A Positive Impact

 

The ‘asset based’ support that A Way Out provides across all of our services, focussing and building upon the strengths of each individual client, is an approach we know is really effective.  This focus brings a real sense of achievement and helps each person to view their future with a real sense of hope and assurance. 

This attitude has spread beyond just our support of clients as the whole charity has embraced an asset based approach across the whole organisation.  We have changed and developed service delivery and operations to comply with restrictions, whilst ensuring that we concentrate on what we can do (rather than what we can’t).  This approach has ensured that A Way Out continues to support women in our area who are experiencing multiple difficulties and also local young people and families undergoing their own personal challenges.

Out in the community we see examples every day, all around us, people embracing what can be done to make a positive impact on the future of others.  Whilst we are out undertaking socially distanced welfare checks and delivering crisis parcels we have loved seeing many people in our local area incorporating litter picking into their daily walk, focussing upon what they can do as individuals to make our world a better place for us all to live in.

 Last month a young supporter of A Way Out considered his strengths and what he could do from his own home to raise essential funds for the organisation … and the result was amazing – an on-line quiz enjoyed by his family and friends, £150 raised for the charity and a huge sense of personal achievement! 

We would love to encourage others to follow this young man’s example – consider what you can do, think creatively for your community, contact A Way out on 01642 655071 or info@awayout.co.uk.  We would love to hear from you!

 

National End Violence Against Sex Workers Day

 

This month A Way Out’s Training Co-ordinator, Rachel shares some thoughts…..

Recently I re-watched a movie from a decade ago - ‘Pay It Forward’.  It touched me back then, but resonated on a deeper level ten years on.   A key message of the film is by practicing random acts of kindness, there is the hope of leading the world to becoming a better place.   During my time at A Way Out I have witnessed an abundance of such acts, alongside those our incredibly supportive community who are  beacons of light for the women and families the organisation supports… time gifted through volunteering;  financial donations; donations of clothing, toiletries, food and Christmas gifts … for the individuals receiving support these are so  greatly valued, without this support their world would be a very different place.

 

As a  lead practitioner in supporting women who have experienced sexually exploitation,  I am thankful for having been part of a team who experience the privilege of paying forward hope, safety, acceptance, empathy, trust and respect to some of the most vulnerable and marginalised females who have experienced violence, exploitation, complex trauma, and abuse.  Some of these women sadly their lives have been cut short and on 17^th December A Way Out marked International End Violence Against Sex Workers Day by remembering these women.  We took some solace that their legacy now lives on through my current work.  As Training Co-ordinator I train and develop professionals across the North East to be more effective in their support, by adapting practice and service delivery using the approach informed and ‘paid forward’ the experiences of these women.  Through this platform their voices are not lost but amplified and live on for all to hear and learn from.

 How might you be able to pay something forward that could cast the first ripple ….? 

By Rachel Johnson.

Contact info@awayout.co.uk or 01642 655071 for more information.

Hope For The Future

 

Evening Gazette Column by Orla McLoone, Blossom Project Worker for A Way Out

 

What do I contribute to the world? What is important to me? What motivates me to succeed and meet my goals? These are questions I have often asked myself throughout my life. Questions like these are not easily answered, and they are not questions we typically spend a lot of time in our day to day life trying to answer. Despite this, the answers to these questions are important for helping us figure out what makes us tick and what we want out of our lives.

 

These questions form the basis of my work at A Way Out. My role within the Blossom project, is to support young women to find the answers to these questions. To help them find out what makes them unique, to match their strengths with their education or employment goals and in doing so increase their confidence and self- esteem. Ultimately empowering them to go out into the world and find their own way.

 

I firmly believe that hope is the foundation on which motivation is built. The ability to plan and have hope for the future is something that a lot of us feel, has been taken away from us during this pandemic. This is a particularly stressful time for young people, who may be questioning their futures. One thing that the charity A Way Out do well is bringing hope to those who need it. Hope is contagious, if I can inspire it in the young women I work with, then they can go out into the world and do the same. As I am writing this, I am reminded of a powerful quote from Maya Angelou:

 

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”

 

To support the work of A Way Out TEXT ‘AWAYOUT 5’ to 70085 TO DONATE £5, texts will cost the value of your donation plus 1 standard message rate

Community Support

 COMMUNITY SUPPORT is vital to my role as A Way Out’s Fundraiser. Over the last four weeks I have had an opportunity to meet some of our supporters and see first-hand how caring and generous local people are.

 
It’s October and if you have children in school, you will have most likely heard about Harvest Festival. Traditionally a celebration when farmers would share their crops after a successful harvest, in more recent years Harvest Festival has become about giving and sharing, most especially with those experiencing tough times.
 
A Way Out appealed to local schools to consider collecting food donations for us to include in our crisis parcels passed on to women, families and young people we support as they experience the impact of increasing poverty. Three headteachers kindly replied with a ‘yes!’ expressing that their pupils and families would love to support this Harvest Festival.  The staff and clients of A Way Out feel so very grateful that these 3 schools heard and responded to with love and 100% effort to this appeal.
 
