1 apm-uk.co.uk May 2018 The er What’s inside... Our Zen Room 3 page Me, NCS and my Autism Win a trip to Aus! 4 page 8 page Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM Young people from NCS took part in the celebrations of NHS reaching 70 years old and 25 years of YoungMinds, the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. They were celebrating how far we have come since the days when mental health wasn’t even considered a part of our wellbeing. However, the hot topic was that even though we are miles from where we were before, the important focus is now on the journey ahead. Young People from NCS Celebrate 25 Years of YoungMinds The event was designed to not only celebrate the achievements of the two organisations, but to help shape the future of mental health care for young people. It brought experts and young people together to discuss the future of mental health care. The day comprised of music, spoken word, workshops and stalls, one of which was run by our NCS graduates who handed out positiviTea and helped other young people make stress balls. There was also a guest speech given by Hussain Manawer, a young inspirational speaker who NCS Grads hosted a positiviTea stall at the Future Minds Event celebrating 25 years of YoungMinds and 70 years of the NHS. delivers emotive speeches on mental health, and he truly inspired our NCSers. NCS graduate, Katie Munrowd, said “The event was really inspiring and I now feel passionate to make a positive change and help challenge the stigma associated with mental health.” Amaan Zabir, another NCS Grad, added, “At the NHS and YoungMinds event I was able to experience a wide variety of activities and workshops and now I feel as though I’m able to better able to handle issues surrounding this topic.”
Transcript
1
apm-uk.co.uk
May 2018
Theer
What’sinside... Our Zen
Room
3pageMe, NCS and my Autism
Win a trip to Aus!
4page 8page
Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM
Young people from NCS took part in the celebrations of NHS reaching 70 years old and 25 years of YoungMinds, the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people.
They were celebrating how far we have come since the days when mental health wasn’t even considered a part of our wellbeing. However, the hot topic was that even though we are miles from where we were before, the important focus is now on the journey ahead.
Young People from NCS Celebrate 25 Years of YoungMinds
The event was designed to not only celebrate the achievements of the two organisations, but to help shape the future of mental health care for young people. It brought experts and young people together to discuss the future of mental health care.
The day comprised of music, spoken word, workshops and stalls, one of which was run by our NCS graduates who handed out positiviTea and helped other young people make stress balls. There was also a guest speech given by Hussain Manawer, a young inspirational speaker who
NCS Grads hosted a positiviTea stall at the Future Minds Event celebrating 25 years of YoungMinds and 70 years of the NHS.
delivers emotive speeches on mental health, and he truly inspired our NCSers.
NCS graduate, Katie Munrowd, said “The event was really inspiring and I now feel passionate to make a positive change and help challenge the stigma associated with mental health.”
Amaan Zabir, another NCS Grad, added, “At the NHS and YoungMinds event I was able to experience a wide variety of activities and workshops and now I feel as though I’m able to better able to handle issues surrounding this topic.”
Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM 2 3
May 2018 May 2018apm-uk.co.uk apm-uk.co.uk
We take a look into the many ways our team help offenders to get back on the right path and into work.
The average person job hunting might worry about getting their CV in order and what to wear for an interview. But when you’re an offender released on temporally licence (ROTL), getting a job poses a whole new set of obstacles.
ROTL encourages people in prison to take responsibility for their own resettlement prior to release by enabling them to find work, organise housing needs and re-establish contact with families. It is also acts as an incentive and reward for good behaviour in prisons, designed to reduce reoffending. Only 0.1% of those on released after ROTL reoffended [1].
APM Aids Rehabilitation for Offenders
However, those prisoner’s working with APM released on ROTL were experiencing difficulty obtaining work, not because of their criminal record or any lacking skill set, but because no bank in the area would grant them a bank account until they were officially released.
This meant that any potential employer had no way of paying them and APM recognised this problem for clients who had potential job offers on ROTL. A Caseworker from APM went to many banks to try and liaise a deal and finally had a break through with HSBC Doncaster.
The bank agreed that to open bank accounts for the offenders using bank prison identification produced, by the prison.
After an interview, the offender would
leave with an open bank account and a debit card that would be sent and stored at the prison.
Without the support of APM a lot of offenders would not have been able to start work on ROTL. Owen Peterson, our Senior Business Manager for Justice, said, “Programmes like this are vital to help our participants reintegrate as a positive member of the community, and also demonstrates key collaboration between APM and our stakeholders. We are delighted to have been able to work with HSBC, providing a quick solution so that our clients can source employment and begin that ever important journey back into society, which makes a huge contribution to the reduction of reoffending.”
