Annual Report2014/15

Contents

Annual report and financial statement for the year ended 31 March 2015 4

Trust Deed and Objects 5

Key Mission and Values 5

Chair’s Report - 2014/15 6-8

Drop-In Service 9-10

Floating Support 11

Family Mediation 12

Counselling 13

Employment Coaching 14

Pre-tenancy Training and Shared Housing 15-17

Family Support 18-19

Value for Money 20

Governance Review 21

Balance Sheet 22

Contents3

Key Unlocking Futures LtdRegistered Charity Number 1154772 Company Limited by Guarantee Registration 8699413

Key annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2015

The charitable Trustees during the year to 31 March 2015:Gwen Crawford ChairJanice Bennett Vice Chair & TreasurerTim Young SecretaryJohn GordonVictoria CrossleyViolet BarnardLynne CubbinKevin MordueKaye Grogan

Staff Team:Ursula Patten Operations DirectorClaire Moxham Senior Support WorkerGill Clarke Senior Family Support WorkerRosie Costello Mediation Co-ordinatorStephen Holloway Employment CoachJulie O’Rourke Support WorkerSue Wrightson Support WorkerRuth Brindle Family Support WorkerIrene Evans Family Support WorkerSharon Barker Family Support WorkerKimberley Ross Training and Shared Housing Co-ordinatorSara Holland Administrator

Independent Examiner/Auditor: KPMG LLP, St James’ Square, Manchester

Bankers: Barclays, Level 11, 20 Chapel Street, Liverpool, L3 9AG

Registered Office: Sumner House, King Street, Leyland, PR25 2LW

Board4

Trust Deed and ObjectsThe charity is governed by its Articles of Association.

Key Mission and ValuesMissionDuring the latter part of the year Key’s staff team, Board and service users have taken time to refresh Key’s mission, strategic objectives and values to ensure that they remain fit for purpose. The focus on delivering high quality services that enable change remains the same with a shift in emphasis to working with all age ranges rather than largely focusing on youth. Key will retain a specialism in working with young people but will continue to expand the client groups it works with as has been the trend over recent years.

MissionHelping people build better lives

Strategic Objectives• Objective 1: Supporting people to reach their potential• Objective 2: Supporting people to develop self-confidence and wellbeing• Objective 3: Preventing homelessness• Objective 4: Strengthening families• Objective 5: Developing a sustainable organisation

Values• Value 1: Putting people first• Value 2: Working in partnership• Value 3: Delivering quality services• Value 4: Being a great place to work• Value 5: Looking to the future

Mission5

Chair’s Report – 2014/15

2014/15 has been our first full year as a member of the Progress Housing Group. We are delighted with the progress of our new partnership. Relationships are strong and positive, and we continue to explore ways to work across all members of the Group for mutual benefit. We believe we have the right balance of autonomy for Key to enable us to act in the best interest of the charity and the people we serve, combined with the strength, resilience and infrastructure of a successful housing group. We are all keen to continue to get this balance right and to grow our business in the face of some very challenging times.

Also, during the year we celebrated 20 years of Key. I could not have imagined 20 years ago when we set up Key that we would ever be celebrating its 20th year, but we have! As part of a small programme of activities to mark this special birthday, we commissioned an artist to work with some of our young clients at our Drop-In. Together, they produced a fantastic piece of artwork which has pride of place in the ground floor Drop-In at Balfour Court. It charts in a very visual way the journey young people go on when they come to Key, from when they arrive feeling lost, confused and unsure of the right way to turn, to feeling that someone is on their side and can help them develop the strength, confidence and skills to help them turn their life around.

Chair’s Report6

Also, as part of our fund-raising efforts, staff at Key organised a fire-walk! This was very exciting – Key staff and volunteers walked through fire to raise over £2,000 to help young people. We always knew our staff were committed, but this went over and above the call of duty!

There has been some mixed news during the year. We had our first year of delivering family support – this new service has made excellent progress and is delivering some of the best outcomes in the country for young people and families. The contract was recently re-tendered, and although Key was successful as part of a Greater Together Consortia, unfortunately

the contract has been significantly reduced in size, leading to a reduction of staffing in this area equivalent to the loss of two full time staff members.

In addition, the DISC partnership, to which Key was a sub-contractor, lost its contract for the provision of Floating Support in this part of Lancashire. This led to the loss of three posts in Key – although fortunately two members of staff obtained similar jobs with the new provider, Calico Housing Association, and another left for another job.

We were very pleased to be successful in securing an additional three years of funding from Children in Need to run the Employment Coaching Project. This is such a valuable project as we all know that work and training helps people build skills, confidence and develop independence. The more we can offer this service alongside the range of other services we provide, the more we can make sure that services are ‘joined-up’ so that our clients get the full range of support and assistance they need to help them make the changes they want to.

