by faithyoung | Apr 12, 2024 | 2024, Blog, Charity
Our learners planned their own trip to Hull!
For our clients who are making their first tentative steps into the big wide world, there are many aspects of life that we can take for granted.
Reading a train timetable; buying the right ticket; planning a trip; enjoying a social occasion; even ordering a delicious meal!
For our clients, these tasks can often spark anxiety coupled with an overall lack of confidence in social or public situations.
Causes for these challenging emotions include social isolation, a lack of ‘real life’ experience and a reliance upon social media rather than human interaction.
Our work at Futureworks NY is multi-faceted, so one of the best ways to deal with numerous challenges is to host a social excursion to one of the North’s largest cities for a day trip which included a multitude of task that, as adults, we might have to deal with every day.
Railway Travel
If you think about making a railway journey, there are many decisions that need to made.
Deciding the destination; the time of departure and the return trip; the cost of the tickets (and purchasing them); getting to the railway station on time; ensuring you alight at the correct station; finding your reserved seat; and knowing what time the train arrives at the chosen destination.
For our clients, this was, for some, their first railway trip.
Even for experienced railway passengers, travelling by rail can be a challenge if trains are cancelled or are running late.
So, for our day trip to Hull, we boarded a Northern Rail train from Scarborough to Hull. Luckily, for this route, Scarborough is the terminus so it was easy to find the right platform and board the train.
Hull’s Paragon Street station is much larger and with lots more platforms, trains and more.
Our clients had to be sure they knew their return journey time (and plan their day so they could catch the train home); which platform it would depart from; and know what time they would get back to Scarborough so they could get home safely.
As well as printed timetables, there is also the screens at railway stations, showing the latest information.
This element of the day trip encouraged planning, responsibility and helping each other get things right!
Escape Rooms
This popular pastime is on trend!
If you’re not sure what it’s about, participants are given a mission at the escape room venue, usually starting off in a themed room which includes hints and clues as to how to gain your freedom.
It can include codes, locks, and hidden items.
It’s an immersive experience and it relies upon teamwork as well as healthy competition between participants.
The experience can often mean using parts of your brain in a different way, learning how to look at things differently.
You’ll be glad to know our team did indeed ‘escape’!
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Nando’s
Part of enjoying a day out is having great food to eat!
We’re not talking about a packed lunch here: we wanted our young clients to understand how to make a decision about eating out (affordability); exercising restaurant etiquette (patience; courtesy; turn-taking); and being thankful for the food itself.
Of course, eating out with friends is a great way to bond with each other; to discover more about each other; and generally having fun in a responsible way and without disturbing others.
For our trip to the well-known food chain Nando’s, this also meant finding the location, waiting to be taken to a table, reading the menu and deciding what to eat within budget.
When ordering food, our clients could see how to take turns in ordering and giving their food choices clearly, as well as being polite to the Nando’s staff.
It was then a case of waiting for the meal, enjoying it and yet also being grateful that food is so plentiful in the UK.
Other skills learned included being able to eat food in a polite way, and ask for the bill from staff.
As we needed to check who’d ordered what, it was also a test of memory!
We also enjoyed delicious donuts during the day trip!
While this was just a snack, the rules of food ordering applied: taking turns, making choices and more.
Our learners also enjoyed a tasty snack by having a treat: some Krispy Kreme doughnuts! Again this called upon different skills such as budgeting and food choices.
Of course couldn’t have done this without our dedicated team, including Dave an Gin, who chaperoned, guided and was there as a helping hand in Hull.
With all our trips we encourage our learners to have fun, make friends and be thankful for what they have.
A great day out for everyone!
by faithyoung | Nov 28, 2023 | 2023, Blog, Charity
It was a first for us all here at Futureworks NY!
Along with three other fantastic local businesses, we held the very first Indulgence Evening in Scarborough.
The event took place at the stylish Sitwell by Eat Me in Woodend, The Crescent, Scarborough on the evening of 23rd November 2023 between 5pm and 7pm with mulled wine, mince pies and soft drinks available.
