It’s been over a year since talks started with the teenage midwife at Gloucester Royal Hospital about the ways in which we could work in partnership to increase the services available to young parents and parents to be in Gloucester.

Last week ViParent’s (ViPs) and The Link welcomed Caroline Bowden, a community mid-wife who will be supporting the ViP’s regular session by providing ante-natal check-up appointments. In addition this also means that the group benefit by having a medical professional on site should they want to ask any questions or get advice.

Caroline, qualified as a midwife in 2007 and has worked in both Cheltenham and Gloucester hospital and has moved to work out in the community a year ago, referring to this new partnership Caroline said “in my experience young parents prefer to be seen in a setting that includes just their age group, hence introducing a drop in clinic at The Link.”

So with the partnership in place it meant The Link team had some work to do to prepare a room that was suitable and equipped to offer this service. Caroline advised it was essential the room had a sink and with no plumbers amongst us it was a call to the landlord to help with ripping out the old and in with the new. The new included new flooring, sink, examination couch, blinds, chairs and numerous coats of paint to try and cover the black paint inherited from when The Link was a tattoo shop!

Now the room is a perfect and clean space that is welcoming to those that will be using it and a functional place for Caroline to work from. Both The Link team, ViParents and Caroline are looking forward to welcoming young parents through its (newly painted!!) doors and then later down the line meeting the new babies who were previously tucked up and snug in their mummies tummies.

I could not have asked for a better experience of my first team. Every single young person had a personal journey of development and have gone on to a new brighter future. Being a part of this team’s story means a lot to me and being able to watch them grow has been an honour.

A highlight for me as their team leader, was facilitating them through their community project phase. The group planned and organised the fundraising aspect, in which they cycled the distance from Gloucester to Devon on static bikes in the local shopping centre as well as bag packing at the local supermarket and raised over £200. The energy they brought to this challenge was infectious and helped carry us through!

They viewed 5 potential projects. But felt immediate passion for the Stonham Housing project, they felt the services the housing group provide are invaluable and really felt the staff worked very hard and deserved something to brighten their day. They were given complete creative freedom to redesign the garden of one of the houses that currently supported 13 adults recovering from addictions, mental illnesses and homelessness. They talked to external organisations and received donations such as a garden bench and 3 tonnes of bark, which was an incredible display of their dedication to the cause. The group had relentless energy throughout the project and were truly inspiring.

This commitment followed through to the rest of the programme and I could not be prouder of the support they showed each other. I wish them all the best on their new ventures, make good choices guys!

I first got involved with Young Gloucestershire in September 2013 when I moved to the Gloucestershire area. I was informed then referred to the Young Gloucestershire team by a former professional I was involved with. This was because I was a new resident and did not have any form of social network around me, the aim of my referral was to make friends and open new doors in my life.

My first initial involvement with YG was attending a youth group called The Hub which was ran every Tuesday. I think that being involved in the youth group was a success because I got to know the staff at YG and also the other members of the group. Unfortunately The Hub Youth Group ended after a period of time due to funding, much to my disappointment. I made a lifelong friend who I still have regular contact with on a weekly basis and I feel that attending the youth group helped me a lot because it broadened my social life and increased my confidence.

After The Hub had ended I sadly didn’t return back to Young Gloucestershire for a while due to personal circumstances becoming apparent in my own life. Although I stopped my involvement at YG, I carried on my student life at Gloucestershire College studying Health and Social Care until one day I received a phone call from Ione Sime. The phone call was in regards to how I was getting on in life and what I was doing with myself on a day to day basis. By the time I received this phone call I had already successfully achieved and completed my Health and Social Care Course and was onto my second year at Gloucestershire College. Following on from that, she was asking if I would be interested in coming back to Young Gloucestershire and getting involved in a Mentoring Scheme.

I thought that I’d give the Mentoring Scheme a try and see what it’s entailed of, so a day was scheduled for me to meet up with Ione and discuss the ins and outs of what mentoring would be. After finding out about the scheme I thought that it would be a good opportunity for me to get involved and see what would come of it. My first meeting with my mentor was just an introducing session and I found it very appealing and positive, I am now in my 6/7th week of my mentoring, I have found it extremely positive and useful in my career path. At the moment we are focusing on the starting points and routes for me to get to my chosen career choice then near future plans are to take part in work experience/voluntary work with my mentor to further my knowledge on different sectors in the social sector.

My experience with Young Gloucestershire and everyone at The Link has been incredibly fun and supportive, everyone is lovely and understanding of myself and my choices. Recently I have discussed with Matt and Sadie about volunteering in local youth clubs that Young Gloucestershire run and I hope that this is a very exciting step along my journey.

Following on from this my life and career has spiralled off in all different exciting journeys. I am now currently an employee of The Warehouse Climbing Centre in Gloucester and also I am now an employee of Rooftop Housing Group as an Engagement Worker. YG informed me about the position at Rooftop and encouraged me to apply for the post, so with help from everyone at The Link I applied for the position and excitedly I was shortlisted. Again with help from everyone at The Link I prepped for the interview, attended and to my excitement, I was successful. I will be starting my new job within the next few weeks and I am excited for my next journey.