7Chair’s Report

I want to say hello to a new member of staff – Irene Evans – welcome to Key, I am sure you will enjoy and benefit from your time with us. At the same time, we say goodbye to Julie O’Rourke, Susan Wrightson, Patricia McLean, all Floating Support Workers, as well as Carol Harrison and Stephanie Moore who are Family Support Workers.

Also during the year, we said goodbye to Jenny Williams, who was one of the founding trustees of Key, and who has been helping young homeless people in South Ribble and beyond for many decades. Jenny has gone to start a new life in another part of the UK, and she has played more than her fair share in the success of Key over the years. We all wish her very well for the

future and thank her for everything she has done over so many years.

As well as thanking staff for their continued commitment to clients and the organisation, I also want to thank trustees and other volunteers for their continued good humour and dedication. I believe that Key’s success hangs on three things – the strength of our staff, our governance and our volunteers. We are unbelievably fortunate I think in having strength, commitment and excellence at all of those different levels. This makes Key a great organisation to be part of, and we should all be proud of what the organisation achieves.

Best wishes,Gwen Crawford, Chair

8 Chair’s Report

Drop-In Service

Key runs a Drop-In service for homeless young people in Leyland and Chorley. Over the last year Key worked with 135 young people. The young people are from a diverse range of backgrounds with the majority having experienced multiple deprivation. Homelessness is a complex issue and there is much more to it than securing housing. For young people the reason behind their homelessness can be varied, but commonly include:

• Issues with step-parents• Debt• Poor mental health of the parent

or the young person• Drug or alcohol misuse of the parent

or young person• Involvement in the criminal justice

system/anti-social behaviour• Lack of space• Disagreements about rules/

boundaries

Key works with families to rebuild relationships where possible. It is not always possible or suitable, for a young person to return home and this can leave young people feeling frightened and alone. Young people, at a recent evaluation event of Key’s services, likened it to being sat on a hill, feeling alone, unprotected and at the mercy of the environment.

Drop-In9

Young people who leave home in a crisis are not financially prepared and neither do they have the life skills to manage on their own. They have had an accelerated transition into adulthood and need a lot of support to get their lives back on track.

Drop-In offers them a consistency and the ability to build a supportive relationship with Drop-In staff. We work with them using a mentoring model to build their confidence and resilience and to build a wide range of life skills. Young people have described Key as a ‘loving boot’, offering the right degree of support and challenge to help them to move forward.

We have excellent results with 96% feeling happier following support at Drop-In and 72% been supported either to return home or find settled accommodation.

Drop-In10

Floating Support

Over the last year Key has delivered excellent services in this area working with 72 young people. 98% of young people left the service in a planned way.

Unfortunately as detailed in the Chair’s report, sadly Key has been unsuccessful in retaining its Floating Support contract that focused on high quality tenancy support for vulnerable young people (concluded May 2015).

When contacting young people, six months after their support ended, we have confirmed that 85% remain in their tenancies. Feedback from young people remained strong showing that they grow in confidence and feel happier as a result of support.

Support11

Mediation12

Family Mediation

In the last year, Key’s Family Mediation Service has worked with 71 families (23 of these cases are still open). Of the cases that have closed, the outcomes continue to demonstrate excellent success rates with 96% of families reporting feeling happier and having reduced conflict and increased positive communication. In 87% of the cases young people have been able to stay at home or return home with a further 13% moving into supported accommodation and as such homelessness is prevented. The service continues to be provided by a paid Co-ordinator, who is supported by trained volunteers from the community.

Families, who are at the point of splitting up, have reported that mediation has been very helpful. They said that they have found better ways of working together, have gained a greater understanding of themselves and family members and are more respectful towards each other, even if they don’t agree with what is said, they have gained appreciation that other’s points of view are important and need to be heard, if solutions are to be found.

“I am not arguing with my mum and don’t feel sad anymore.”

“The mediator has given me so much. I am showing more kindness for my son. I can see possibilities for a happier future for me and my son.”

“I believe that Key has helped me to feel like myself again and taught me to deal with my anxiety and cope better.”

“I am more open-minded now – I can see the bigger picture.”

“I see things from a different view than I used to and I am a lot calmer with situations.”

“Mediation made me look at myself – I am doing things better now.”

“I came to Key mediation services very guarded, was not convinced it was unbiased. After the first session, I fully relaxed, was listened to, which was a huge relief.”

“I will tell my friends about the service and how much it has helped me, not just to find solutions but my wellbeing is better. I’m sleeping again, which is wonderful. My mind is peaceful again and I actually feel happier and more able. I can’t thank you enough.”