Isabelle Randall, couture luxury designer, Andy Grayson of Not Just Travel and Andrey Matos, the Coffee Man joined forces with Futureworks NY for a sparkling evening of … well, indulgence!
These wonderful businesses with their amazing stalls and wonderful support made the evening a huge success.
The idea for this relaxed event was the result of a discussion at WIN Networking Group, of which we are all members.
As well as helping publicise the businesses involved, the event was also designed to help swell the coffers of Futureworks NY, as we are now a charity – hurrah!
Futureworks NY exhibited festive gift items from Furniture Works, as the event had perfect timing for the festive build up.
With lots of great publicity online, in the Scarborough News and via social media channels, the event was very well attended.
Guests included fellow business owners, parents of some of our young clients, and supporters of Futureworks NY.
We were also bowled by the many businesses who donated prizes for the prize raffle.
These included:A Blooms Café food voucher, two tickets for Hannah the Musical at Scarborough Spa Theatre, a gift voucher from Boyes Stores,a gift voucher from Isabelle Randall, travel vouchers from Andrew Grayson (Not Just Travel), a two night stsay at Easby Hall, a family ticket to Staxtonbury 2024, Jen at Calma treatment voucher, a family ticket to see Elf the Musical from Scarborough Theatre Company and a Nespresso coffee machine donated by Andrey, along with bottles of wine and other goodies.
Sarah and Michelle, our bosses, did a great job of being wonderful hosts and drawing the tickets for the raffle prizes at the end of the evening.
You could hear a pin drop as the winning tickets were announced!
The raffle raised £235 for Futureworks NY, which is the chosen charity of WIN at the moment.
Yet the stars of the show were Lily and Ella, two of our young clients, who helped with the raffle, serving drinks, tidying up and they were brilliant.
We were also supported by our Trustees during the event so thank you to them for donating their time.
by faithyoung | Jul 14, 2023 | 2023, Blog, Charity
We are so delighted! After lots and lots of hard work, we’ve now become a charity.
We are based in Victoria Road, Scarborough, which is where our charity is registered to.
Our team, led by Michelle Padron-Kitching and Sarah Thornton, want to thank everyone involved
Michelle says: “This is excellent news and is the next chapter in the Futureworks NY journey.
“Becoming a charitable company helps consolidate our ability to help young people and adults in Scarborough. This milestone means we can apply for additional funding for projects that will continue to help people in the area.”
Sarah says: “Our objectives remain in line with the help we offer to our cohort, which includes finding employment through the provision of employability skills.
“Our hardworking team will be able to increase the support they already offer, which includes helping people achieve City & Guilds qualifications, vocational training, and assistance with acquiring life skills.”
Their first fundraising activity was the successful completion of the Cleveland Way National Trail, a long-distance walk stretching 109 miles. Part of the trail includes Scarborough and Filey.
Sarah completed the gruelling trek along with fundraisers Rachel Philliskirk and Emma Wilson.
Sarah says: “Our aim was to raise £500 for Futureworks NY and we smashed this target thanks to everyone who donated. We managed to raise £830 in total, so we’re delighted.”
We are in the process of planning their fundraising activities and we also have our retail premises Furniture Works, in St Thomas Street, Scarborough.
Futureworks NY, 40 Victoria Road, Scarborough YO11 2SD
Registered Charity Number 1203922, registered office is 40 Victoria Road, Scarborough, YO11 2SD
by faithyoung | Nov 28, 2019 | Charity, Uncategorized
We are delighted to tell you that we’ve received £250 from local supermarket group, Proudfoot.
Scarborough’s family-run Proudfoot supermarket group supported us through Nisa’s Making a Difference Locally (MADL) charity, which raises funds from the sale of Heritage and Co-op own label products, in addition to funds raised via the four supermarkets’ in-store collecting tins.
We are so pleased as we know this is partly due to local people donating their small change when shopping in a Proudfoot store.
Thank you, everyone! With this generosity, we can continue to work within our local community!
