Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. This report seeks the approval of the Executive Member for Children and Families for grant applications for 2008/09 totalling £77,400 recommended by the scrutiny panel, Young Carers Advisory Board and the Commissioning Co-ordination Unit. The aim of this report is to provide the Executive Member for Children and Families with sufficient information to approve the grant applications.

1.2. A central budget, specifically ring fenced for Young Carer's by the Children and Families Departmental Management Team, is available for 2008/09. Subject to approval of the grant applications detailed within this report, the central fund, administered by the Children Living Away from Home Strategy Team, will support these costs.

1.3. Grant application processes have been managed in partnership between the Strategy Team and the Commissioning Co-ordination Unit, to provide a joined up approach to the process of awarding grants and to ensure duplication of service and funding is avoided.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. The report provides information about the work of voluntary organisations who have applied for a Children's Services Young Carers Grant and seeks grant approvals.

3) Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

3.1. The Executive Member for Children and Families approves the grant applications totalling £77,400 to organisations to support young carers within Hampshire.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. Grants to voluntary organisations listed in this report will enable them to continue with, or expand their services and undertake projects which will support young carers. Supporting these organisations in this way will contribute towards two of Hampshire County Council's corporate priorities (Making Hampshire Safer and Secure for All and Maximising Well-being), specific outcomes defined within the Hampshire's Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) and towards the five Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes.

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. All grant applications must provide evidence that they contribute towards the five ECM outcomes, Hampshire's CYPP and the aims and priorities of the Local Area Agreement (LAA).

2.2. All grant allocations will be met by a central fund for 2008/09 which is held and administered by the Children Living Away from Home Strategy Team and the Commissioning Coordination Unit.

3) Key Issues:

3.1. Grants to voluntary organisations support Hampshire County Council's priority of `Making Hampshire Safer and More Secure for All' by funding organisations that provide positive activities for children and young people. They also support the priority of `Maximising Wellbeing' by funding organisations which deliver services to children and young people, or are run by children and young people. In addition, the grants programmes contribute towards the Every Child Matters outcomes by encouraging young people to stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well being and thereby to various outcomes in the CYPP.

3.2 All small grant applications are approved by a Scrutiny Panel before being submitted for ratification by the Hampshire County Council approval process.

4) Grant Applications

4.1 East Hants Young Carers Project

East Hants Youth Team are acting as a conduit to support a local group of twelve young carers aged between 11-18 years old and coordinate monthly excursions and residential experiences for the young carers. The service is over and above normal Youth Team provision and specifically supports the young carers in the absence of any other dedicated provision. This bid is to take Young Carers to the Young Carers Festival as part of a residential and to support ongoing monthly trips as a peer group. Dedicated activities will be different to existing Youth Team activities as peer group support offers young carers the opportunities to know that they are not alone or isolated and allows them to discuss their own personal circumstances amongst other young people in similar situations.

A grant of £3,850 is recommended.

4.2 Romsey Carers Forum

Romsey Carers Forum had supported adult carers since 1998 and became aware that children and young people living in the Southern Test Valley were taking on practical and emotional caring. A small grant from the Local Network Fund enabled the project to begin, employing a part-time coordinator to run a volunteer `Befriending' service. Further funding including Children's Fund under spend and an annual Children and Families contract of £7,857pa has enabled the service to grow. However the coordinator is still only part time. Funding will support the following initiatives;

· Funding will also increase coordinators hours from 15 hours per week to 37 per week during the 2008/09 funding year, enabling staff to review the needs of the 35 already engaged families.

· Recruit a part time sessional worker to organise, plan and run an age appropriate activities programme during school holidays.

· The project will also fund a residential break for older young carers and provide essential equipment for recording achievements, such as camera / printer and laptop.

A grant of £12,425 is recommended.

4.3 Winchester Young Carers

Winchester Young Carers project delivers three weekly carers clubs and supports 60 young carers aged from 11 years old. The project is requesting additional funding to support The Skill UP! skills courses programmes (First Aid, Dealing with Emergencies, Healthy Eating, Anti-Bullying, Steer Your Career, Time Management) which have been operating at weekly Young Carers Clubs. Funding will contribute towards staffing costs for clubs and family work support, as well as funding two separate age targeted residential breaks for a total of 18 young people and enabling 16 young people (ages 12+) the opportunity to attend Young Carers Festival 2009.

This activity is in addition to that funded by the Children & Families Service contract of £7,857 which is focused on project running costs.

A grant of £12,270 is recommended.

4.4 One Community

A Council of Voluntary Service aiming to improve the quality of life for Eastleigh residents by supporting voluntary activities and providing services for vulnerable people. The Eastleigh Young carers project was set up in 2000 and is a well established group of 50 young carers aged 11-18 years old. Through consultation with the Young Carers the funding will be used to undertake an art workshop over the half term in February 2009 and to purchase a laptop which can be made available for young carers doing their homework during meetings. The laptop will also provide a tool for the focus group to use to write minutes, design leaflets, newsletters etc.

A grant of £730 is recommended

4.5 Community First New Forest Young Carers project

The New Forest Young Carers Project, a new service, are seeking funding to offer a variety of services that will both lighten the caring burden of the young carers and also make them less socially isolated. Funding will pump prime a phone based friendship and support group that will support the young carers in isolated areas of the New Forest district. Because of the challenges of rural transport / isolation, the phone based friendship will help the young carers feel less socially isolated and the supplementary activities will provide the opportunities to meet up socially.