“My mental health is much improved.”

Counselling

Key’s Counselling Service continues to provide a service to very vulnerable young people, giving them time and space to consider the issues affecting them. Counselling helps people to tell their story and be heard and this is very often a starting point for people moving forward. This year, Key has increased the flexibility of those who can access counselling at Key and will now offer counselling to any age 16 plus. Priority is given to those who are using Key’s other services such as Family Support. This decision was

made as we were often asked by workers within the organisation whether parents could access the service. Parents’ emotional health impacts directly on their parenting abilities and receiving support, through counselling, can be vital in improving a parent’s ability to function.

Key’s Counselling Service is provided by five committed volunteers who provide a vital part of Key’s basket of services from our base in Leyland.

Counselling13

Key’s one-to-one Employment Coaching Service works with young people as individuals to identify their aspirations, strengths, needs and barriers, to help them achieve their goals and support them to take control and build a better life. This year, 33 young people have received employment coaching with 86% entering employment, education or training. This is an excellent result and shows an increase from 75% last year. At the end of the year, 50% of these had sustained this for three months or more (with an additional 12% still working towards the three month mark).

Key has enabled young people to move into work, education and training in a range of work sectors, including volunteering, charity work, plant operations, catering, grounds maintenance, the armed forces, retail, sales and healthcare. It has also enabled young people to return to full and part-time education including foundation skills in subjects such as veterinary work, healthcare, construction (including painting and decorating, plastering, joinery and plumbing), landscaping, catering, mechanical and electrical engineering, youth work and many more areas.

For those young people not ready for work or full-time education, support is offered to access personal development programmes such as The Prince’s Trust, study programmes, energiser courses as well as skill-based courses covering functional skills in mathematics, english and IT.

Marc (18) has never had any employment experience and had disengaged from any learning, having had family difficulties and been made homeless. He is now working and has been helped to access stable accommodation with support.

“Over the past few months Steve has helped me massively. When we first met I had no confidence for interviews and work but now they are both a breeze. I couldn’t have asked for better help and support. I really appreciate everything Steve has done. I am now cooking in a school kitchen, which I really love.” Marc

Employment Coaching

Coaching14

Key has continued to offer Pre-tenancy Training to single, ‘non-priority’ homeless people, in addition to the Shared Housing Pilot. Both aspects of the contract have been successfully delivered, with 117 people being trained to date and 10 people offered tenancies in shared houses. This will increase with 12 places being provided in the near future.

Key has worked with a variety of organisations to deliver the training to as many people as possible. Pivotal to the success is the tailoring of the training to meet a variety of learning styles and needs. Feedback has been excellent from partner agencies and clients alike.

“Initially I was nervous about attending the course as I didn’t know what to expect and I have issues that make me anxious in group settings. The course was changed so I could attend in a smaller group and I was offered the option to complete the course on my own. Walking into the course on the first day I was shaking but Kimberley soon made me feel at ease.

She was interested in my story and found out what my experience was and what I knew. She made me feel so comfortable and I left that first day feeling proud that I had overcome my fear. I think due to my age I assumed I didn’t need to know anything but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I found the budgeting session the most useful and I know I will need to put into practice what Kimberley has taught me in order to keep my own place. I dread to think what mess I would be in if I didn’t do the course.”

(Comment from an attendee)

Pre-tenancy Training and Shared Housing

Training15

The course continues to achieve 100% satisfaction and local organisations have specifically requested to work with Key again, to deliver to more delegates.

The shared housing element of the contract currently consists of four properties: three provided by Progress Housing Group and one in conjunction with Community Gateway Housing Association, and to date has housed 10 individuals. Shared housing has the potential to fill a gap in housing people under the age of 35, who are unable to afford independent living and to cater for those who aren’t quite ready to live by themselves.

Once tenants have completed the pre-tenancy training and the tenant matching service has been completed, Key continues to monitor the tenants in order to maximise sustainment. This includes reinforcing aspects of the tenancy training and signposting to additional services that may be useful to the tenants.

Below is a case study from one of our first tenants:“ I came to Key after being referred from the council. I was living with family and it was unbearable, arguing all the time and I became really depressed. I wasn’t sure about living on my own and didn’t think I would be able to afford it, so when shared housing was mentioned to me, I was really keen. I met with Kimberley from Key and she explained the process to me and what I would have to do, she was great and I am so grateful for the help and support she gave me. We went through a tenancy course and it was made really clear what was expected from me. I also spent time with other people who were interested in sharing, so was able to see whether I would get along with them. I moved into the property last year and Kimberley came to see us every month to make sure things were running smoothly. I lived in the house for over 12 months and I can honestly say I am a better person for being there. I am more confident and prepared for living on my own. I will be eternally grateful to Kimberley for giving me this opportunity and would recommend the scheme to anyone. The skills I have learnt are things I can take forward forever.”

