Annual Report

2013

Unit 1 @LoudounPlas IonaButetownCardiff CF10 5HWTel: 029 2048 8536

Email: admin@peopleandworkunit.org.ukWebsite: www.peopleandworkunit.org.uk Charity Registration No: 515211 Company Registration No: 1809654

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EvaluationResearch

GwerthusoYmchwil

People and Work Unit

Annual report 2013

Introduction

The People and Work Unit is an independent charity that will celebrate 30 years of

working in Wales next year. The Unit seeks to make a difference through its two

core functions:

to promote the value of education and learning (for all age groups) as a tool

for tackling inequalities and promoting employment, through a programme of

community based action research projects; and

To undertake commissioned research and evaluation work for the public and

third sectors in Wales addressing inequalities in areas such as education

(formal and informal), health and employment.

Action Research Programme

In 2007 the People and Work Unit began planning a programme of action research

work with Glyncoch Communities First. The aim was to work together to address

some of the deep seated causes and effects of poverty in Glyncoch, a community

of around 3000 people in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Together with community members

we planned an integrated approach that built on the core development work that

was being done by Communities First and focused on developing involvement in

learning. Since this work started, in 2008, the community approach to learning has

shown radical changes. There has been major investment from the local housing

mutual, RCT Homes, and real support from the local authority. School attendance

has increased, school exclusions have fallen, adult participation in learning has

increased, crime and anti-social behaviour figures have fallen. Where there were

once many vacant properties, there is now a waiting list of people wanting to move

to Glyncoch. Over the next year we plan to further explore the contribution the Unit

and its partners, including the Glyncoch Community Regeneration Ltd and the

Communities First Pontypridd Cluster and the schools have made to these

changes. 

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James Hall, the Unit’s action research projects manager, has helped to develop our

programme of action research significantly over the last few years. A grant from the

Tudor Trust has enabled him to expand the boundaries of this work, by investing a

lot of time in disseminating the learning from the action research work (outlined

below) to community regeneration, education and anti-poverty activists and policy

makers, and by exploring models of partnership work.

Chance to Learn July 2012- June 2015

This project builds on earlier work funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation which

aimed to change the way that adult learning opportunities were structured in

Glyncoch. The objective was to change the approach from a supplier model, with

learning providers setting up courses and seeking learners, to a demand model,

with learners working with project staff to identify the courses that were needed and

negotiating with providers. The project both increased the number of learners, and

the impact of their learning over a three year period. In 2012 the project received

further funding from the Foundation to work with the community to develop a

sustainable, community run, structure for learners in the community which is able

to:

help in commissioning the right courses at the right time;

provide individual support to enable learners to access, and sustain,

involvement in learning; and

provide group support to enable learners to progress onto learning and

employment opportunities outside the community.

As a result of this, in this last year:

the project has worked with 209 individual learners (60 of them children) (since July

2012), representing over 7% of the entire population of Glyncoch.

Of these, 89 individual students have accessed courses in the community ranging

from psychology to food hygeine.

31 different courses have been run in the community.

community volunteers (7 parent partners) organised and ran Families and Schools

Together (FAST Families) in co-production with Save the Children. This engaged 74

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people from the two newly federated schools, Craig yr Hesg Primary and Cefn

Primary, and had a 100% retention rate, with community members acting as

mentors and supporters to more isolated families. Volunteers went on to run a

regular and well attended ‘coffee morning’ for a group ranging from 6 to 14 people.

a new community centre, owned by the community regeneration partnership,

opened and 8 volunteers have been supported to form a committee to run it.

a Facebook group named “Glyncoch Learners” has 59 active members

Build It Glyncoch 2009-2013

This project, funded by the Rank Foundation, has worked with young people and

adults who are not in education, employment or training, and those who the school

identify are at risk of becoming so. The project offers practical experience of

construction work, support to access training courses in local colleges and to find

work. Hywel Williams, the project worker, has worked with approximately 40 young

people and adults over the past year. In total, over the last five years, Build It has

undertaken 36 community projects, and worked with over 100 community members.

