There will be lots of fun and excitement over at the BYHP stall, including a tombola and a lucky dip. You’ll also have the chance to buy your tickets for this year’s raffle (just £2 each), with some great prizes up for grabs:

1st prize – a viola signed by the Fairport Convention band

2nd prize – golf clubs

3rd prize – a wine hamper

4th prize – Wrendale design Royal Worcester mugs

Our volunteers will be selling tickets around the village too so keep a lookout for them. Alternatively, get in touch with us beforehand (enquiries@byhp.org.uk) and we can set some tickets aside for you.

We’ll also be selling water at our stall throughout the festival so you can stay hydrated (let's hope this glorious weather holds!) Remember, all the money raised goes towards supporting our work with young people in the community. As ever, your kind support is greatly appreciated by everyone at BYHP.

We’d like to wish everyone attending this festival a fantastic weekend and we look forward to seeing you there!

The new Chief Executive of the Banbury based charity BYHP is Patrick Vercoe, a former Managing Director of Countrywide Communications Group, the PR and communications company, formerly located in Banbury, which was sold to an American communications conglomerate in the late nineties.

After many years working in the commercial sector Vercoe decided, upon leaving Countrywide, to use his commercial expertise within the Charity sector which prompted his career switch. For nearly a decade he was Chief Executive of Homeless charities in both Coventry and Northamptonshire.

Speaking about his appointment Vercoe said, “It is a privilege to lead an inspiring organisation as BYHP and such a dedicated staff team who every day strive to achieve positive results supporting young people."

“I sincerely hope that both my corporate and charity experience will benefit BYHP, especially my expertise in raising funds from Trusts and Foundations, as well as corporate support, which are vital in helping to fund the various support services that BYHP excels, mainly interventions for vulnerable young people through Counselling, Family Mediation. Housing Advice and Employability”

Since the departure of former Chief Executive Tim Tarby- Donald last year, the BYHP Board of Trustees, led by Chair Kath Morris, have been providing guidance and counsel to senior managers. During that time, the Trustees have overseen the re-organisation of staff, recruitment of new staff and the first successful year of Unlocking Potential Oxfordshire, Back on Track and a Mental Health initiative working with CAMHS (Response).

Kath said “We are delighted that Patrick is joining us and we feel sure that his expertise will benefit BYHP hugely”
                                                      
For more information contact Patrick Vercoe at BYHP on 01295 259442
email: patrick.vercoe@byhp.org.uk

We would also like to thank BYHP's volunteers Mr Marshall and Mr Slide for helping on the evening and to everyone who attended and who generously donated to the collections on the evening.

We are delighted to announce that the event raised in excess of £4300 to help support BYHP's work with young people related to homelessness, homelessness prevention, mental health, housing and employability. For more information see www.byhp.org.uk ;

I would personally like to thank everyone who has helped and supported me in my role of CEO since October 2015, as I step down on 4th December. Please continue to support BYHP as it is a wonderful charity doing life-changing work with very deserving young people in Banbury and the wider area.

Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy 2018 to all of our supporters.

​20 years ago whilst working in central London, I became involved in a project called “Off the Streets and into Work.”  The aim being to help homeless people into housing and employment using a multi-agency approach.  As a project we offered life skills, employability skills, functional skills, housing advice and, the part I was involved with, skills training.  Roll on 20 years and I’m back working with vulnerable young people at risk of homelessness here at BHYP #YouthHomelessness.  So what has changed in the last 20 years?  Our approach to mental health is what has changed.

At BYHP we offer all of the advice and training that we did all those years ago.  What we also offer though is counselling, family mediation and mental health work.  What a difference to all those years ago when no training was given to me on recognising the signs of a mental health illness and indeed mental health was rarely mentioned unless talking about an entrenched rough sleeper.  

We all know the statistics: 1 in 4 adults will experience a mental illness at some point each year in the UK; 3 in 4 mental illnesses start in childhood; 4 in 10 rough sleepers have a mental health problem and as we know homelessness and mental health often go hand in hand. 

