A Way Out Design Hub

Over the last few weeks, the girls taking part in our Heart2Change program have been part of a very exciting set of workshops run by the wonderful Lucy from Design Hub Artworks which has formed part of the life skills component of their course.

Although I have mainly just seen Lucy hanging around at the photocopier, she has in fact been teaching our service users how to design and make their own bags and t-shirts. Starting with a hand-drawn design, these were then scanned in Photoshop where they were edited and colour was added. The designs were then printed out onto transfer sheets which could be applied to bags or tops.

This is such an amazing way to teach the girls new skills, help them to grow in confidence and spend time together as a group. And as you can see the results are beautiful:

And not only have the girls been making their own items but they are now being sold across Teesside! A couple of the girls went to the Fashion Show held on Saturday night to sell their products and they are planning to get to a craft fair soon. But if you are interested in purchasing one of these limited edition items then don't hesitate to get in touch! (All profit goes to supporting the work of A Way Out.)

Love from A Way Out x

In the beginning...

You may have noticed that over the last couple of weeks we've been posting on YouTube an interview I did with Jessie, finding out a bit more about how A Way Out started and where is it going in the future. And you can now watch all three parts of the video right here:

Jessie talks her inspiration to found A Way Out and shares some of the stories that most impacted her decision.

So what happened next? How did the dream become a reality? How has it changed over the years?

And what's coming next?! A Way Out has an exciting future. Listen in to some of Jessie's dreams...

We don't think much more needs to be said here! Have a watch, get inspired and as always let us know what you think!

Love from A Way Out x

We Know How To Have A Good Holiday!

Hello and welcome back! We've been away for a couple of weeks but we now have lots of exciting things to update you on.

Today Lizzie, our Education Development worker, told me about what she and the rest of the team have been up to with our younger service users...

"We feel recreational & positive activities are so important at A Way Out. Many people will have childhood memories that they will cherish: picnics, paddling in the sea, playing sports on the beach, going to see annual pantomime, going on a bike ride, the list goes on. Often young people we work with for various reason may not have that opportunity to create those memories."

That's where A Way Out comes in!

"Our holiday activities aim to:

Provide young people with positive experiences

Raise Aspirations

Give young people simple enjoyment, joy & fun

Improve community cohesions & integration

Give young people a sense of acceptance and belonging

Reduce isolation & loneliness

Prevent boredom during the holiday that may lead to risk taking behaviour

Build relationships that may lead to further support for the young person.

So these are some of the things we've been doing:

We’ve had over a 100 Easter eggs donated from A Way Out staff, family & friends, churches and local business. We’ve given out 106 so far and will continue to distribute them the rest of the week."

We started with an Easter bonnet competition in one of our school groups:

"Then we had an afternoon on Port Clarence distributing Easter Eggs and playing games on the field. We met lots of new young people and were able to invite them to our Saltburn beach trip happening later on in the week."

"Tuesday, outreach workers, Mark and Matty took some lads to Preston Park for a BBQ and a game of Crazy golf. Much to his delight, Mark won!"

"Wednesday, we had a very wet & muddy trip up to Roseberry Topping,  a very quick picnic at the top as a storm was on its way and then made our way back down. 12 out the 13 young people had never been up before so it was certainly a new experience for them and they felt quite proud when they made it to the top! Especially the young people that were scared of heights!"

"And today we are having a girls treat to bowling and pizza hut and tomorrow we are ending the holiday with a beach trip to Saltburn providing the weather is okay... There might have to be a contingency plan of the cinema if not!"

Love from A Way Out x

Give an Egg!

Easter is fast approaching and we're all looking forward to our chocolate eggs! However, most of our clients won't be expecting to get an egg from anybody this year.

We had an amazing response to our Christmas Present Appeal in December and we were able to make sure that everyone we work with felt loved by giving them a gift. So we're hoping that you'll be keen to get involved again...

The price of an Easter egg is so low, you can easily pick one up for just £1 but the amount that it will mean to someone is priceless.

Of course, you might want to donate more than one egg to A Way Out this Easter. How about trying one of the ideas below.

1. Place a big box at the front of your church, community centre, school, college and get all your friends to donate one egg each.

2. Buy a mould and make your own Easter Eggs at home to give. You could make a few to donate and keep one for yourself!

3. Organise an afternoon of Easter activities and instead of getting people to pay to take part, ask them to donate an Easter Egg.