Alongside mentoring, college and my 2 jobs, I am also doing other things in my free time. I am doing voluntary work for 2 youth organisations and also getting more involved with YG. In the last couple of weeks I have done a case study with Claire Benjamin and I have also been asked to take part in a promo video for Young Gloucestershire.

I can honestly say that I am at my happiest in life and I cannot express how much YG and everyone at YG have helped and supported me along my journey. Their positive wise words and persistent help has given me the strength to be a better person.

I will be looking forward to whatever my next route is along my very exciting journey.

I have been working at SOSYP for seven months now, after starting as a volunteer during the summer programme. During this time I have worked at four different youth clubs in Cam, Dursley, Wotton and Berkeley.

Before Christmas I was based at Wotton and Berkeley. I really enjoyed delivering activities at these clubs, providing information and guidance and forming some great relationships with the young people. The activities delivered normally fit into a theme for the month; for example last month we did a few sessions focussing on thinking about others and walking in their shoes, which included talking about disabilities and also making poppies for remembrance. I remember, however, that some of our most popular sessions involved food, including a chocolate party and guess the food games – no surprise there!

This term I continued working at Wotton, but swapped to work at Cam and Dursley, too. It has been fun getting to know a number of new young people, and I have been extremely impressed with the brand new Vibe youth centre at Dursley – the facilities there are amazing and there are a large number of young people who are regularly attending sessions there. For the past few weeks we have been delivering activities within the theme of ‘craftiness’and have been busy making badges, creating sand art and ended the term in an Easter egg hunt. We have also looked at some more serious issues, such as cyber bullying, and have offered a C-Card session at Wotton.

However the session that has stood out to me the most was when a member of the Berkeley Town Council visited our youth group last term to discuss with the YP their thoughts on how to improve the town for young people. The young people reacted very positively and had a very good and mature discussion, where they expressed the points of view in extremely articulate ways. I was very impressed with and proud of them for wanting to get involved and change their community for the better.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the past seven months with SOSYP and am looking forward to the final term before the summer. It has been brilliant to work with a variety of young people and to build on my previous youth work experience in such a friendly team, and I am really thankful for this opportunity.

“So what does the Finance Manager at Young Gloucestershire do all day, apart from drinking copious amounts of tea?”

I guess that provided your salary reaches your bank account on the 27th of the month, you have never really wondered what the guy sitting in the corner does apart from payroll. Well, I thought you might find it interesting to know about some of the other things I get up to, so here goes…………

Like any organisation, whether it is commercial or non-profit making, it is imperative that the Trustees and CEO of YG understand its financial health at all times. My main responsibility is to ensure that they do, and give them an early warning of any problems I foresee on the horizon. I regularly speak to Tracy, our CEO, about any financial matters that are of concern to me, and which I feel she should be aware of.

I am a member of the YG Finance Committee which includes Tracy and Jonathan Harvie, one of our Trustees. Each month, I present the Management Accounts to the Committee and we discuss the financial performance for that month and year to date. Any significant deviations from budget are investigated, and if any corrective action is deemed necessary, this will be implemented within the organisation.

I also attend the bi-monthly Trustees Meeting, when I present a summarised version of the Management Accounts to the Trustees, and answer any financial questions raised at the meeting or later by email.

Day to day, I am very much involved in keeping YG functioning, and the key to this is cash flow management. Similar to your household, there are always bills to be paid: insurances, electricity and gas, telephones, rent and rates, and vehicle costs to name a few. If I do not pay these on time, these services could be suspended, and YG would cease to operate. It is therefore vital that I get the cash  into the bank as quickly as possible.

Most of you are involved in activities that earn the cash for YG that ultimately pays your wages. But this does not just happen – our customers will not send a cheque, or make a payment into our bank account, without an invoice from us, so every month I send out invoices to Youth Clubs, Colleges, and all the other organisations and individuals with whom we work. I then monitor these invoices to ensure they are paid on time. Late payers will get a call or email from me to hurry them along.

Other regular duties I perform include administrating petty cash, the lifeline of so many of our activities, and of course processing the payroll.

Among the external agencies I liaise with are the YG banks, HM Revenue and Customs (the “Tax Office”) and our accountants.

Annually, I prepare the YG Financial Statements which we submit to both Companies House and The Charities Commission. These are prepared to a very strict legal format, and have to be signed off by both YG auditors and Trustees. Failure to submit the statements on time will result in a fine for YG.

Together with everything else that I am involved in at this, my busiest time of the year, I am currently doing some preparation to ensure that the new auto enrolment pension scheme is successfully implemented in August.

Probably the most important task I have is to prepare the YG Budget for the next financial year which runs from April to March. The Budget advises the Trustees of how YG is likely to perform financially for the coming 12 months. Once the Budget has been approved by the Trustees, the actual performance during the year is measured against it.

Working as FM at YG is quite different to all the years I have spent in similar roles in manufacturing, and I have had to adapt to the special requirements of charity accounting. However, I can honestly say that I really enjoy both the technical challenges of the job, and the company of the great bunch of dedicated colleagues I work with every day. I hope you have found this summary of my role interesting and I thank you all for the support you give me in keeping the financial wheels of YG turning. Now, after all that, it must be time for a fresh cuppa.

Cheers!