Positive Futures

For some young people, today’s society is a challenging one, and many of those people who are deemed “hard to reach” can face additional issues, such as “gang” involvement, NEET, exposure to crime and disorder and family dysfunction.

For these young people many of the mainstream services are not designed to meet these challenges, whether it be education, welfare services or communities in general. This can lead to social exclusion and the problems they, and their communities face then escalates!

The Extra Mile Group specialises in providing a range of innovative experience to young people who are experiencing such difficulties which hinder a successful and positive future, whether it be one day specialist courses, long term projects of engagement and change to residential experiences tailored to meet their specific needs.

We aim to provide young people with experiences which will enable them to develop a range of skills necessary for a successful future.
The courses have been designed to meet the spectrum of needs of young people and focuses on team building, training and employment opportunities, positive citizenship, confidence building and self-realisation of potential.

The programmes are managed and run by a team of specialists who are all trained in adolescent and young adult development, barriers to learning by young people and resistance issues. All of the team are committed to enabling positive, sustainable change for young people and aims to encourage a “team working” ethos amongst the young people, which are crucial in a safe transition back into mainstream society.

This is achieved through a range of both physical and cognition activities which all meet the Every Child Matters 5 Key objectives. All of the programmes are inclusive of a range of needs of young people and meets the complex and intricate issues that they face.

Examples of these are:

  • Young people who are involved in crime and/or anti social behaviour
  • Young people who use drugs/alcohol
  • Family and personal relationship issues
  • Young parents
  • Young people who are not in education, training or employment
  • Young people from ethnic minority groups/disabilities
  • Socio-economic issues

The Extra Mile Group are working in partnership with Coventry Building Workshop Ltd; an organisation which is specifically designed to provide young people with achievable, “hands on” experience within the building/construction arenas.

As many young people who fall into the “hardest to reach” bracket often have difficulty achieving things over a long period time (which often results in disengagement from education) CBW have tailor made a programme for the Extra Mile Group which provides the young people with a range of “trade based” courses over a weeks period whereby they can gain a certificate/qualification to enable them to move into the world of employment.

The young people will gain a real insight into a variety of employment options; including bricklaying, plastering, tiling, plumbing and decorating and at the end of the week will receive a certificate of verified achievement issued by the relevant governing body.

The course is designed to encourage the young people to achieve personal goals on a daily basis and ultimately a qualification at the end of the week. As many of these young people are unable to sustain long term college or educational courses, this is an excellent opportunity to gain a qualification and will certainly promote the young peoples motivation/confidence to go on and achieve long term education/employment or training.

A core component of the residential course is the “wrap around” specialists who will focus on the welfare needs of the young people and provide them with an opportunity to address any issues that are pertinent to themselves, i.e. family issues, positive community involvement, identity issues and other factors which relate to their adolescent functioning.

All of the specialists have many years of experience working with “hardest to reach” young people and in specialist areas of dysfunction.

All of the consultants have vast experience working in the Criminal Justice/Anti-Social arena as well as the Social Care system and are totally committed in making positive, sustainable changes to young people within this bracket.
This “wrap around” service will add value to the main structure of the programmes which have been specifically designed for these young people, and which provide the funding organisation with a range of options to meet both local and government targets.

The residential aspect of the programme focuses on social development and allows the young people to focus on just themselves, without the daily pressures that they face. It is crucial for these young people to have the opportunity to focus on themselves and their future and enables the Extra Mile Group to capture their needs and provide interventions to meet this need.

To ensure that the young people gain the best experience and receive “value for money” the Extra Mile Group have also secured partnerships with specialists who can deliver adolescent and need specific sessions within the residential programme.
The aim of this is to provide the young people (whether on a group on individual basis) the opportunity to explore issues pertinent to their lives. It is also envisaged that these sessions will provide young people with preventative education/advice, a confidential environment in which to address issues that may be barriers to successful transitions and allow the young people the safe environment in which to develop their knowledge/understanding on issues affecting young people in today’s social climate.

Examples of these are:

  • Health and Fitness
  • Sex and Sexual Health
  • Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour
  • Family and personal relationships
  • Safety (including internet safety)
  • Drugs and Alcohol awareness
  • Peer and Social influence
  • Self-esteem and Confidence
  • Social skill development.

Additional sessions are available which can meet a variety of needs of young people.

Example synopsis of a residential programme:

  • 5 day training course at CBW (fully supported by specialist staff)
  • Qualification in a trade at the end of the programme
  • Full board accommodation and transport to and from the training.
  • Specialist staff 24 hours a day
  • Structured evening activities of engagement, learning and progression (i.e. health and fitness, positive citizenship, harm reduction sessions, music workshops, positive teambuilding)
  • Celebration of achievement event at end of programme
  • Follow up intervention (additional cost)