My new role as Wellbeing Support Worker here at BYHP, working in partnership with CAMHS, is a preventative role offering early intervention to young people with the aim of reducing the need for more specialist interventions in the future.  So, although we have a long way to go, it is reassuring to know that there is a greater shift towards the recognition of mental health and the role early intervention can play in offering support to vulnerable young people.

If you would like any help or advice relating to anything you have read here, or would like any other support please do get in touch with us:
enquiries@byhp.org.uk
01295 259 442

​Conflict, hm.  What do you do when faced with a potential conflict?  Do you avoid it or do you have defensive default?  Fight or flight? Either way, faced with a challenging situation, there is not always going to be a positive solution.
 
Why is it that the biggest cause of #YouthHomelessness is still parental eviction?  What is the connection I wonder?  Conflict can be really challenging to both parents and young people; it challenges us all at times. Conflict is a part of life; handling conflict well is a skill and like any other skill, it improves with practice.
 
Next time your challenging teenager gets in a strop about something, stop and ask yourself how you could handle this situation to get a win win resolution.  Sometimes, a little negotiation goes a long way.  If you are a young person reading this, the same applies to you; be prepared to be flexible; life is about give and take and is much too short to live in a state of perpetual conflict.
 
The trouble is, you think you have time.  Buddha

If you are struggling with family relationships, feeling that the only way to resolve the situation is to leave, to move the young person out, please try us first.  At BYHP, we offer a professional family mediation practice and we may be able to help.  It is worth a try; contact us through the referral form on our website or give us a call, we are here to help.

Tel: 01295 259 442
Email: mediation@byhp.org.uk
​Referral Form: ​www.byhp.org.uk/services-referral-form

Today marks the 2 year anniversary of Connor starting volunteering with BYHP. As you can see from his post on the 3rd June 2017, during Volunteers Week, he has covered a number of roles with us and we don't know what we would do without him. An excerpt of his blog is below. 

We just wanted to say a huge thanks for all his hard work and support. We also noticed he did not mention it in his blog, so we wanted to congratulate him again for winning the Young Volunteer of the Year award at this years Banbury Town Council Awards on Tuesday 9th May. 

I'm Connor, and I have been volunteering with BYHP for almost two years. It has been an amazing adventure, and I want to share my experience of volunteering with you.

I first got involved with BYHP while I was between jobs; I wanted to put my availability at the time to good use, and BYHP struck me as a good cause. In truth, I wasn't sure quite what to expect, or how I could be useful before joining. But the team here was incredibly welcoming, and I quickly discovered I had a lot more to offer than I thought. More than that I was able to see first hand the impact that BYHP was having on people's lives and knew that this was something important.
 
Initially, my role at BYHP involved supporting the admin staff with various day to day tasks. A tonne goes on behind the scenes in any organisation; there's always something fun happening and being able to support the processes that enable BYHP to achieve the things it does is very fulfilling. In time I also transitioned into supporting the Unlocking Potential program and Job Club; this involved working directly with the young people. It was here that I was most surprised with myself.

To read the rest of Connors original post please click here: 
http://www.byhp.org.uk/blog/my-volunteering-experience

​DO VOLUNTEERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
 
As the annual celebration of Volunteers’ Week is coming to a close, I must say just how much we appreciate our wonderful team of volunteers at BYHP.  What most of the young people we work with are missing in life is a family and we have often been referred to as their ‘BYHP Family’.  Families are made up of all ages and diversities and our volunteers along with our team, form our family.  We are a family that is a constant in the lives of our young people, somewhere to turn when things go wrong, someone to turn to for a caring and friendly ear when they are feeling lonely and somewhere to access professional help when practical issues need to be addressed such as housing and budgeting.
 
I want to say a massive thank you to all our volunteers and especially to those who come along to help with our Peer Support Group and enrich the lives of the young people every week with their interactions and kindness; we couldn’t manage without you and yes, volunteers definitely do make a difference, thank you.
 
Deb
​Service Delivery Manager
 

Race at the base returns to Heyford Park - 11th June 2017
 
The popular ‘Race at the Base’ event will return for another year at Heyford Park, Upper Heyford on Sunday 11 June.
 
