Ykids

Who we are

Our Vision

Ykids works with children, young people and their families; developing individuals who can cope with whatever life throws at them, have plans for their future and the skills to make their dreams a reality.

Our vision is for the transformation of Bootle through its children, young people and families

We have a passion to see lives changed and children, young people and families given the best life chances and opportunities.  We believe better futures and regeneration can come about by encouraging people to become resilient, confident and happy; providing opportunities, training and employment; raising aspirations and dreams for the future; offering exciting and creative projects, and creating a sense of local pride and community.

   Our Aims and objectives

• To develop children, young people and families who are emotionally resilient

This means that as a result of our work individuals will show increased confidence, increased self-esteem, increased sense of community pride, ability to take personal responsibility for themselves and they would gain a sense of belonging.

• To develop children, young people and families with a positive mindset

This means that as a result of our work individuals will have raised aspirations for their future and the ability to dream big dreams, they will develop a sense of purpose and plans for their lives and know what they need to do to make their plans happen, they would develop a sense of social responsibility towards the community around them.

• To develop skilled children, young people and families

This means that as a result of our work children, young people and families will show leadership skills, will gain accreditations and qualifications, they will gain skills for employment and advance into further education and training.

All of our work fits into one or more of these areas and we measure the impact of our work against progress individuals are making in these areas.

Ykids is  a Christian organisation and we support churches to deliver their own high quality work with children and young people as well as offering our own faith based activities.  The purpose of our faith based work is:

To introduce children and young people to the Christian faith in a relevant and engaging way; to provide opportunities for children and young people to ask their own questions in a safe and supportive environment.

Ykids areas of work:

To enable us to achieve our aims we have grouped our work into different areas of operation.  These could also be described as our objectives.  They are the activities we do to ensure we achieve our aims.  All of our work is centred around our skilled staff team where individuals can build positive relationships with appropriate adults who act as strong role models:

 Relational Youth work – Delivering multiple groups aimed at children aged 8 -18yrs focusing on well being, group mentoring, citizenship, belonging, skills development and fun. Projects include one off events and activities, short term programmes and long term groups.

Family Support work – project s which promote family cohesion, target at risk and vulnerable families, support parenting, and offer practical support to those facing the challenges of poverty, illness, hunger or unemployment.

 Community- Delivering social action projects, community garden, and large scale events involving multiple partners and the wider community such as arts projects, the ‘Believe Awards’ and Bootle Children’s Literary Festival.

 Schools - Working in schools to deliver self-esteem programmes and extracurricular activities, building relationships, supporting schools and offering curriculum enhancing programmes.

 Enterprise–Setting up small businesses in order to train young people, give work opportunities and generate an income for Ykids. Currently we have a Café- North Perk, an outlet coffee shop in an NHS building, and a small Bee Keeping enterprise teaching children Bee keeping and business skills.

Training - We deliver training on a wide range of subjects and offer internships, work placements,  apprenticeships and accredited training to young people. 

 Faith - The charity has a Christian ethos and supports local churches to develop effective youth and children’s work in their community and offer faith based work to schools.We also deliver our own faith based projects which enable young people to ask their own questions about the Christian faith in a safe and supportive environment.

Ykids values and approach

Approach

We operate from an Asset Based Community Development perspective.  We refuse to label individuals and neighbourhoods as the sum of their identified issues but instead recognise the strengths and positives in every person.  We seek to build on these strengths to enable individuals to look at areas they wish to change when the time is right. We want young people to learn – but are keen to help them discover what their gifts, talents and interests are and encourage them in these fields.

We believe in encouraging young people to be leaders and make a better destiny for themselves. We believe in equipping young people in life skills and experiences which set them up for success not failure. We are committed to our community and our young people long term. Rather than focus on one particular issue and have one particular approach we aim to work with young people long term, in many aspects of their lives. Our 7 areas of operation allow us to meet them in schools, sign post them to special interest groups and projects appropriate to their needs, encourage them to get involved in social action and volunteering, support their learning through accredited training and offer job opportunities and apprenticeships.

As a result 28% of our staff team were once children in our projects, some first engaged when they were just 7 years old.

A key element of our approach is love and acceptance. Our purpose is to create a safe haven and a place to belong to.

 Our Values

Our values include:

 Children first–Children and young people are our priority but every individual who walks through our doors is valuable and important and will be treated as such.  In our busy world of competing priorities we will always make time for the individual. 

Vision - We dream big dreams for Ykids, our children, young people and families and our community, but more importantly we want people to dream big dreams for themselves.  We won't be scared by a challenge and seek to do all we can to make Bootle a better place to live work and grow up in.

Excellence - We want to do everything to best of our abilities.  We may make mistakes but we will learn from them to make sure they aren't repeated.

Invest for the long-term - We know that real change comes when there is long-term investment and lasting positive relationships. Our services are designed that people can access us in different ways at different times in their lives when they need it.  We support young people and their families to make better futures for themselves whether that is in education, employment or skills we want them to reach their full potential.

Partnership  - We know our strengths and what we are good at and where other organisations can complement and help us.  We work together with like-minded organisations to achieve real change.