[1] http://prisonconsultants.co.uk/
Mental Health Awareness Week
Learning at Work Week
Learning at Work Week aims to shine the spotlight on the importance and benefits of learning and development at work. APM was proud to celebrate Learning at Work Week as an initiative at the heart of what we do.
We ran a social media campaign sharing the best advice and top tips on how to bring more learning into your work place to help change attitudes to towards learning at work.
May saw the return of Learning at Work Week, an annual event organised by Campaign for Learning since 1999.
Here were our top tips for you to take into your work place:
Share your learning, ideas and mistakes - we can all learn from them
Collaborating – work together and learning from those around you
Draw on Employees own knowledge, passions and interests to create engaging activities
Make learning fun – if setting and learning styles is positive, it is much more likely to be remembered
Doing an apprenticeship is a great way to learn while working
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK 14-20 MAY 2018
mentalhealth.org.uk
APM was proud to be raising awareness of Mental Health this month.
This month we celebrated Mental Health Awareness week with the theme centred around stress and how people cope. Playing our part we used the expert knowledge of our Mental Health Specialists and shared advice throughout the week on how to reduce stress.
Back by popular demand in Birmingham was our Zen Room. This room provided a chance for staff to take five minutes out of their busy schedules to get some well-earned ‘me time’. Veronica Brown, our Mental Health and Employment Specialist, was on hand throughout to offer advice and lend an ear to staff to really get the conversation going on mental health and stress in the workplace.
APMer, Stephanie Dunphy, visited the Zen Room and said, “It is great to see initiatives like this as we often forget to take five minutes for ourselves as we are so busy. Mental health is so important and our case workers are constantly giving the advice to help clients to deal with stress so it was good to see staff taking their own advice and visiting the Zen room. It was so relaxing in there and great to talk to Veronica, it really helped”.
Dan Jackson said, “Visiting the Zen Room was really relaxing and I was surprised how much more productive I was after taking ten minutes out for myself”.
Seek out help
A problem shared is a problem
halved
Exercise is great at releasing stress
Being in employment
can help relieve financial stress
Some of that great advice included:
IT IS GREAT TO SEE INITIATIVES LIKE THIS AS WE OFTEN FORGET TO TAKE FIVE MINUTES FOR
OURSELVES AS WE ARE SO BUSY, MENTAL HEALTH IS SO IMPORTANT AND OUR CASE WORKERS ARE CONSTANTLY GIVING THE ADVICE TO HELP CLIENTS TO DEAL WITH STRESS SO IT WAS GOOD TO SEE STAFF TAKING THEIR OWN ADVICE AND VISITING THE ZEN ROOM.
VISITING THE ZEN ROOM WAS REALLY
RELAXING AND I WAS SURPRISED HOW MUCH MORE PRODUCTIVE I WAS AFTER TAKING TEN MINUTES OUT FOR MYSELF
Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM 4 5
May 2018 May 2018apm-uk.co.uk apm-uk.co.uk
I’ve spent many years managing with my own mental health issues from the age of 11. Becoming a member of the Regional Youth Board and graduating from NCS has helped me massively with my confidence which has enabled me to share not only my personal stories, but how NCS has aided my recovery and transformation to the life-loving person I am today.
Being aware of my mental health, I never thought I would be celebrating the milestone of my 16th birthday, 21 miles away from home. I was away from my loving family and friends, with unknown faces that quickly became my second family during the time I spent in Woodlands Adolescent Hospital in Oak Ward, Staplehurst.
After many years of suffering from my mental health and dealing with the sudden death of my Dad at the age of 13, I was admitted for the second time to Medway Maritime Hospital (MMH). I was put on 1:1 observation during my stay in MMH; I had very little privacy. I took the opportunity to bath and use the restroom when my Mum would come in and visit and take over observational roles to look after my safety and well-being. Prior to this, I was on anti-depressants and had went through many different councillors that I had openly spoke to about my mental health. I still felt overwhelming feelings of hopelessness, giving up and simply wishing life was easier to deal with on a daily basis.
Every day just felt like too big of a challenge with the very little interest and energy I had in me; it was exhausting after a while.
After being discharged from hospital and Woodlands Adolescent Unit a
As a Disability Confident Employer and training provider it is important for APM to understand how we can best support our autistic learners. We have teamed up with Telford Autism Hub to further explore our service from the perception of a learner with Autism.
Telford Autism Hub provides services of a psychologist for diagnosis and support for anyone who needs it in the area. I am APM’s Autism Champion for the Telford Hub.
I underwent 2 days of training which gave you a great insight into an autistic person’s perspective and how they view and deal with the world. It allowed me to share more empathy with an autistic learner by understanding how new situations and different stimulus can affect them.