With 5k, 10k, half marathon and junior courses on offer, there is a race for everyone, and you can still enter on the day. The courses all utilise the site of the old RAF Upper Heyford base – the runway, RAF taxiway and NATO taxiway – so the courses are traffic free and flat.
 
The event is being organised by Purple Patch Running, experts in professional organised running events, and is sponsored by Dorchester Living, the company behind the regeneration of the air force base. This year’s race charity is the Banbury Young Homelessness Project (BYHP).
  
Whilst running is the main event of the day, there will be a wide range of other activities to keep spectators and runners entertained throughout the morning as well as a range of refreshment.
 
Entry costs to run are £7 for children and start from £11 for adults (cost is dependent on length of the race).
 
Commenting Jeanne Evett, Sales and Marketing Director, Dorchester Living says: “We are delighted to be the main sponsor for this fantastic event. We received positive feedback from partakers and supporters following last year’s Race at the Base and we look forward to holding it at Heyford Park again this year, where the course is great for new or seasoned runners.”
 
Commenting Tim Tarby-Donald, CEO of BYHP says: "We are extremely pleased to have the on-going support of Dorchester Living and to have been nominated as the charity for this year's Race at the Base. We have a team of supporters running and look forward to meeting everyone on the day to tell them more about our work with young people across North Oxfordshire."
 
For further information visit http://www.purplepatchrunning.com/index.php/heyford-park-half-marathon
 
For further press information, please contact 26 Letters PR:
David Martin   Tel: +44(0) 7738 354385     
​Email: david.martin@26letterspr.co.uk
Christine Webb Tel: +44(0) 7876 717327  
Email: christine.webb@26letterspr.co.uk

Notes to editors:
Dorchester Living forms part of Dorchester Regeneration, a property development and investment company that specialises in large residential led mixed use developments. In particular it understands integrating private, private rental, and social housing and community management together with schools and buildings for all types of businesses, in order to successfully forge sustainable communities. For more information on the Heyford Park development, please visit: www.heyfordpark.co.uk.

   

I'm Connor, and I have been volunteering with BYHP for almost two years. It has been an amazing adventure, and I want to share my experience of volunteering with you.

I first got involved with BYHP while I was between jobs; I wanted to put my availability at the time to good use, and BYHP struck me as a good cause. In truth, I wasn't sure quite what to expect, or how I could be useful before joining. But the team here was incredibly welcoming, and I quickly discovered I had a lot more to offer than I thought. More than that I was able to see first hand the impact that BYHP was having on people's lives and knew that this was something important.
 
Initially, my role at BYHP involved supporting the admin staff with various day to day tasks. A tonne goes on behind the scenes in any organisation; there's always something fun happening and being able to support the processes that enable BYHP to achieve the things it does is very fulfilling. In time I also transitioned into supporting the Unlocking Potential program and Job Club; this involved working directly with the young people. It was here that I was most surprised with myself.

I had no formal training or prior experience in working with young people, but I found myself in the role of a teaching assistant of sorts for Unlocking Potential. I supported the logistics of the program and also assisted with the delivery of the course content. In the Job Club, I drew upon my experiences of job seeking to support the young people with finding work. I discovered, much to my surprise, that I was very able to engage with the young people and had something to offer them. It was incredibly rewarding to watch them grow and achieve their goals.

I am now working at the Warriner School as a result of my experiences at BYHP, which has changed my availability. Currently, I assist with BYHP's peer support group on Wednesday evenings. We create a nurturing environment for the young people to come and share their feelings, get advice, enjoy fellow volunteer Natalie's fantastic cooking, and socialise with each other. I also make myself available for fundraising events and still support the admin staff whenever I can. My role at BYHP has changed a lot over time, and that has allowed me to see that no matter your availability or skills you can always play a role in organisations like BYHP that rely on volunteers.

Volunteering with a charity is a fantastic experience that comes with a mutual benefit. No matter who you are, or what you can do, you do have something to offer. Volunteering will open the way to new skills and new experiences, and is incredibly rewarding; I never expected to be doing the things I am now, and hope that in sharing my experience I can encourage you to volunteer yourself.