 Young care leavers in west Norfolk will benefit from a new housing scheme and package of support that will help them to make the transition from their children’s home to independent adult living with the opening of the first ‘Staying Close, Staying Connected’ home in Kings Lynn. The house was officially opened by Jarone Macklin-Page, age 29 (a Break care leaver and Actor) on Friday 18 May. It will be home to three young care leavers.
Staying Close, Staying Connected is a partnership between regional children’s charity Break, Norfolk County Council and Cambridgeshire County Council. The aim is to change the way young care leavers are supported, by putting a framework around them when they leave their children’s home including housing, peer-to-peer support, mentoring, help with independent living skills and emotional support. Young care leavers have traditionally been some of the most vulnerable young people in society experiencing high levels of homelessness, isolation and mental health issues. ‘Staying Close, Staying Connected’ aims to address these issues and to fulfil the role of an extended family for young care leavers, supporting them for as long as they need. The project focuses on young people from Cambridgeshire and Norfolk but it is hoped that it will become nationally recognised as best practice in support for young care leavers moving on from residential care. The scheme has been made possible by a grant of 1.3 million awarded to Break by the Children’s Social Care Innovation Fund which aims to develop more effective ways of supporting vulnerable children, specifically those leaving children’s homes. The project aims to open 20 houses in the next two years supporting 70 young people across the region. Rachel Cowdry, Director of Business Development at Break says “This is a landmark moment for this very important project that will transform radically the support for young care leavers. We are really excited to be able to work in partnership with Norfolk County Council and Cambridgeshire County Council to support some of the most vulnerable young people in our communities. Break has already been supporting our own care leavers for six years through our Moving On Team and this builds on the experience we have built up in this area. The need to support young people who have lived in care has been evident for many years. These young adults are much more likely, than their peers, to struggle in all aspects of their lives such as finding and sustaining work, physical and mental health, and building positive relationships.” Source: http://break-charity.org/  Break featured in Sunday Times Best Companies list 2018
Regional children, young people and family's charity Break features in the Sunday Times Best Companies List, ranking number 15 in the Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to work for. The list, which features not for profit organisations from across the UK, recognises the charity’s commitment to personal development, family friendly working and a culture of celebrating the achievements of the young people and families it supports. Scoring highly in the following areas, my manager, personal growth and my team, Break has also achieved 2 star accreditation for outstanding levels of workplace engagement. The charity works in a number of different areas including services for children in care, young people leaving care, children and young people with disabilities and families who need support. The Best Companies List is based on a series of employee engagement surveys and captures how people genuinely feel about working for their organisations. 82% agreed that Break offer staff a comprehensive training plan with a range of mandatory and developmental programmes available. Break has its own accreditation centre to deliver work-based qualifications at levels 3 and 5 enabling personal growth for staff. Break works hard to ensure that employees have a positive work/life balance and that consideration is given to colleague’s wellbeing in recognition of the challenging nature of some of the work. In the survey, 92% agreed that their team is fun to work with. Break is run on strong values where employees have a clear sense of purpose and understanding of the direct impact their work will have on the children, young people and families they support. In 2018, the charity celebrates 50 years of changing young lives. Hilary Richards, CEO of Break says, “This is a great achievement for our staff who work hard to create a great working environment. Break strives to provide staff with benefits to enhance their working and home life including flexible working and school hour contracts. It also shows our workforce are motivated by our overall ethos, to support vulnerable children, young people and families.” Source: http://break-charity.org/news/news-stories  Norfolk based children’s charity Break celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2018 with a series of special events through the year, including the GoGoHares Sculpture Trail to be unveiled during summer.  The charity was founded in 1968 by Judith Davison, her late husband, Geoffrey, and Rev. Leslie Morley initially to provide respite short breaks for vulnerable children and their families, starting with holiday centres Rainbow and Sandcastle in Sheringham and Hunstanton. The overall ethos of the charity remains unchanged; to ensure vulnerable children, young people and families receive the support they need to flourish and grow.  