Welcome to April’s edition of the newsletter, hopefully you got to enjoy some chocolate over the Easter break, visit friends and family and celebrate the meaning of Easter. March proved to be a busy month for the charity with some exciting updates below from Sam Plummer. We also encourage you to read this month’s Business Update, so you don’t miss out on data protection information (are you doing enough?), year end updates and NEW finance procedures and the opportunity to have a spring clean of your files.

Hasn’t this year flown by, we’ve just got over Christmas and now it’s the Easter break. The clocks also changed last weekend, isn’t it great to have extra time in the evening to get outside, go for a walk or sort the garden.
 
As you know I’ve had a period of ill health which I’m pleased to say I am now recovering from slowly, thank you to all the staff, particularly Sam and Victoria, who stepped up and covered some of my duties. I don’t think I remember Sam being in a suit this often, but he has done a great job representing the organisation at various events and meetings.

Organisational Restructure 

We are making good progress regarding the changes to the organisational structure and are very close to announcing these, obviously being off sick for 3 weeks has delayed plans slightly.

You may have noticed that we are currently recruiting for the new Head of Finance and Business role and interviews will take place in April.  

Staff involvement group

I am really pleased that the staff involvement group is back up and running with Jane George as the chair. The next meeting is on the 18th April at 4pm at Radstock Youth Hub, please speak to Jane for more information Jane.George@ycsw.org.uk

New projects 

During May we will be hosting a yoga and a wellbeing group for young mums under 25. These sessions will take place at Southside. Teen Yoga will be running the sessions.

It has been a busy month with lots going on, but we all made it through! The suit made more appearances this month than the whole of last year, but it is well and truly back in the wardrobe until the awards.

Ramshacklicious

Ramshacklicious took over the gym on the 25^th of March to deliver an interactive theatrical experience for the community around Whiteway. During the run up to the main performance, young people from across the service were able to learn skills around sound and video, their input was added to the performance. Well done to Leah for helping with the coordination of the event and helping it run so smoothly.

Check out some of the photos from the event here: shorturl.at/jrCQ7
 
City Centre Launch

On the 13^th March we officially launched the City Centre Youth Space. We were joined by a few of our partners, and Councillor Dine Romero had the honour of cutting the ribbon. Thank you to everyone who helped to make it a nice occasion. If you would like to see the full writeup of the event alongside the photos from the night, please click on the below link https://www.youthconnectsouthwest.org.uk/post/new-city-centre-youth-space
 
Rotary club presentation

Liam and I headed to Landsdown Golf Club for one of the Rotary Clubs’ weekly meetings to talk about the work we do. One of the key topics of the presentation was about the Bath City Centre Youth Space, which the Rotary Club's firework funding contributed to. It was a nice lunch, and we will hopefully be collaborating with them more in the future.
 
Police Crime Commissioner

We were delighted to welcome Mark Shelford, Avon & Somerset PCC to our Bath City Centre Youth Space last week where he met with Cheryl and myself. We spoke about the services we offer and how we plan to use the space to help improve the lives of the young people in Bath. There was a short interview filmed, which you can watch here: https://fb.watch/jBl22kycF1/

Welcome to our new staff;

Stacey Escott who joined us as a full time Engagement Worker within the Targeted Team on the 2^nd April.

March saw us say goodbye to Amy Callow Evans who started with us as a Kick Start employee in the café, who then successfully transitioned into our first ever apprentice. We wish Amy the best of luck in her new role at Bath College working with catering students. We also said farewell to student Lina Mohammad Zadeh, she has returned to Germany and is already back into university life. Lina worked within the Youth Work and Targeted Team during her stay with us.

On the 17^th of March, the team went on a 2-night residential to PGL Liddington with the Galdem Group. They had a lot of fun with all the adventurous activities the site has to offer. Alongside the activities, the group also analysed the results of the recent survey on violence against girls and young woman, which Galdem co-created. The results and report will be available soon for you to see. Thank you to everyone who participated in the project.

