Agenda item

This report provides a progress report on the Haringey Community Gold (HCG) programme for quarter four (end of year one). The progress report seeks to inform senior leaders of the Council about the current status of HCG.

The Partnership received a progress report on the Haringey Community Gold (HCG) programme for quarter four (end of year one), as set out in the agenda pack at pages 21-28. The Partnership also received a brief presentation which provided an overview of Haringey Community Gold that included background information, key outcomes, programme progress update, analysis of participants, weekly schedule of activity, a case study of a young person supported by Oasis, and next steps. The report and presentation were introduced by Eduardo Araujo, Senior Tottenham Community Safety Manager.

In reference to the HCG programme targets, it was noted that in relation to the young people that completed the HCG programme activity, 23 of the young people were supported into employment and 101 young people acquired. It was further noted that in terms of targets, mental health was an area that required further investigation, particularly in detecting signs of mental health and ensuring effective referral. Throughout last year, the Thinking Space staff had provided training around mental health, and at present 13 young people were referred to mental health support; however, it was anticipated that in future there would be more young people that would be provided with mental health support. 

In relation to outcomes, the Senior Tottenham Community Safety Manager highlighted that figures were not the only key determinant on basing outcome, the impact of the programme on the lives of young people was also an important factor in determining the effectiveness of the programme.It was noted that although 452 young people were involved in the initial engagement, there was only 309 young people that completed the activity; thus, further improvement was required in convincing young people in engaging with the programme.Nonetheless, there were positive outcomes of the programme, which included 35 young people reported improvement in their attainment and 13 young people were supported by the Mind Charity with mental health. The majority of young people indicated that they required employment support, thus monthly sessions to support young people into employment was due to commence, and the retention of employment would be a clear indication of a positive outcome. It was further indicated that there was a need for more facilities in the Borough for girls, thus two female apprentices had been recruited in the hope of furthering engagement and in-depth conversations with girls in order to provide suitable services for girls in the Borough.

In terms of next steps, one of the areas of focus for year 2 included the finalisation of the development of the ‘young people shadow board’ to support certain programmes within the Council and partner organisations. Furthermore, two apprentices had been recruited by the Council to commence training, and a provision had been established in the Dominion Centre in Wood Green for young people to attend on Wednesday afternoons. Additionally, an in-depth analysis of the impact of the programme within the period of March 2020 to March 2021 was due to be undertaken. It was anticipated that a meet programme review would be carried out by the end of Summer, and the outcome of the review would be provided a future CSP meeting (Action: Eduardo Araujo).

Further partnership work to promote and develop the programme was anticipated for year 2. The Senior Tottenham Community Safety Manager informed that videos and case studies would be collated from across the Partnership to provide at a future CSP meeting (Action: Eduardo Araujo).

The following was noted in response to the discussion of this item:

• In response to a query on the process of referral of young people to mental health support, the Senior Tottenham Community Safety Manager explained that the consortium of partners referred the young people identified with having mild mental health issues to Mind services.
• The Director of Adult & Health queried how young people could be developed as community leaders to support the sustainability of the programme should the funding stream cease.  In response the Senior Tottenham Community Safety Manager informed that 13 young people completed the requisite course work for training accreditation, and as part of that course there was 45 days of internship within organisations such as the Council, police and Homes for Haringey. During the 45-day internship, the young people observed meetings to understand the decision-making process, thus the aim of the internship was to develop young people into community leaders. The next step would be to support those young leaders and explore how they could potentially obtain funding to deliver programmes on the ground. It was noted that it was important to steer young people’s passion and drive into the right direction. It was further noted that the aim was to be in a position by the end of the year, upon completion of the review, to request further funding from the GLA.
• Regarding a query as to whether there were any plans for a quality evaluation of the programme, the Chief Executive of the Bridge Renewal Trust informed that his organisation were undertaking an evaluation, and there were a similar process in other areas, thus there was a peer element involved in the evaluation. In addition, the Senior Tottenham Community Safety Manager noted that he could share the overall evaluation plan which would indicate the overall period of change and each individual provisions’ period of change (Action: Eduardo Araujo). The Senior Tottenham Community Safety Manager mentioned the in-depth analysis of the impact of the programme within the period of March 2020 to March 2021 and case studies that he referenced earlier, which would provide a better picture of the achievements of the programme.

RESOLVED

That the Partnership noted the recommendations in the report.