Since 1968, Break has grown to be a significant regional charity and now provides homes for looked after children through small scale children’s homes and a fostering service; homes and respite breaks for children with disabilities and learning disabilities; and support for children and families in the community through the Break Family Centre. The charity has also developed expertise in supporting young people leaving the formal care system at 18 with its Moving On Team and is now pioneering a model of support for young care leavers that has the potential to be rolled out nationally through the Staying Close, Staying Connected project. It also undertakes specialist support and assessment work for children at risk.  Break features in the Sunday Times Best Companies List, at number fifteen in the Best Not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For, in recognition of a commitment to personal development, family friendly working and a culture of celebrating the achievements of the young people it supports The work Break does is partly supported by individuals who regularly fundraise for the charity as well as a network of corporate supporters naming the organisation as charity of the year or staging fundraising events. The charity has a network of over 50 shops which provide valuable volunteering opportunities for over 900 people. In partnership with Wild in Art, Break has brought popular sculpture trails to Norwich with GoGoGorillas in 2013 and GoGoDragons in 2015, which also raised funds for the charity. This summer will see the GoGoHares trail revealed featuring 50 city Hares and 15 county hares in towns and villages across Norfolk. Hilary Richards, Break CEO, said: “We passionately believe every child and young person needs a home where they feel safe and loved, so they can grow in confidence and look to the future with hope and that’s what we strive for every day. Over the past 50 years our charity has gone from strength to strength ensuring that we can support more of the children and young people across the region who need us. We have grown from a small family charity in the early days to one that offers a wide range of support to vulnerable children, young people and families. With the help of all our amazing fundraisers, corporate partners, volunteers and our team, we will continue to develop what we do to ensure that we are changing young lives for the next 50 years.”  To celebrate Break’s 50th anniversary and support the work of the charity, people can stage an individual My Break 50 fundraising challenge based on a 50 theme, take part in organised fundraising events like the Stody Cross Country or the Grand Norwich Duck Race or by undertaking an individual challenge of their choice or by supporting Break’s new virtual challenge.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk-children-s-charity-break-celebrates-50th-anniversary-1-5428774 www.break-charity.org.uk www.gogohares.co.uk Source: http://break-charity.org  Working in partnership with Norfolk & Cambridgeshire CC's
A new approach to how young people leaving the care system are supported is being launched this week. Staying Close, Staying Connected is a partnership between Break, a Norfolk children’s charity, Norfolk County Council and Cambridgeshire County Council and the aim is to change the way young care leavers are supported, by putting a framework around them as they leave residential care that will dramatically transform their outcomes. The project will be officially unveiled at the Charles Burrell Centre on Friday 24 November. A grant of 1.3 million has been awarded to Break from the Children’s Social Care Innovation Fund which aims to develop more effective ways of supporting vulnerable children, especifically those leaving Children’s Homes. The funding will pay for a pilot project in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire to test out effective ways to support children leaving care over the next two and a half years. The project will focus on young people from Cambridgeshire and Norfolk but it is hoped that it will become nationally recognised as best practice in residential care leaver support. Robert Goodwill, the Children’s Minister, has pledged that the Staying Close scheme will mean “care leavers will no longer have to face life’s milestones alone – be it applying for university, getting a job or finding their first home”. In essence it should mirror how a parent might support a young person leaving home, being agile and flexible around what they need and when. Rachel Cowdry, Director of Business Development at Break says “This is a really exciting opportunity for us to work in partnership with Norfolk County Council and Cambridgeshire County Council to support some of the most vulnerable young people in our counties. Break has already been supporting our own care leavers for five years through our Moving On Team. The Department for Education grant will enable us to develop this project to benefit many more vulnerable young people. We hope that this project will have positive repercussions for care leavers in our region and beyond”. The need to support