- Bar'N'Bus Trust

**Update 23rd March 2021

We continue supporting young people through our detached youth work programmes and with schools re-opening for students we have now restarted face-to-face mentoring and lunchtime engagements in Rochford, Castle Point, Basildon and Westcliff/Leigh. The graphic below outlines our COVID-19 Response over the past 12 months.

**Update 14th February 2021.

2020 was a very difficult year and we have entered 2021 with young people having their stability shaken to its core once again – school closures nationwide, lack of contact, cancelled exams and loss of positive activities. Bar ‘n’ Bus are continuing to support young people, wherever possible, in these uncertain and challenging times.

Over the past 4 months we have increased our reach to include Basildon along with the districts of Rochford and Castle Point, which has been running really well with good contacts and impacts being made. We also have a new worker starting in Westcliff/Leigh this coming February which is very exciting.

As in April 2020, in response to school closures we will be significantly increasing our detached youth work programmes at this time – engaging young people in public settings such as parks and high streets. As you know services supporting young people are closing and restricted and young people will need engagement, advice, support and guidance during this time. In addition, many of the young people we work with are vulnerable, and home is not the safest or most stable place for them. We have seen significant and very valuable contacts through our work over the past few months with young people who have really needed a connection and support and had nowhere to turn.

The key objectives of our detached work during this time are:

To provide a visual, reassuring and supportive presence for young people
To provide advice regarding personal safety and responsibilities during this crisis
To provide a positive influence and engagement for young people, reducing risky behaviours
Being a responsible pair of eyes in our community, seeking the safety of young people

It is not our intention to encourage young people to be gathering, but simply engaging those who are choosing to be out in public.

We have been and will be liaising closely with local authorities and police regarding this work to ensure maximum supportive impact for young people. Our local authorities and police are very much in support of this work.

We are paying close attention to government guidance and sessions will be run following the National Youth Agency guidance which can be found at https://nya.org.uk/guidance/

We ask you to join us in thinking and praying for our young people during these uncertain times that hope will shine through. Above all, we seek fullness of life for the young people with whom we work.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

**Update 21^st July 2020. Since the start of ‘lockdown’ we have continued to support young people through 1-2-1 work and with a programme of daily detached youth work sessions. Sessions initially focused on providing a reassuring and supportive presence for young people during the most restricted times. As restrictions loosen, we were able to continue offering connection and advice as well as socially distanced positive activities. Through our school links we grew our 1-2-1 support for young people, taking on new young people for mentoring with session run either via telephone or with face-to-face ‘walks’.

Looking into the summer holidays, we have a full programme of positive detached sessions in local parks to offer young people exciting and engaging activities to safely meet together, along with continuing our supportive programme.

Some stats since the start of lockdown:

206 hours of Youth Work provided
55 Detached Youth Work sessions delivered
11 young people received 1-2-1 support
41 Mentoring sessions delivered
1058 connections with local young people

**Update 20^th April 2020. As we continue in a period of restricted movement and social distancing, we have been working with our local police to explore the support we can offer. In response to request from police and local authorities, we have revisited our plans for detached youth work during this time. We are undertaking daily sessions across Rochford and Castle Point, engaging with young people choosing to be out – many on their 1hr of exercise . The key objectives for this work remain as originally intended:

To provide a visual, reassuring and supportive presence for young people
To provide advice regarding social distancing, personal safety and responsibilities during this crisis
To provide a positive influence and engagement for young people, reducing risky behaviours

We are also working to plan our programme for when restrictions being to lift, seeking to ensure that young people have positive activity, space to engage and can come back together well.

**Update 24^th March 2020. Following announcements from government concerning restrictions of movement in public on 23^rdMarch, we have had to rethink our detached youth work strategy at this time. Whilst stricter measure are in place, we will be continuing to provide support to local young people online and via telephone as well as linking with our school to offer support to their vulnerable students still attending. Detached Youth Work is ready to resume as movement restrictions and our capacity allows. **

We are continuing to support young people, wherever possible, in these uncertain and challenging times.

With the closure of schools our currently in-school programme of support will cease. We are, however, in contact with key schools as they are called upon to support vulnerable students and offering support and time where we can. We are also supporting some young people through webchat and messaging.

In response to school closure we will be significantly increasing our detached youth work programmes – engaging young people in public settings such as parks and high streets. As of 19^th March 2020 we are being told that schools are closing and social distancing measures are being advised. Many services supporting young people (including leisure activities) are already closed, but we would imagine that many young people will be out and about during this time – as if currently their right. These young people will need engagement, advice, support and guidance during this time. In addition, many of the young people we work with are vulnerable and have significant need which cannot be ignored.

The key objectives of this detached work are:

To provide a visual, reassuring and supportive presence for young people
To provide advice regarding personal safety and responsibilities during this crisis
To provide a positive influence and engagement for young people, reducing risky behaviours
Being a responsible pair of eyes in our community, seeking the safety of young people

During this time we will not advertise sessions or run programmed activities (e.g. football cage). It is not our intention to encourage young people to be gathering, but simply engaging those who are choosing to be out in public.

We are paying close attention to government guidance and will adjust these plans as is required of us.

Above all, we seek fullness of life for the young people with whom we work.

If you have any questions regarding this statement please contact us.