SJMT are SO excited to share our first every Young People’s Strategy!!
Earlier this year, we commissioned service design specialists Peopletoo to undertake an exciting project on our behalf. This project explored the needs of young people in Birmingham and Solihull who are care experienced and/or at risk of or currently not engaged in education, employment and training and the opportunities for SJMT to respond to these needs.
We were overwhelmed by how generous young people and colleagues were in sharing stories and information to help us make the most of the time and expertise of Peopletoo and we would like to thank everyone who was involved in supporting this project. The work produced by Peopletoo has enabled us to produce our first ever Young People’s Strategy.
This document provides information about us and our story, the project undertaken by Peopletoo, the national and local context, what young people have told us and our commitment to support young people over the next 5 years.
Whilst our organisation was founded to support the most vulnerable young people in our region, we are aware that it has been many years since this has been part of our core activity. It was because of this that we wanted to hear where young people & professionals working with them felt we could best use our time and resources to have the maximum impact and to avoid duplication whilst also considering our charity’s purpose and expertise.
As a result, over next 5 years, we will focus our energy and resources on the following 3 aims:
Aim 1: To create quality affordable homes for young people
Between 2021-2023, we will build 6 brand new one bedroom apartments (almshouses) for young people who are care experienced and/or homeless. In 2023, we will review the success of this project and if we are able to demonstrate the need and successful outcomes, subject to the availability of funding, we will commit to creating additional homes.
Aim 2: To help prepare young people to be ready for independent living
From 2022, SJMT will create and pilot two training flats for young people who are care experienced and/or homeless.
Aim 3: To help young people identify and achieve their hopes and plans
From 2022, we will launch a brand new community based support service for young people who are care experienced and not engaged or at risk of not being engaged in education, employment or training who need support to help them navigate the world of: education, employment, training, business start-up and skills development. We will review our model in 2024 and if we see improved outcomes for young people, we will explore expanding this service to young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET who are not care experienced, subject to the availability of funding.
Our charity began as an intergenerational housing community and we believe in the great benefits of intergenerational support. Therefore, we will always seek opportunities to include or promote intergenerational support across all of our services and activities.
We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are very excited to be able to develop some exciting new services for young people across Birmingham & Solihull. Please follow us on our social media pages and visit our website for more updates. If you would like to work with us on this project, please get in touch.
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