young people who have lived in care has been evident for many years. These young adults are much more likely, than their peers, to struggle in all aspects of their lives such as finding and sustaining work, physical and mental health, and building positive relationships. Sir Martin Narey, the former Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, conducted an independent review of children’s residential care in England, published in July 2016. This report stated the importance for the young people to “Stay Close” to their children’s home and the trusted relationships they had with the staff after they had to leave. The Break project will test out different ways to support these young people including “Staying Close” and will provide new training for staff working in residential care homes, more accommodation for care leavers with intensive support, including focusing on their emotional wellbeing, so that care leavers can acquire the skills and resilience they need to live independent, successful lives. To find out more about the project, click here for the brochure. Source: http://break-charity.org  Break has been changing young lives for 50 years, making life better for vulnerable children, young people and families. As our 50th anniversary approaches, we will continue to work tirelessly to help young people in care and leaving care, children with disabilities, families who need support and children in crisis, find a way through difficult times and build a brighter future. We would like to thank you for all the amazing things you have done this year to support Break. Please help us make our 50th year a really special one and help us to keep on changing young lives.   Break, a Norfolk children’s charity, are honoured to announce that we have been awarded a Department for Education grant for £1.3 million to improve services for children leaving care in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
The grant comes from the Children’s Social Care Innovation Fund which aims to develop more effective ways of supporting vulnerable children, specifically those leaving Children’s Homes. The funding will pay for a pilot project in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire to test out effective ways to support children leaving care over the next two and a half years. Rachel Cowdry, Director of Business Development at Break says “This is a really exciting opportunity for us to work in partnership with Norfolk County Council and Cambridgeshire County Council to support some of the most vulnerable young people in our counties. Break has already been supporting our own care leavers for five years through our Moving On Team. The Department for Education grant will enable us to develop this project to benefit many more vulnerable young people. We hope that this project will have positive repercussions for care leavers in our region and beyond”. The need to support young people who have lived in care has been evident for many years. These young adults are much more likely, than their peers, to struggle in all aspects of their lives such as finding and sustaining work, physical and mental health, and building positive relationships. Sir Martin Narey, the former Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, conducted an independent review of children’s residential care in England, published in July 2016. This report stated the importance for the young people to “Stay Close” to their children’s home and the trusted relationships they had with the staff after they had to leave. The Break project will test out different ways to support these young people including “Staying Close” and will provide new training for staff working in residential care homes, more accommodation for care leavers with intensive support, including focusing on their emotional wellbeing, so that care leavers can acquire the skills and resilience they need to live independent, successful lives. Robert Goodwill, Minister for Children and Families, said: “Through the Innovation Programme, we continue to fund exciting and pioneering projects that look to shake-up our traditional approach to social care. “Together they proffer a broad and balanced portfolio which both test new innovations, and scale and spread those that have been successful in Round One of the programme. “I am delighted that we have supported these projects, and look forward to continuing to hear about their great work in the future.” For further information on Break or Break’s Moving On Team visit www.break-charity.org For further information on the latest Innovation Fund projects visit http://springconsortium.com/projects-being-funded/ For further comment from Break contact – Rachel Cowdry 01603 670100 or Rachel.cowdry@break-charity.org Source: http://break-charity.org  Celebration of Break's young people at the Forum, Norwich 23 young people who are looked after by Break attended a celebration of their achievements at The Forum in Norwich on Friday evening. Each young person received an award – recognising achievements such as 100% school attendance, sporting prowess (football, rugby, swimming) and taking positive steps towards independence. The awards were presented by Farooq Chaudhry. Mr Chaudhry is internationally known for his work as a dancer and now as a producer. Farooq inspired the young people by encouraging them to live their dreams and be courageous – reassuring them that they could achieve what they set their minds on. Cathy Kenney, Head of Service Delivery at Break charity said “I felt privileged to be a part of the evening and to see how resilient and brave the young people we look after are. Each day they work so hard to overcome their difficulties and achieve so much – these young people are some of the strongest people in our communities and have so much to offer. These awards are just a tiny acknowledgement of their everyday achievements”.  Farooq Chaudhry and Cathy Kenney, Head of Service Delivery at Break