After having this training and establishing this partnership we will be able to refer clients we feel would benefit from the Telford Autism Hub’s services and the Hub in return can feel confident in referring their clients for employment support with us.
Me, NCS and My Mental Health…By Georgia
little over a month on since I was transmitted, I was back home to sit my GCSEs in school, which was more of a goal for me to strive towards rather than me passing my exams, considering how determined I was to get out of hospital and become my independent-self again. I worked harder than what felt like the amount of work expected in a year of schooling.
I had already booked my NCS for the Summer 2017 after a little persuasion from friends and family. Although I was getting better, I still lacked interest in things, but the support network I had around me and the brilliant NCS Team and activities enabled me to enjoy activities a little more each day during and after NCS Graduation Day. I completed Phase 1 and 2 of NCS and participated in all the activities. Not only had NCS been physically and mentally challenging, but for the first time in what felt a long time, I started to feel excitement, curiosity and was interested in the activities that our team leaders had planned for us the next day, such as Rock Climbing, and Gauge Walking. Every day was a new experience for me.
During this time, I applied to become a member of the Regional Youth Board, where months later I was chosen to be part of the committee where I had the privilege of attending Kickstart in Staffordshire. Kickstart was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever done and enjoyed every minute of it. Being so far away from home again was difficult; I had a period of time where I thought I wouldn’t attend due to travelling so far away on my own. Not doing Kickstart would have been my biggest regret.
I had finally graduated from NCS and walked away with my certificates. Although NCS had been a great experience and distraction, I became
anxious about receiving my GCSE results. On results day, I came out with A*, As, Bs, Cs and a D. I was relieved and surprised, considering the recent circumstances I have previously went through before sitting them.
After graduating from NCS, I now enjoy my life much more and now love the subjects I’m studying at A-Level where I hope then go onto University. NCS has given me purpose to be determined and to do better, not only for the community, but most importantly myself. I would definitely recommend anyone to apply who is considering doing NCS, no matter what circumstances you’re going through and where you come from, NCS has helped by giving me purpose again; if I could, I would do NCS all over again.
APM Joins Forces with Telford Autism Hub
There were lots of brilliant suggestions and these are being collated to help us help our autistic learners. This may be as simple as asking whether they need a quiet room for a break away from noise and light to collect their thoughts away from sensory overload.
The training certainly made me think about how autistic learners fit into our APM journey and important things I took from the training was making sure we provide comfortable environments and also understanding what questions to ask.
If anyone would like any further information they can contact me at www.telfordandwrekincvs.org.uk/telford-autism-hub
IT ALLOWED ME TO SHARE MORE
EMPATHY WITH AN AUTISTIC LEARNER BY UNDERSTANDING HOW NEW SITUATIONS AND DIFFERENT STIMULUS CAN AFFECT THEM.
Skills Trainer, Jacqui Humphreys, explains her journey in becoming APM’s Autism Champion for the Telford Hub.
Autism is much more common than many people think. There are around 700,000 people on the autism spectrum in the UK – that’s more than 1 in 1001. If you include their families, autism is a part of daily life for 2.8 million people.
While autism is incurable, the right support at the right time can make an enormous difference to people’s lives.
17% of autistic children have been suspended from school; 48% of these had been suspended three or more times; 4% had been expelled from one or more schools.
Only 16% of autistic adults in the UK are in full-time paid employment, and only 32% are in some kind of paid work.
Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM 6 7
May 2018 May 2018apm-uk.co.uk apm-uk.co.uk
Nathan found himself struggling for options after year 11 and due to low maths and English grades he was unsuccessful on his application to college. He visited an open day to see what Stoke-on-Trent City Council could offer him and signed up to APM’s Nu-Futures summer support and progression programme.
Over the summer, he grew in confidence and went on to achieve his level 1 Award in Employability and level 2 in Food Safety in Catering along with attending numerous workshops around soft skills, employability, communication and progression options.
Nathan’s hard work during the summer programme was rewarded with a place on the Stoke-on-Trent City
APM continues to support partners and clients to aid social mobility as it sent two young people to participate in O2’s Think Big Event designed to help tackle youth social mobility. O2 is one of 11 Social Mobility Business Compact Champions committed to helping young people break through into the world of work, regardless of their background.
Through the Think Big Blueprint, they began schemes to boost employability, digital skills and confidence, working collaboratively within and outside their own business.
Independent research commissioned by O2 and conducted by Development Economics in 2015 into the UK’s future digital skills gap, confirmed that 2.3million more digital-savvy workers would be needed by 2020. [1]
A New Path for Nathan with Nu-Futures
After failing to get accepted on his chosen college course, Nathan turned to Nu-Futures for a new path.
