirector

John Street

Youth Work

Abi Delaney

Alex Young

Moznur Rahman

Rachel Turley

Rebecca Turley

Danielle Akers

Julie Pattinson

Lin Street

Dawn Russell

Families Work

Stuart Radburn

Helen Twohey

Craig O’Dell

Karen Statham

Joy Jesson

Neil Horan

Lin Street

Adrian Porter

Jason  Ford

Administrator

Jan Street

Advice & Guidance

Yousef Behfar

Freax

Adam Male

Craig O’Dell

Shelima Begum

Design

Wayde Raphael

Trustees

Winston Sergent – Chair

Andre Wilkinson – Treasurer

Jacquie Sergent – Secretary

Anne Ebdon

Sarah Simmons

Ricardo Atlan

2�Cattells�Grove

Nechells

Birmingham

B7�5RA

( :0121�327�5959

7 :0121�327�8959

* :[email protected]

www.freeatlast.st

www.freax.co.uk

www.dadsdoittoo.co.ukRegistered�Charity�number:�1101078��

Private�Limited�Company�number:�4723576

“I have come that you may

have life, and have it to the

full” John 10:10