Y-Base Magazine

created for you, by you

Designed and produced by YMCA England in

partnership with the National Tenant Forum.

Inside

Buddying

Footie

Africa Comes Home

Stats Invaders

Thanks to Dartford YMCA for this

amazing front cover image

TWO Winter 09

Editor’s message Y-Base

W e l c o m e t o t h es e c o n d e d i t i o no f Y - B a s e , t h em a g a z i n e c r e a t e db y a n d f o r y o u n gp e o p l e l i v i n g i nY M C A E n g l a n da c c o m m o d a t i o n .

p2

Hi, my name is Peter and I live at Southend YMCA. Eventhough I have only been there for a short time, the staffhave helped me get more involved in the YMCA.Before coming to the Y, I was living at home and I wentfor an interview for a Prince’s Trust programme. Theysuggested I fill in an application form for the housingdepartment and I was invited to move into theYMCA. I have since joined in with lots of activities and I have also joined the National

Tenant Forum where I got the opportunity to become theYouth Editor of Y-Base Magazine. Without the help of YMCA

staff I would not have had the chance to improve myself and makefriends in the YMCA. Enjoy the magazine and if you have any comments please emailSally Draper from YMCA England at sally.draper@england.ymca.org.uk.

Peter Page, Youth Editor

This issue sees the debut of our first

Youth Editor, Peter Page from Southend

YMCA, and features articles written by

residents from Mansfield, Darlington and

Southend YMCAs. And don’t forget to

check out Stats Invaders, which gives

you the low down on our housing

performance.

We’re always looking for young people

who are brimming with ideas. So why not

show the world your artistic side by

becoming a contributor to Y-Base

Magazine? We need all things creative –

from photos and articles to paintings,

graffiti and doodles. So what are you

waiting for? Get involved.

We show them the kitchen and explain

how the cookers work, when the Sunday

lunch sessions are run and which staff

are the best cooks. We talk about the

education side of things, explain how

that’s part of our agreement when we

move in and how staff will make sure we

do something educational.

Pointing out the activities sheet and the

noticeboards lets them see what’s

happening – there are lots of fun activities

to take part in such as youth sessions,

football, budgeting (that helps us spread

our money a bit further!) and the computer

sessions in the evenings when we can

look for jobs, find flats or just play games.

Everyone needs to know about the area

they’re living in so we talk about that too:

where to get cheap groceries, which are

the best clubs, the safe and unsafe areas

and lots of general info.

We think our buddying is going well

because it helps make new residents feel

welcome and at home. We’d like to think if

ever we moved to another YMCA people

would do the same for us.

Leonie and Suzanne ,

Mansfield YMCA Buddies

Why not try this at your YMCA? If you

already have a buddying programme at

your YMCA, let us know what you

think of it.

Email: sally.draper@england.ymca.org.uk.

Editor’s note: Leonie and Suzanne have

now moved on from Mansfield YMCA. We

would like to wish them the very best for

the future.

BuddyingY-Base p3

Moving into a YMCA for the first time

can be a bit scary. But residents at

Mansfield YMCA have set up a

buddying system to help new people

feel at home. Here, Leonie and

Suzanne explain more.

When people move into Mansfield YMCA,

staff show them around and do ‘the formal

stuff’ (paperwork, rules, health and safety

etc). Our role as Buddies is much more fun.

We make a point of meeting the new folks

when they move in; knocking on their door

and offering to show them around from a

resident’s point of view. We also introduce

them to everyone so they can put names

to faces. This makes new people feel more

at ease and it’s wicked giving them the

low down on the staff.

A h e l p i n g h a n d

Community Project Y-Basep4

I n M a y , r e s i d e n t sf r o m D a r l i n g t o nY M C A r o l l e d u pt h e i r s l e e v e sa n d g o t s t u c ki n t o a c o m m u n i t yp r o j e c t f o r t h eW i l d l i f e T r u s t .

B r i n H o

To explain more, here is Jonathon New

who took part in the project.

On Friday 15 May we helped the Tees

Valley Wildlife Trust at Margrove Heritage

Centre to develop its African themed

garden by building roundhouses. Only a

handful of young people went, probably

because of the weather because it didn’t

stop raining. When we arrived we had a

look at what we’d got ourselves into and

put on our personal protective equipment

which made us look very sexy!

We left the building and walked down to

where the roundhouse was and my friends

and I got stuck straight in with the graft.

Even though at first we couldn’t under-

stand what the two guys from Eritrea in

Community ProjectY-Base p5

g i n g A f r i c a o m e

Africa were saying we picked it up very

quickly. We had a quick lunch, and then

went straight back to work, but this time

we had to lift the roof out, flip it over and

put it on properly. For this the whole group

got involved, even though you could tell

they didn’t want to because of the rain!

We stayed with the roundhouse until

2.50pm collecting wood and chopping the

branches off with a billhook (which I nearly

chopped my leg off with!). Then we went

home. We were wet through and cold but

we didn’t care as we’d had a great day

and would like to return sometime. Thanks

everyone for coming and making the day

so fabulou s. Cheers.

Jonathan New

Has your YMCA teamed up with local projects in the community?

Tell us about your experience by emailing

sally.draper@england.ymca.org.uk.

Footy, footy, footy - oi, oi, oi! Y-Basep6

In April this year a group of young

people got together at Southend YMCA

and formed a football team called the

Ambleside Wanderers.

The team was formed by a young person

who lives at Southend YMCA and they

train every Friday afternoon. They play in

the local conference division in Southend

and recently took part in a tournament

for a local charity where they made the

quarter finals.

The team captain, Shane Page, has

formed two teams since living at the

YMCA. He is also thinking of starting a

girls’ team.

One Southend YMCA resident said, “I think

it’s great that we have got together for fun

and exercise. Having the football team has

really helped us gain team-building skills

and self confidence. I hope other YMCAs

have the opportunity to start their own

sports teams, not just for exercise, but to

help build friendships and take part in the

local community”.

Peter Page, Southend YMCA

The Ambleside Wanderers play every

Tuesday evening. If any other YMCA

teams would like to play against

Southend, please contact Peter via

email at peterpage20@hotmail.com.

B e s t f o o t f o r w a r d –t h e A m b l e s i d e W a n d e r e r s

Message boardY-Base p7

How we’re doing Y-Basep8

Repairs

Overall, 95% of housing repairs were

completed within the set timeframes and

96% of residents that fed back on repairs

were satisfied with the work. Response

rates also increased on the last quarter,

making the feedback more meaningful..

Rent and service charges

Between January and March, we focused

on getting feedback from residents about

value for money of rent and service

charges. A quarter of residents responded

which is actually pretty good! Of those

who responded, three-quarters are

satisfied that they get value for money

and 8 out of 10 are satisfied with the

service charge.

Complaints

We aim for 100% of those who make a

complaint to be satisfied with the

procedure we have in place to handle

such situations. Between January and

March 2009 we met this target. We also

aim for 80% of those making a complaint

to be satisfied for the outcome of this –

and in the last quarter, this figure stood at

97%. While this is great, we’re still doing

all we can to increase satisfaction further…

In 2009/10, we are placing much more

emphasis on consulting residents regarding

the way we do things at the YMCA. We

understand it can be time consuming filling

in forms like this but the only way we can

make sure we are providing the sort of

service you want is by asking you! This

means you will probably be asked to fill in

feedback forms for different things such

as when you have a repair done, when

you get involved in resident forums and

other groups, if you make a complaint or

when you move on from the YMCA.

Please help us by taking a few minutes to

complete the forms – and if you need

help, just ask a member of staff.