Council Learn4work Study Programme, with the hope of achieving his Maths and English Functional Skills.
He has continued to develop and achieve by also passing his Diploma in Employability and has recently been offered a Business Administration Traineeship. Nathan now works at the council where he started his journey eight months earlier.
Nathan says, “Before I heard about the Nu-Futures, I was stressing out about what was going to happen to me after school finished. Then I heard about the Nu-Futures programme and the qualifications you can gain, whilst helping you to find out about your next steps.”
He continued, “The progress I made
THE PROGRESS I MADE WAS NOT JUST
WITH CONFIDENCE IN MYSELF, IT GAVE ME THE SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS TO PROGRESS ONTO THE LEARN4WORK STUDY PROGRAMME AND WILL HELP ME IN THE FUTURE.
Nathan’s not the only one to progress with Nu-Futures…
was not just with confidence in myself, it gave me the skills and qualifications to progress onto the Learn4Work study programme and will help me in the future. I am now making plans to get onto an apprenticeship with the Council. It’s all thanks to Nu-Futures for helping me to gain extra qualifications and to get where I am today.”
Amy Foster Emily Barker Caitlin CartlidgeAmy came onto Nu-Futures with high anxiety issues, finding it difficult to be with people she didn’t know in new environments. It took a lot of persuasion to even sign up, and when she attended the programme she came with her sister.
Amy really thrived in APM’s learning environment, making friends and gaining confidence. She had good attendance and passed all of the qualifications on programme. Her motivation grew and she has been working on her Functional Skills and job search using help and support with applications and interview skills, Amy has secured her first job in a Residential Care Home.
When Emily came to Nu-Futures she was already a confident and outgoing young person, but had lost direction after dropping out of College. The Employability units on Nu-Futures, along with the careers advice and job search, enabled her to pursue a career working with disadvantaged young people, where she wants to work with young offenders in the future.
She has researched what she needs to do for her long term goals and managed to secure an apprenticeship working, working with challenging young people.
Caitlin came to us after dropping out of a training course, which she didn’t enjoy due to bullying. She made friends on the course and gained all the qualifications on offer.
She progressed to a training provider to continue with her qualifications. Caitlin recently contacted the First Aid tutor on Nu-Futures to tell us about an incident that had happened: she had witnessed a car cutting a corner and knocking down an 11 year old child. Having done the First Aid training received on Nu-Futures, she felt able to help the child and make sure an ambulance attended, something she says she wouldn’t have known or had the confidence to do, had she not done the Nu-Futures programme.
Conquering Social Mobility with O2
Two young people from APM attended O2’s Think Big Event where they heard talks from Professor Green.
But a lack of work readiness, poor social mobility and the public view that young people felt excluded and disengaged (as reported in our 2012 Youth Matters survey), continued to affect employment opportunities and self-confidence.
The event was centred around the link between healthy living and personal achievement and attendees heard talks from Professor Green on mental health, productivity and the importance of exercise.
Corey George, from APM Telford, said “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity meeting and talking to all the professionals, and it really helped me to change my outlook on life”.
Join in the conversation: for the latest news, views and updates from around the business, check out the APM Twitter feed @yourAPM 8
May 2018 apm-uk.co.uk
Talkto us...
We’d love to hear from you! So if you have any feedback on what you have read in this month’s edition, or would like to contribute to a future release, just contact us at: [email protected]
We’re one family at APM, and we’re a global one. That’s why we’re offering our NCSers the chance to win a trip to Australia, the home of our global headquarters. For one lucky NCSer their summer of a life time could lead to a trip of a lifetime as well!
Each young person who signs up will be sent a unique code which they can then share with all their friends to use when they sign up too. By the time the summer of a lifetime is finished, whoever’s code was used the most
Win a Trip to Australia!
by people stating NCS will win a trip for themselves and two others to experience the amazing sights and sounds of Australia.
We don’t like to leave anyone out though, so for every friend that uses a code, both the code owner and the friend using it will receive £10 in amazon vouchers to spend on whatever they like! And there’s no cap to the amount of people that can be referred!
APM is giving a lucky NCSer the opportunity to win a trip to Australia and all they have to do is tell their mates about NCS, it’s that simple!
Not only is NCS a programme that will set you up with skills, memories and experiences to last a lifetime, it also holds the key to get one lucky NCSer jet setting across to the sunny shores of Australia. Fast track your potential and experience, start today!
We’ll be keeping you updated on our social media so make sure you’re following, liking and sharing today.
