Impact Report 2021

Our services have really been stretched over the last twelve months, with more emphasis on our support services rather than our normal open sessions, although membership numbers are at an all-time high with 841 registered members in Burnley and 152 registered members in Whalley with a total of 8257 young people through our doors over the last twelve months. The strain on our support services where we advocate for young people who are experiencing hardship or chaos in their lives and need that safe space to come to and be heard, has impacted us to set a side over 24 hours per week to deal with the most needy, this with the referrals from other front line agencies who have seen the benefit in our work and want us to work with them has also significantly increased especially in reducing ASB to and by young people.

In all of this, and with most services being cut we pride ourselves in finding a solution and supporting as many young people as possible and with all of our service users knowing that they have the support and have found a new friend in BBGC, this has changed so many lives for the better and is still continuing to grow that for so many our service users this has now become a their only lifeline, where in the past it was just somewhere to hang out with your mates, it is still a place to make new friends and build relationships but also get the support and advice that is needed without issues of long waiting times to be heard or not having the confidence to open up and talk, this should be the right of every young person and that is what has made our service become a necessity.

Future Plans

Our future needs are to become resilient within this part of our work this will include the creation of a new post of wellbeing and support role, extra training for all our session workers in mental health first aid and communication and the creation of a new space that can be used by visiting professionals as a meeting room for our members, all of this will have a direct positive response on young lives and has come about from the request of our newly formed Ambassadors who are the voice of the wider membership of BBGC.

“We pride ourselves in speaking kid and allowing our kids to speak”