Training17

Training16

Central to this work with families is using a solution-focused approach to support families to find their own solutions. We know that this approach helps to build resilience and also ensures that we hear the voice of the child/young person. This way of working is supported by the Solihull Approach, where parents’ emotions are contained before they can progress.

Our results for the last year have been outstanding due to the above approaches but also due to a highly committed and passionate team of workers, who excel at building trusting relationships with the families they support.

“Excellent communication and understanding of our issues. She made us feel ‘normal’ and put us at ease and

gave us confidence that we could get our issues sorted.”

“I was treated like an individual and the support worker was a ‘human being’ and didn’t judge.”

“When I first had support I was a wreck. My support worker was the first person to listen to me. Thank you so much. Don’t know what I would have done without the support.”

During the year the service has been re-commissioned. Thankfully Key will continue to deliver this service across Preston, South Ribble and Chorley for another year but sadly, due to austerity cuts, we have had to reduce our staffing in this area and over the next year are only likely to work within the region of 180 families.

19

Anger management

Building self-esteem

Emotional wellbeing

Dealing with self-harm

Healthy relationships

SupportSupport

18

Family Support

This service continues to be offered as part of Lancashire County Council’s early support core offer and Key delivers this as part of a consortium formed under the Greater Together banner.

The Family Support Team have successfully completed work with over 250 families during the last year, providing support on a huge variety of issues. The most common areas of support have included:

Helping parents implement routines

within the home

Aiding parentsto set boundariesfor their children

(particularly balancingboundaries with safety issues for teenagers)

Working on child behaviour concerns, in either the home

or at school

Dealing with debt

and housing issues

Working with a family where a

parent has mental health issues or

substance misuse issues

Terminal illness

within the family

Working with families who have just had an autistic

spectrum diagnosis for their child or who are

waiting for one

Working with survivors of domestic violence

Parental breakdown and the emotional

impact on children

Governance 21

Governance Review

During the last year Key has been working to further strengthen its governance arrangements. Changes include adopting a Code of Governance – ‘Good Governance for the Voluntary and Community Sector’ and putting in place an action plan to ensure compliance with this code. To date Key’s Board have reviewed its terms of office and have agreed a nine year maximum term, putting in place a succession plan for Board renewal.

Key has also come into line with the wider Group’s financial procedures and has started to review its strategic objectives. Induction training for new Board members has been formalised as has the application process for prospective new members. Key’s Board are keen to ensure that they provide excellent governance and have a Board that focuses on strategic direction to guide Key through these turbulent times.

Value 20

Value for Money

The average cost of supporting a young person through Key’s Drop-In and Mediation Service is £403. When considering successful homeless preventions the cost per case is £502.

The average cost per case of using a local authority homeless prevention and housing option service is £682*.

The average cost to Children’s Social Care of undertaking, initial contact and initial assessment and case closure is £683* per case. This is a cost assuming only basic costs and that there is no need for on-going support, more detailed assessment or for a young person to become looked after, should these be required the costs escalate significantly with the average yearly cost of a child in care being £46,389*.

This is a simple unit cost comparison and does not take into account savings accruing to any benefits funded by central government or costs related to the provision of accommodation e.g temporary or supported. Nor does it take into account wider costs in terms of health and wellbeing that result from the homelessness prevention.

Taken together the evidence strongly suggests that Key’s services play a significant role in reducing homelessness and the resulting cost savings to the public purse may be significant.

*The unit cost figures are from research pulled together from many sources by New Economics (Manchester) with Support from the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Figures22 23

Balance Sheet

Further financial information is available on request as part of Key’s statutory accounts.

As at 31 March 2015 Current Assets:DebtorsInvestmentsCash at bank and in hand

Total current assets Liabilities:Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Net current assets or liabilities

The funds of the charity:Restricted income fundsUnrestricted income funds Designated funds General funds Total charity funds

Total funds1 April 2014 -31 March 2015£

9,168 120,286 85

129,539

(18,729)

110,810

3,927

106,883 -

110,810

Total funds1 January 2014 - 31 March 2014£

21,435 147,175 5,292

173,902

(35,879)

138,022

9,198

88,412 40,412

138,022

Helping people build better lives

Correspondence address: Unit 2, Balfour Court, Off Hough Lane, Leyland,Lancashire PR25 2TF

Phone 01772 678 979Email help@keyyouthcharity.org.ukWeb www.keyyouthcharity.org.uk

Helping people build better lives