‘Every charitable act makes a difference’ and whether it is one person donating a coat they no longer need or one school making a harvest festival collection. Every donation is very gratefully received and assists A Way Out’s clients towards real positive change in their lives.
 
As Tees Valley responds to CV19 virus, A Way Out is revising and developing service delivery in order to meet the needs of those we support whilst operating under required restriction that are impacting us all… A Way Out would love you to consider donating the cost of a coffee to help us…
 
TEXT ‘AWAYOUT 3’ to 70085 TO DONATE £3 , texts will cost the value of your donation plus 1 standard message rate.
 
Natalie King, Community Fundraiser

Reflection

Reflection is something many people will have had time to do during these last six months as life has changed for us all in some way. Everyone has a story and whether this is from childhood or as an adult, that story is part of who they are.

Since joining A Way Out this month, I have told my own story to colleagues about where my passion and driving force comes from and why community fundraising is so important to me. I went back to myself aged 15, and reflected upon what life would have looked like for me if I had not by chance received a single leaflet from a charity at a gala day which  became my lifeline.

Now as A Way Out’s Community Fundraising Co-ordinator  I’m excited to be that person who promotes the work they do and fundraises to keep the organisation’s vital services running.  I am also thrilled to be recruiting a team of community fundraising volunteers to help me do it.

The global pandemic has actively demonstrated how caring a community is when they come together, and it also means that A Way Out’s services are needed more now than ever to support vulnerable women, young people and families who have suffered hardship during the last six months.

If you have passion for community fundraising like me and want to help make a difference to people’s lives then email info@awayout.co.uk for an information pack and join our team!

Natalie King, Community Fundraiser

 

 

 

 

 

A Way Out Shines on…

When I was a child one of my fondest memories was time spent with my grandma, helping her to polish her collection of ‘brasses’, most especially the brass ‘companion set’ – a beautifully crafted set of tools which she used to tend to her coal fire.  Hard work polishing reaped the reward of gleaming brass, refreshed, clean and ready for action.

 

During the past few months A Way Out staff have continued to effectively support clients and have also taken time to polish their knowledge and skills – most especially increasing learning in relation to essential mental health issues and suicide prevention.  This is particularly in response to the impact and experience in relation to CV19 upon those the organisation supports.

 

The organisation has also been developing and polishing our service delivery, ensuring that all service delivery is client led alongside being CV19 compliant.  A Way Out’s Youth and Families service has devised and trailed a new appointment based family drop-in to support the pupils and families in the Bowesfield area of Stockton and delivered socially distanced, outdoor activities to young people and families in Port Clarence.  As A Way Out’s established Youth Service shines on, the service will also be used as a tool to establish and develop much needed support to young males in the area.

 

A Way Out’s support of vulnerable women and girls is also gleaming in the glow of 3 new staff appointments; supporting young women with additional needs; supporting females who have experienced grooming and exploitation; and supporting women serving custodial sentences.  A further 2 new appointments shine a light into the future of A Way Out focusing upon generating income by providing accredited training and concentrating upon community fundraising.

 

Although the past few months may have been hard work, A Way Out is polished, refreshed and ready for action. 

 

For further information about A Way Out’s services or how you can support the work please call 01642 655071 or email info@awayout.co.uk.

A Way Out Update

The end of July marks the first 12 months of A Way Out’s involvement as one of the six partners in the STAGE Project.  The Project brings together five organisations spanning the North East and Yorkshire to provide  trauma-informed  support for women and girls who have been groomed for sexual exploitation.

The work of each of the five partner organisations has confirmed the distressing truth that sexual exploitation is causing significant harm in our communities.  Across the North East and Yorkshire areas it has also shown to be apparent that those women and girls who have been targeted for sexual exploitation often have existing vulnerabilities, such as poverty, homelessness, poor mental health and past experiences of trauma.    

Since the STAGE Project began in July 2019, a total of 95 women have been referred across the 8 towns and cities supported by the project.  A Way Out has undertaken active and effective support, building up trust and relationship with women and girls who make painful disclosures.  Through partnership working across the North East and Yorkshire the STAGE Project has demonstrated that the issue of sexual exploitation is pervasive and systemic across all areas.  As women and girls continue reveal their horrific experiences and cases emerge, A Way Out and our partners involved in the STAGE project find it hugely saddening that women and girls continue to be sexually exploited.
The Stage Project has produced a briefing which recognises the link between housing, homelessness and sexual exploitation and contains a range of government recommendations including the creation of a new National Framework for Adult Survivors of Sexual Exploitation.

One of A Way Out’s objectives is to ensure the voice of the girls and women we support are listened to and heard on a local and a national  - the STAGE project is helping us to achieve this.

For more information contact info@awayout.co.uk or call 01642 655071.

For more information please go to www.awayout.co.uk, or contact 01642 655071, info@awayout.co.uk.