CBP Newsletter (Oct 2012)
Termly Update on the Happenings at Connections Bus Project
Summer Holiday Programme Report
In addition to this the youth workers ran an egg drop challenge, where young people created a case for an egg (with limited resources) that would protect it when dropped from a top deck window on the bus. This proved very popular and the young people learnt a lot about choosing the right resources, communicating and working with a team.
In all, 337 young people attended during the six weeks (more than in any previous year). This improvement was as a result of having more bookings of regular weekly sessions allowing reliable consistent contact with the young people. One-to-one work has been more important with many young people taking the opportunity to share issues with youth workers, who have been able to support them in various ways.
Weekly Attendance
Currently at an all time high, we are seeing over 250 young people a week and even reached the 300 mark!
Warburtons Support
James Fleming from Warburtons presenting Alan with a cheque for £615.
A quieter session
One week we saw 53 young people in this village but this was a quieter night with a game of cards round the table.
Warburton's Support
Great news, Warburtons (the bread makers) invited us and another local charity to be part of their stall at the Cambridge Food Festival on Parker's Piece last month. We helped out on the stall where they were selling goody bags and we were able to have a display of photos of the Bus Project.
The goody bags included loaves of bread, gluten free products, crumpets etc. and were sold with all money going to the charities. As a result we have received a cheque for £615.
The Future of the Project
For over 18 years The Connections Bus Project has been providing a valuable youth work provision to communities across Cambridgeshire on its silver double-decker youth buses. This regular service allows experienced and trained youth workers to develop positive relationships with young people, enabling them to deal with general and individual issues which the young people face. Currently, over 200 young people a week use the facilities across 16 communities.
We have in the past been successful in finding funding to keep any fee charged to the local community or Parish Council well below the cost of running the service. Regrettably and despite our best efforts there has been a downward trend in these grants and with no sign of improvement in the economy, this is likely to continue. As a result, we have had to contact the local communities we provide services to, with a letter explaining a very significant increase in the fee charged from April 2013.
We are aware that this increase will put our services out of the reach of some communities but we do not have the funding to subsidise the fees to such a great degree any longer. This may well result in a reduction in the provision, losing one of the buses or even ceasing operation all together.
In order to avoid the fee increase and to keep the charity running, at least £65,000 needs to be raised before April 2013.
Annual General Meeting on 30th October 2012
This year, instead of a guest speaker we will have a 3 minute video showing an evening on the youth buses.
So Where Did it All Start?
The Connections Bus Project
Online Donation
via our website, credit card donations can be made with a facility for us to claim Gift Aid.
Cheque
Sent to the address at below. Gift Aid can be claimed, please indicate if you wish us to do this and include full name and address.
Online Shopping
Next time you make a purchase online, go through our commission site SpendandRaise. It will cost you no more and we will receive commission for the project (anything from 3% to 10%).
eBay for Charity
Donate a percentage or all of the selling price when you sell via eBay to us. Follow the instructions on eBay.co.uk and look for our project.
Email: admin@connectionsbusproject.org.uk
Website: www.connectionsbusproject.org.uk
Location: P.O. Box 344, Histon, Cambridge CB23 9WZ
Phone: 01223 232978
Facebook: facebook.com/ConnectionsBus
Twitter: @ConnectionsBus