The event was the idea of the Hyland family who funded the awards. Linda Hyland was employed by Break before sadly passing away. Her family recognised the value of the work that Linda did in changing young lives and wanted to continue to support the young people looked after by Break. The Beeston Group kindly paid for the venue and refreshments and for Farooq to attend. Source: http://break-charity.org  Break, a Norfolk children’s charity, are honoured to announce that we have just been awarded a Department for Education grant for £1.3 million to improve services for children leaving care in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
The grant comes from the Children’s Social Care Innovation Fund which aims to develop more effective ways of supporting vulnerable children, specifically those leaving Children’s Homes. The funding will pay for a pilot project in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire to test out effective ways to support children leaving care over the next two and a half years. Rachel Cowdry, Director of Business Development at Break says “This is a really exciting opportunity for us to work in partnership with Norfolk County Council and Cambridgeshire County Council to support some of the most vulnerable young people in our counties. Break has already been supporting our own care leavers for five years through our Moving On Team. The Department for Education grant will enable us to develop this project to benefit many more vulnerable young people. We hope that this project will have positive repercussions for care leavers in our region and beyond”. The need to support young people who have lived in care has been evident for many years. These young adults are much more likely, than their peers, to struggle in all aspects of their lives such as finding and sustaining work, physical and mental health, and building positive relationships. Sir Martin Narey, the former Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, conducted an independent review of children’s residential care in England, published in July 2016. This report stated the importance for the young people to “Stay Close” to their children’s home and the trusted relationships they had with the staff after they had to leave. The Break project will test out different ways to support these young people including “Staying Close” and will provide new training for staff working in residential care homes, more accommodation for care leavers with intensive support, including focusing on their emotional wellbeing, so that care leavers can acquire the skills and resilience they need to live independent, successful lives. Robert Goodwill, Minister for Children and Families, said: “Through the Innovation Programme, we continue to fund exciting and pioneering projects that look to shake-up our traditional approach to social care. Together they proffer a broad and balanced portfolio which both test new innovations, and scale and spread those that have been successful in Round One of the programme. I am delighted that we have supported these projects, and look forward to continuing to hear about their great work in the future.” Source: http://break-charity.org  A glittering awards event for Break's corporate supporters At a glittering gala dinner at Sprowston Manor, hosted by Break patron, Jake Humphrey, 180 guests from the Norfolk business community gathered to celebrate the support given to Break to change young lives. Michael Rooney, Head of Commercial Services and Martin Green, Fundraising Manager, welcomed the guests and followed this with a game of 'Heads & Tails' setting the tone for a great evening.  After dinner, Jake thanked everyone for their invaluable support to Break and presented the awards.  Awards Fundraising ‘Team of the Year’ (Sponsored by Smith & Pinching) This award is awarded to the staff or volunteer group of people, of three or more, who have gone the extra mile to support Break Charity, either independently or as ‘Charity of the Year’. Winner - Arnolds Keys Judges looked at their total engagement across all the areas of criteria – and this is awarded to them for their outstanding group motivation and engagement from Golf days, Valuation days, Auction event, Staff Back a cake day and the wider engagement of their office's in the community. As well as the introduction to Kieron Williamson they also sponsored and engaged in the GoGoDragon project, putting on a showcase event at Norwich castle.  