Here is a selection of the success stories which illustrate the breadth of the work

being undertaken.

two project participants have become fully qualified carpenters to NVQ 3 which

demonstrates a fantastic commitment to three years work in college and

apprenticeship

another project participant is qualified to NVQ 2 in Plastering and another has

completed NVQ 1 Bricklaying and looks set to complete level 2

one participant who had just dropped out of school when Build It started five

years ago, and lacked direction despite having gained good GCSE results is

now fully qualified to NVQ3 in Mechatronics (a fusion of mechanical, electrical,

electronic and control engineering) and is working towards a degree in electrical

engineering. This is being supported by his employers who recently selected

him, with two others, to go out to Chicago for 6 weeks to learn about a new

component. This young person has also joined the steering group of Glyncoch

Communities First and is actively contributing to the shaping of community

development.

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A video of over five years’ worth of practical projects (36 in total) in the Glyncoch

area and beyond with approximately 100 volunteers can be found on the Unit’s

YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuN97EtcHqCCsKqpC95sa3g

Hywel himself has, over the course of the project, studied for a degree in Informal

Learning and, having succeeding in gaining a 2:1 this year is now progressing to do

a postgraduate certificate of education in Design Technology with the aim of

becoming a secondary school teacher. A volunteer with Build It over the past year,

David Quinn, is taking up the reins of this project, with James Hall’s support, and

developing a social enterprise that will offer community based construction skills in

partnership with the local school (which has committed to employing David one day

a week) and with local training providers.

School Focused Communities 2009-2015

This project works with 44 young people and their families, following them as they

progress through secondary school and make the transition to adulthood. The

project objectives were to improve attendance and behaviour in schools, attainment

and promote family involvement in learning. The first group of young people

completed compulsory education in June 2013, and the second group will complete

compulsory education in June 2014.

With continuing support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the objectives have

developed to encourage continued involvement in learning and an effective

transition to post-16 education and employment. An annual survey, begun in 2008,

is following the cohort and their peers to measure changes in attitudes to learning

and behaviour as they progress through education. Key outcomes of the project to

date are summarised below.

Behaviour in school

School behaviour has improved. There have been no permanent exclusions

amongst the young people in the cohort and although the survey shows that pupils

from Glyncoch are still more likely to self report that they get in trouble in school

than their peers, the school now report there are far fewer incidents of poor

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behaviour. Both the school and the Communities First cluster have adopted some

of the project’s methodology when dealing with areas beyond Glyncoch, including

employing a community based school-family liaison worker.

Attendance at school

When the project started school attendance levels of pupils from Glyncoch were a

cause for concern. Termly attendance across both the year groups the project is

working with is now almost exactly the same level as the full year group each term.

In addition to required attendance, there has been an excellent take up of revision

support both in the school and at additional sessions arranged by the project in

Glyncoch. Many of the young people re-sat their maths GCSE three times during

this academic year, demonstrating high resilience and improved ability to cope with

disappointment (not evident from previous year groups).

Family involvement in learning

The Project Leader has text or Facebook contact with over two thirds of the

parents/carers and uses such contact to remind families about parents’ evenings,

exams, results and revision sessions. This has created a much stronger awareness

of what needs to happen and has developed support for learning. Many informal

conversations have demonstrated an increased support for educational progress

(e.g. one mother who was nervous about her son attending a local solicitor’s for

work experience wrote a very positive letter of thanks following the placement). Six

young people from the Year 12 group are in sixth form (none were there when the

Unit arrived in 2007), 13 are in further education college (being supported by the

Project Leaders of SFC and Build It).Six of the current Year 12 group of young

people have expressed a clear desire to attend university (there were none at the

school looking to attend university from this area when the Unit started work in

Glyncoch in 2008), indicating a broader acceptance in families of the idea of

continuing in learning past compulsory school age.