Funding will support;

_ Administration and running costs of the phone groups operated through the charity Community Network.

_ Volunteer training and volunteer expenses for family support scheme

_ Admission costs / transport for events and activities

_ Printing costs for Young Carers materials and information packs

_ Group of young carers to attend the Young Carers Festival 2009.

Current funding includes Extended Services grant of £25,000 to fund a two year part-time post 2008-2011.

A grant of £10,000 is recommended.

4.6 Rainbow Trust Children's Charity

Rainbow Trust provides emotional, practical and short break support to Hampshire families with a child or young person with a life threatening or terminal illness. The project will support 20 siblings across the county, who find themselves in a caring role, to enjoy opportunities outside of the home, at times when parents cannot support them. Activities include sporting events and after school clubs. Funding will assist with the cost of a Family Support Worker to provide dedicated support to sibling carers in the Hampshire area. The project will provide dedicated support to families, giving the well sibling valuable time and space away from the home to enjoy their childhood in a normal way and pursue particular interests or activities. They will be supported by Rainbow Trust's team of workers and volunteers, who, for example, will provide transport to a sporting activity.

A grant of £4,000 is recommended.

4.7 KIDS Young Carers Project (Fareham & Gosport)

The project aims to assist 66 engaged young people aged 7-18 who have significant caring responsibilities for a close family member who has a long or short term disability or illness. It supports them to take time out for themselves, socialise and cope with the demands placed on them as carers. KIDS Young Carers works in partnership with young carers to identify and shape their service and raise awareness of the difficulties they face and provides support and opportunities for young carers within Fareham and Gosport. The grant will fund;

_ An additional 7 staffing hours per week (January - March 2009) to provide one to one support to young carers

_ Enable 20 young people the opportunity to attend the Young Carers Festival 2009.

_ Provide a residential weekend for a further 10 young people at Hampshire Mountain Centre in Brecon Beacons

A grant of £3,915 is recommended.

4.8 Andover Young Carers

An independent charity, Andover Young Carers provide a range of support services for Young Carers (8-18yrs) living in the Andover and surrounding villages. With one of the largest cohorts of engaged young carers the organisation currently supports 49 young carers (living in Andover and surrounding villages) through a range of support services including;

_ After school and holiday clubs

_ Days out

_ Homework club

_ Counselling Service

_ Life Skills Classes

The project currently transports 20 young carers to and from a variety of clubs and sessions using a 7 seater vehicle and other staff vehicles. For school pick ups and day trips a minibus is currently being hired at a cost from Test Valley Community Services. However as demand is growing to 4 weekly sessions this is no longer a cost effective method and availability is also becoming an issue. Subsequently an application has been made to fund the purchase of a dedicated vehicle for Andover young carers to transport already engaged young people and make the services more accessible for others. The application received includes quotations for new and used vehicles and the bid is based on a used 17 seater Minibus (10,666 miles with full service history) through Redkite (The UK's leading supplier of school Minibuses) at a cost of £21,285.

The application also requests funding to enable 20 young carers to attend the Young Carers Festival 2009 at a cost of £1625.

Current funding includes a Children & Families service contract for 2008/09 of £7,857 that supports ongoing costs of the project and a Children;s Fund grant of £22,000 that supports the Exploration project that supports hard to reach groups and sibling support groups.

A grant of £22,910 is recommended.

4.10 Children's Society

The Children's Society Include Project currently funded through the Children & Families service contract (value £73,790.90) undertakes development work for young carers across the County. The Children's Society works with agencies supporting young carers and their families, including health agencies, schools, children's services, adult services and policy makers specific to Hampshire. The work is funded from March 2006-2009 and currently funds 3 part time development workers who work across Hampshire. Additionally, the Children's Fund is funding The Children's Society to develop countywide information for young carers, their families and for organisations and agencies working with them. This recent application is to fund the co-ordination and delivery of a County wide workshop for agencies supporting young carers and provide an opportunity to align activity between Children's Services and Adult Services. The workshop would be approved and directed by the Young Carers Advisory Board and meet the current issues facing organisations supporting young carers. In addition funding would support the reprint costs of valuable resources for all agencies who may identify young carers and families.

A grant of £6,000 is recommended.

4.11 Havant Youth Team

Havant Youth Team are acting as a conduit to support a local group of fifteen young carers aged between 10-19 years old and coordinate off-site activities and trips. The service is over and above normal Youth Team provision and specifically supports the young carers in the absence of any other dedicated provision. This bid is to fund 15 Young Carers for the Young Carers Festival 2009 as part of a residential trip. The young carers have identified attending the residential trip as a priority for 2009. It provides the opportunity to meet other young carers and share experiences. Funding will contribute towards Festival ticket and transport costs.

A grant of £1,300 is recommended.

5) Conclusions:

5.1. Ongoing financial support provided to the organisations listed in this report ensures that valuable work, which provides much needed support to vulnerable young carers, continues to be provided. It will ensure continuity of service provision whilst the department carries out the formal consultation regarding the draft Young Carer's strategy reported to the Executive Member at the July 2008 Decision Day.

6) Recommendations:

6.1. That the Executive Member for Children and Families approves the grant applications totalling £77,400 to organisations to support young carers within Hampshire.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION: