As the end of the year is approaching and January draws near, we’re looking back at some of the successes from Catch22’s staff and volunteers over the last year.
Day 1: Our Young People and Families team work with young people and families, providing early intervention, targeted and specialist support services to those in crisis, leaving care, missing from home or with substance misuse or mental health problems.
Day 2: Our Employability team deliver high-quality tailored employability programmes that equip hard to reach individuals with the support they need for a path to sustainable employment. Working with employers and individuals, our case workers base themselves in the heart of communities and reach out to individuals directly.
Day 3: Every month, we share updates from across our services in our monthly newsletter. If you’d like to stay up-to-date all year round, you can sign up for updates here on our website.
Day 4: In May, our Lockdown Diaries gave a snapshot view, day by day of how our services and staff were adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to continue supporting the people and communities they work with.
Day 5: Our NCS teams deliver youth programmes every Summer and Autumn during the school holidays. Although this year’s programme was a little different to other years, young people built confidence on a programme that emphasised volunteering to help the community recover
Day 6: In January, our services at HMP Thameside enjoyed a visit from our Patron, HRH The Princess Royal who presented staff with awards in acknowledgement of their outstanding work and heard about the importance of helping prisoners to reintegrate into society.
Day 7: The Social Switch Project is switching the narrative on how social media’s relationship to youth violence is understood, tackled and solved. Providing free training to frontline professions in online harms is just one of the ways that they are addressing online violence.
Day 8: Lighthouse Children’s Homes are preparing to open their first not-for-profit children’s home. Their mission is to give children in care the same opportunities as everyone else, by creating life-changing, education-focused children’s homes.
Day 9: Incorporating the voices of children, young people, and experts into our online harms research is crucial to understanding the situation as it really affects people. Today, we discussed some of the interim findings from our latest research. Find out more about our work in this area.
Day 10: Although the method of delivery for our 2020 events may not have been as we planned at the start of the year, that hasn’t stopped us from holding them virtually! We have shared live updates from some of them on our Twitter account so you can catch up.
Day 11: In the Summer, Raspberry Pi distributed free devices to young people who were not able to complete their school work during the pandemic due to a lack of technology. This was key to students at a time when access to tech has been shown to be more important than ever.
Day 12: Ensuring that our staff feel connected to one another has been a priority in 2020. In March, we initiated a series of well-received internal webinars covering everything from mental health and wellbeing, to how to provide cross-service support to service users.
Day 13: We provide alternative and special education for students aged 4-18 displaying a range of complex barriers to education, along with vocational training for learners aged 16-19 who, for whatever reason, don’t want to stay in a traditional academic environment.
Day 14: Together with over 35 charities and youth organisations, we launched a petition to #connectcareleavers with a digital device and internet access when living independently for the first time. We’d love for you to join us in signing for #24DaysofCatchmas.
Day 15: From their base in East London, Community Links support people in coming together, overcoming barriers, building purpose and making the most of the place they live in. Their latest report shows the extent of the work they’ve done to be there for people during the pandemic.
Day 16: Reform underpins all of our work at Catch22. We are always looking for ways to improve how public services are delivered, and informing policy by contributing to Government consultations is one way that we are able to do so on both a local and national level.
Day 17: Our Justice teams have supported individuals in prisons and the community this year across our offender management, resettlement, gangs and victim services. At the heart of our work is the belief that relationships are crucial to effective desistance from crime.
Day 18: With high unemployment levels in the UK as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we teamed up with Angus Knight to create a new venture earlier this year. Jobs 22 will design programmes to help those who face barriers to employment find work.
Day 19: In spite of the circumstances, there has been so much brilliant work from the people of Catch22 to shout about this year. Make sure that you’re following us if you’re not already – we’re on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram!
Day 20: Our services deliver at least one (and often all three) of these outcomes, as we believe that access to these three basic things is fundamental to transforming lives and communities. Find out more about our 3Ps and our vision.
Day 21: Our work spans five main operational hubs that design and deliver services that build resilience and aspiration in people and communities across the UK: justice, education, vocational training and employability, young people and families, and NCS.
Day 22: Catch22’s history starts in 1788. It began with the formation of The Philanthropic Society, who aimed to ‘unite the spirit of charity with the principles of trade’ – our original definition of a ‘social business’.
Day 23: Nothing that we have shared over the last three weeks would be possible without the staff and volunteers of Catch22 who work tirelessly to support the individuals who use their services. We’re so proud of everything they have achieved this year.
Day 24: Our work has touched the lives of many people this year, across every single one of our services, demonstrating huge impact on the lives and communities of people up and down the country.