Award for Innovation (Sponsored by Aspiration Europe) This is awarded to a group, individual or organisation that has implemented a new initiative that has helped to promote the charity’s work, profile of a shared event, or helped to raise funds. Winner - Longwater Construction Awarded to Neil Carter, as the brain child of the Breaking Clays event, now in its fourth year and raised almost £70k for Break, and growing, whilst also giving Break a wide number of good solid contacts and supporters for future events. Photo shows Anne Ovens, Break trustee from Aspiration Europe with Jake Humphrey.  Corporate Partner of the Year This is awarded for an outstanding partnership between a business and Break Charity, working together as part of an overall shared event, activity or goal. Winner -Timothy Hay and The Beeston Group Tim has been a long term supporter of Break, first coming to light with the gorillas which he sponsored and bought three at auction, this progressed to Dragons, again sponsoring and buying a number. He also donated a camping weekend for Break and has also given us a holiday home fully furnished for a year, for us to use, as well donating a caravan to two of Break’s services. Award collected on Tim's behalf by James Boudlin from The Beeston Group.  Silver Lining Long Term Supporter Award Awarded to a group, individual or organisation that has supported Break for a period of more than five years; making a significant input into the charity to enable it to grow and develop. Winner - Clapham & Collinge Long term supporters working with Break for over seven years, this has helped us create a network of contacts through Lunch on the Green (LOTG) which has been developed with Clapham & Collinge. C & C also sponsored a gorilla & dragon, as well as opening up reductions on services for our staff.  The final award was a special award ‘Shining Stars’ presented to Stephen Bourne (The Mill House, Wells), Jill Watkinson (The Space), Sally Adams (Artist), Ross Haddow (Stody Estate), Radley and Kate Fenn (Coleman Opticians), Rob Whitwood (Inspired Youth) and Natalie Davies (Inspired Youth/Inspired Women). Everyone of this 'Shining Stars' has gone the extra mile to support Break to change young lives.  The auction, raffle and ‘heads and tails’ raised over £6k for Break.
A huge thank you to the sponsors of the the event - Smith & Pinching, Aspiration Europe and Shred Station; to Ruth Lowe, Ruth Elizabeth Events and to Janie and Dave Richardson of Big Phat Photos. Source: http://break-charity.org  A Break ‘Silver Lining Award’ is recognition for a group, individual or organisation that has achieved outstanding results* for Break Charity through key initiatives, helping the charity to #changeyounglives.
This year is the first of these awards, sponsored by Aspiration Europe and Smith & Pinching, in conjunction with Ruth Elizabeth Events. The 'Silver Lining Awards' will be presented to the winners at a special 'Silver Lining Gala Evening' on Friday 14 October at Sprowston Manor, Norwich. The award categories and finalists are as follows: 1. Fundraising ‘Team of the Year’ Awarded to a group of people, of three or more, who have gone the extra mile to support Break Charity. This category is not judged purely on income raised. The judges will use the following criteria to judge this category:
Alan Boswell Arnolds Keys Colemans Opticians Leathes Prior Scouts The Cottage Hair & Beauty 2. Award for Innovation Awarded to a group, individual or organisation that has implemented a new initiative that has helped to promote the charity’s work, added value and profile of a shared event or helped to raise funds. The judges will use the following criteria to judge this category:
Archant Chapelfield Dipples Forum Jarrolds Longwater Construction Stephen Bourne (Mill House) Riverside 3. Corporate Partner of the Year Awarded for an outstanding partnership between a business and Break Charity, working together across a broad range of initiatives over a period of time. The judges will use the following criteria to judge this category:
Aspiration Europe Adrian Flux Almary Green Brandbank Ridgeons Shredstation The Beeston Group: Tim Haye 4. Silver Lining Long Term Supporter Award Awarded to a group, individual or organisation that has supported Break for a period of more than five years; making a significant input into the charity in general and the fundraising team specifically to enable growth and sustainability Nominees: Bawburgh Golf Club/Barnard Charity Golf Day Clapham and Collinge Dipple & Conway Prospect Handling Ribs of Beef Stody Estate For more information please contact Sarah Bunn on 07826 893368 or emailsarah.bunn@break-charity.org Tables for this Gala Evening, hosted by Break Patron, Jake Humphrey, are £475 per table to include a wonderful three-course dinner,and dancing to Atomic. To book a table please click here or call 01603 670109 or email ruth.lowe@break-charity.org *Results are calculated as a combination of fundraised income and non-financial input from companies into Break (gifts in kind, volunteers and support at events), in the period of January 2015 to April 2016 (Long Term Supporter category is calculated from April 2011 to April 2016). Consideration has also been given to the size of the company in relation to the amount of support given. The judging panel is made up of a cross section of representatives from Break, including young people we work with. Source: http://break-charity.org |
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