This month we ask that you spring clean your files and delete any old documents that you no longer need. All documents related to young people should be attached to their IYSS account or Alt Ed folder. Remember you should not have any lists with personal details saved any longer than required, an example of this is old tracking lists, trip lists etc. Whilst on the subject of data, we would like to remind you of what to do if you make a data breach, for example sending an email to the wrong person:

• Recall the message by going into sent items and opening the original email, on the top blue ribbon there should be a recall symbol.
• Email the person explaining that you have emailed them by mistake, asking them to delete the original email and to also delete it from their deleted box.
• Inform your line manager and Sam Plummer that you have made the mistake immediately.
• The data breach is logged on a spreadsheet and OneWest, our data protection advisers, are informed. They report back on the level or risk involved and next steps, should there be any.
• Please note near misses should also be reported to your line manger and Sam Plummer. This enables us to identify ways of preventing future data breaches.

Data Protection in the office is also an area we need to improve. We could receive a visit from OneWest with no notice so please ensure that you always follow the below:

• Never leave your laptop unlocked when you step away from it.  
• Never leave paperwork or notes out for people to read. If stepping away from your desk for just a moment, ensure you turn them over or place them in your laptop bag.
• Never pin confidential information to a notice board.
• Ensure all confidential papers, including scrap notes, are placed in the confidential bin at Southside or Radstock. Staff working at the City Centre are expected to dispose of their confidential waste when they return to Southside.
• When travelling out and about, the same rules apply. Just remember to never leave your laptop bag and work bag visible in your car. This should be placed out of sight in your boot and never left in your car overnight.   

Finally, do not open suspicious emails. OneWest have informed us that a cyber-attack from Russia is expected along with China. Any suspicious emails should be reported to IT immediately.  

End of Financial Year

As per Vicki’s email sent on Friday 31^st March, please ensure that you delete all old purchase forms and petty cash slips. New templates have been created to go alongside our new accounting codes for the year ahead (more information to follow). All forms can be found here S:\Education\Youth&Community\FINANCE\FINANCE FOLDER FOR NON FINANCE STAFF

Expenses

Please ensure that all travel expenses from March are claimed this month. If received in May, they will not be accepted. All outstanding petty cash slips from March must also be claimed asap.

Annual leave and flexi sheets

All carry over leave will be updated on Citrus by Friday 7^th April. Please check that your working pattern is correct so that your annual leave entitlement is correct for the year ahead. If changes need to be made, please complete a Working Pattern form S:\Education\Youth&Community\Standard Documents\Forms\HR Forms\Working Pattern Form MASTER - March23.docx

Please start a new flexi sheet to mark the beginning of the new financial year and credit / debit your spreadsheet as required.

April Wellbeing

Firstly, thank you for all the wonderful photos sent in for the March wellbeing project. A link to view the pictures will be sent out soon.
 
April is Stress awareness Month, and we want to encourage staff to connect as part of the five ways to wellbeing.
 
It is clear that social relationships are critical for promoting wellbeing and for acting as a buffer against mental ill health for people of all ages. Try to do something different this month and make a connection.
 

• Talk to someone instead of sending an email
• Speak to someone new
• Ask how someone’s weekend went and really listen when they tell you
• Put five minutes aside to find out how someone really is
• Give a colleague a lift to work or share the journey home with them

Also, for a bit of fun we are challenging you to do a weekly doodle! This will be Easter themed, and each week Shelley will email out a theme that you have to doodle. You can be as creative as you like, and we look forward to receiving your pictures/post it notes/cards/napkins. Feel free to get young people and family members involved as well!

There will also be an Easter Egg Sweepstake! Staff can pay £1 to enter and select the egg of their choosing, which Shelley will email round. It will be on a first come first served basis and regular updates of which eggs are left will be sent out. On the 28^th of April, an egg will be randomly selected, and the winner will receive half of the money raised. The remaining half of the money will be used for future wellbeing events.

Workplace Stress Awareness Webinar

CareFirst is running a webinar giving advice on how you can recognise the signs you may be stressed at work and some steps you can take to begin to control it. The webinar will take place on the 28th of April from 12-12:30pm. You can register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4016225035790966873

Wellbeing Survey

All staff will soon be sent a wellbeing survey for completion. We would encourage all staff to complete this to enable us to obtain feedback for review.

Did you know?

"The first story of a rabbit (later named the “Easter Bunny”) hiding eggs in a garden was published in 1680."
 
"Egg dyes were once made out of natural items such as onion peels, tree bark, flower petals, and juices."

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-easter