Thank you to those of you that have already got involved!

Love from A Way Out x

Cakes, Creativity & a Call to Act!

This week we held our first ever Afternoon Tea networking event at Crathorne Hall. This was a fantastic opportunity to get a group of people together over some delicious cakes to find out more about each other and the work of A Way Out. We had six stalls from local businesses including Jamie at Home, Temple Spa, Vintage Vogue and Peaceful Prints. There was a change to browse for bargains, meet new people and enjoy an amazing spread of food! And we also had a dynamic floristry demonstration by Adam Prest as we nibbled our desserts!

As you can see it was quite a special event!

We wanted to provide an opportunity to introduce some of our friends to one another and also to let people know a little more about A Way Out and the way in which they can support the work we do in Stockton. 

The reality is that while we were enjoying tea and cakes in a beautiful stately home, A Way Out was hosting a food parcel drop-in at our centre, handing out fruit, vegetables, bread and tins to those who otherwise might not have had a meal that evening.

For the price of a ticket to our event, a girl could have sold her body for sex on the streets that evening. Maybe several times. 

This powerful video tells a bit more of the story:

It's great to run these events and it is so so important that people hear about the need in Teesside and the work of A Way Out but it comes as quite a shock to realise the levels of inequality that exist in our society.

If you are interested in finding out more about A Way Out and how you can help then please visit our website or drop by the centre sometime (directions are here), we'd love to meet you.

Love from A Way Out x

Introducing Daniel...

Daniel represents the hundreds of boys and young men that we work with every year. Each one is individual and struggles with different problems from low self-esteem and social exclusion to knife crime and drug abuse.

Before our CEO Jessie began A Way Out, she met a ten-year-old boy who lived on a local estate and who was addicted to methadone. She was amazed that a boy so young would be so trapped by drug abuse but sadly, his story doesn't stand alone. Many of the lads we work with live on estates where drug dealing is normal and drinking alcohol under age is never questioned.

Through our outreach work on estates and in schools we are seeing so many boys come to realise how dangerous their lifestyles can be. They have found out that there is an alternative and through group sessions and one-to-one counselling they have changed the direction of their lives. Some have become volunteers and one lad is now a youth worker for A Way Out helping others to find a new direction.

Daniel represents all these boys at whatever stage they are at.

A Way Out has recently joined Local Giving and for the month of March they are offering match funding to every gift made. This means that once you add Gift Aid (if you are a tax payer) then:

A gift of £6 becomes £13.50

A gift of £13 becomes £29.25

A gift of £19 becomes £42.75!

Match Funding is available for the whole of March in theory but only as long as the money is there. So it could run out any time.

***The match funding money has now run out. Thank you to everyone who has given to A Way Out. You can still make a huge difference by making a donation at https://localgiving.com/charity/awayout.***

Please please consider giving something to support the work of A Way Out whether that is a £1 or  £100. Every gift is so important and will make a real difference to boys like Daniel.

Love from A Way Out x

p.s. have been filming an interview with Jessie today, will be letting you know as soon as it is live on the website!

We Love To Shout About What We're Up To!

This is the fundraising board in our office:

We like to be able to let everyone else in the office know what we're up to and what they can get involved in!  This is right in the middle of the building and so we all pass it every day whilst going about our work.

We think that it's so important to honour those who support us and so we have a little section of thank yous, for those who give to A Way Out, who have taken part in an event or volunteered with us. We also have newspaper cuttings and photos from events as well as prayer requests and an update on how much we've raised.

It's great as well when we have visitors here as they can see at a glance what we've been up to.

These are the events that are coming up next: a Charity Fashion Show at Teesside Uni, Bag Packs at Asda and Morrisons, Total Warrior in the Lake District and Afternoon Tea at Crathorne Hall. And we also have places for bungee jumpers at the Transporter Bridge! What takes your fancy?

I came in this morning to discover that another big black board has been put up for the projects team to do something similar. At the moment there are photos and posters scattered around the building but it's going to be even better to see everything at a glance and right next to the fundraising board too. We wouldn't be running any of these events if we weren't supporting the really inspiring, creative and life-changing work that our project workers do. Having this information side by side seems really appropriate :)

Why not pop by and see this sometime?

Love from A Way Out x