The Chief Executive of Step by Step, Amanda Dubarry, has been invited to the meeting and will provide Members with a presentation on their current work and challenges faced by the organisation.
Minutes:
The Panel welcomed Ms. Amanda Dubarry, Chief Executive of Step by Step, and Ms. Samantha
Owen, Senior Housing Officer. Ms. Dubarry began the
presentation by providing Members with a brief history of how Step by Step was founded and how it had developed over the
years. It was explained that a number of youth
development projects had been set up in order to help the charity achieve its
mission; ‘to empower homeless people and those facing adversity to achieve
their full potential’.
Members noted
that the Step by Step projects and programmes
available were designed to use each young person’s individual talents and
interests as motivation for them to achieve something positive. Step by Step aimed to help the clients gain life and social
skills, improve their physical and mental wellbeing, become part of their local
community and financially independent and employable. In the last year, Step by Step had helped 239 young people into employment.
The Panel
then heard about the range of services provided, for example, the different
types of accommodation, training, counselling and family mediation. While Step by Step had grown significantly over the years, it was
noted that there was an intention to grow further. The 2011-2016 Growth
Strategy had set out plans to triple the bed capacity and double the number of
clients. Members heard that the charity was on track to achieve its targets and
hoped to have supported 1,500 young people by March 2016. Step
by Step had also opened branches across the County, although Rushmoor
continued to have the highest number of young people using youth services in
the County. Ms. Dubarry informed the Panel that the
following five-year strategy would focus on financial sustainability; however,
there would also be an intention to continue to work on the growth of the
charity.
The Panel
was advised that Step by Step had placed 106 young
people in supported lodgings and discussed the process for identifying and
checking the families providing the supported lodgings. It was
confirmed that the charity often advertised around Hampshire, Surrey and
West Berkshire with the use of posters and radio advertisements. It was noted that many people who offered supported lodgings
had heard about the opportunity through word of mouth.
Step by Step had faced a number of challenges and lost a
small number of services that it had previously offered, including, Steps Three
and Four accommodation and Tenancy Support. This had resulted in a rise in the
number of rough sleepers amongst young people in the Borough. There was also an
expected loss of other services in the near future.
Members
were informed of the achievements of Step by Step over
the previous year and heard that the charity had visited a number of local
schools where it had made homelessness, drug and alcohol presentations to 2,670
children. The Panel was then shown a video of a previous Step
by Step client telling his story.
Ms. Owen
informed the Panel that Rushmoor had been looking into proposals to support Step by Step and was in the process of preparing a report
examining the potential for increasing the amount of funding provided to the
charity by the Council. This would aim to help Step by Step achieve at least a
‘silver’ service.
The Panel NOTED the presentation and AGREED to support the principle of Rushmoor providing financial help to the charity.