In asphaleia care, we have several services that support looked after young people. This blog post shares recent events from our supported accommodation services in Sussex, as well as our Independent Visiting and Advocacy services in East Sussex.
young person achievements
Two young people signed up to be young ambassadors for asphaleia, which is brilliant and we look forward to the contributions they will make.
Several young people have received certificates for their achievements in learning and education. One young person passed all her English listening, writing, and speaking Entry 3 exams, which means this September she will go on to do Level 1 English. A fantastic achievement!
A young person won asphaleia’s Refugee Week writing competition and two others also entered. In our Brighton accommodation, a talented resident participated in a football tournament and his team won! He was absolutely delighted with this achievement.
Some young people in the properties have been attending asphaleia’s ESOL summer study programme. learning English and doing creative activities, including creative arts workshops with Chichester Festival Theatre. One young person commented that she loves all the teachers there.
The EPIC awards by West Sussex took place in July and one of the young people in our properties was nominated in the Big Thinkers category, celebrating their dedication to their learning.
engagement activities
A group of ESOL students, which included several from one of our properties, went to watch Oliver! At Chichester Festival Theatre. This trip included a tour of the theatre and participating in a workshop.
Staff supported a young person to travel to London to visit a temple and a service coordinator has plans to engage with the young people via some common interest/hobbies, including football sessions at a local football club.
In two of our properties, staff are working to support young people with their English learning and practice by speaking to them in English and encouraging them to interact in the language to learn it and grow in confidence.
young person feedback
One young person did a huge amount of cleaning and when he was thanked by staff, he said, ‘no, no, don’t thank, I do this because it is my home, and the home of my family.’
Another young person said, ‘It’s so lovely to be able to finally sleep without fear now I’m here.’
From our IV service, when asked: ‘What is one thing that your visitor has helped you with?’, one of our YP answered: 'It's nice to have a chat and relax as doing mocks atm and they can be stressful.' One of our other young people answered: 'Taught me bowling skills.'
staff development
Staff attended a UASC development day in July where they received updates on asphaleia services, and had a guest speaker, West Sussex Counter Extremism Officer Jen Talbot, who delivered a session. The team also covered trauma-informed practice and young people moving on.
We have been recruiting to grow our teams and recently welcomed new service coordinators in Crawley and Worthing, and a new house support worker in Worthing.
Our team in East Sussex travelled around towns in East Sussex for a roadshow that promoted our volunteer role of Independent Visitor. In August, the advocacy team gathered for a development day.
safeguarding
Staff have been supporting young people through the recent period of unrest in the UK due to far right groups. They have been working with young people on how to keep themselves safe, how to report concerns and hate crimes, and organisations they can contact for further support.
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