Dynamic Communities April 2012 - March 2015

Mark Hutton works in five communities with a focus on using sports and physical

activities as a way of stimulating community action. With funding from Comic Relief

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and support from Communities First groups in each of the five areas, the objective

is to develop sustainable structures for running community groups. Much of his

focus in the first part of his project has been in developing the capacity of local

people to set up and run their own activities. In the project’s first year, to March

2013 over 400 people were involved as participants in project activities which over

79 volunteers helped to run including:

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Rhondda Fach Winter Skills programme: an introduction to exercise – one day

course for adults

The project has succeeded in securing a grant from the Lloyds TSB Trust to train

local 6th formers as sports leaders. A group of 14 secured a leadership qualification

in the summer of 2013 and are now volunteering across their community running

school and community based sports activity. Their school studies will also benefit

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a health reps group created in Glyncoch to receive training in health matters

and to monitor health and wellbeing issues in the community. 12 volunteers

met monthly and have received six weeks of training. Each volunteer

specialises in a particular aspect of health to be a point of contact for

community members

Ynyshir & Wattstown Sports group formed to organise a bid for renewal and

change of use of a sports facility.15 volunteers have joined the group and a

range of community groups that did not previously work together have now

found a new focus and purpose which will lead to a wide range of volunteering

and active citizenship opportunities. The group are seeking finance to take

forward their proposals

Glyncoch Festival mini Olympics – this summer family games event was part

of a community festival celebrating the Olympic ideal of healthy living and

exercise. 20 local volunteer residents organised the event. 60 young people,

children and adults participated in the three hour event in August 2012

two inter-primary school sports events for children between the ages of 8 and

11 involving approximately 60 different children each time (spring and autumn

terms) were held. Teachers (c.7), Communities First staff (c.6) and family

members (c.15 each time) also participated. These were team events with

opportunities for schools to win best sports team and best literacy team prizes

(children were asked to write journals on sport, fitness, well-being and health

which were judged on the day)

cycling proficiency training in partnership with Porth Cluster Communities First

and the local authority involved 100 Year 6 pupils across four schools for one

theory and one practical session before the test – encouraging healthy

exercise, road safety and local volunteering (2 local volunteers who are now

engaged in supporting local activities)

as the work they are doing will help with the physical education qualifications and

Welsh Bac. These young people have formed their own organising committee and

successfully applied to Street Games UK for support and facilities to organise and

run local informal sporting opportunities for young people in the Rhondda area.

Development work

The People and Work Unit has been working for over six years in Glyncoch. This

community is one of over 160 across Wales that have benefited from funding

through the Welsh Government’s Communities First programme. In Glyncoch the

programme has provided community development workers, youth workers and a

range of project workers. In March 2015 the Communities First programme is due

to end and, by the summer of 2015, the People and Work Unit’s work in Glyncoch

will end.

Our current focus, therefore, is on looking at how the considerable changes and

benefits of the work that has been done in Glyncoch can be sustained. We are

working with Glyncoch Community Regeneration Ltd. – a community owned and

run company set up to take control of community development work – to think about

what needs to be in place to ensure that work continues to develop. We have had

regular away days involving Unit and Regen staff to reflect on progress and to plan

for the future.

As already mentioned, we are also pulling together the learning from our work in

Glyncoch in order to help us plan our next area of focus. Ten years ago the trustees

agreed a focus on young people and learning and on poverty as being the core

themes underlying our work. In the next six months we mean to re-visit our themes,

reflect on our work over the last decade, and plan how we want to go forward.

As part of this process our director, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, is currently consulting a

range of key people working in the voluntary sector in Wales to explore the needs

of the sector and what role the People and Work Unit should take in its

development.

Research and evaluation

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The People and Work Unit’s research and evaluation contracts provide

opportunities for the Unit to inform policy and practice and inform our action

research. They have provided nearly half of the Unit’s income this year. The Unit

has secured a high profile and potentially influential set of contracts for the public

and third sectors this year including:

Programme of Action Research to Inform the Evaluation of the Additional

Learning Needs pilot: Robust Trialling Phase; Research on the pilot’s

expanded testing phase; and evaluation of children and young peoples’ right

to make appeals and claims to The Special Educational Needs Tribunal for

Wales. These three linked contracts involve working with the Welsh

Government and nine local authorities developing and trialling approaches to

better meet the needs of children and young people with additional needs.

(for the Welsh Government)

An evaluation of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Strategic Action Plan for

Wales (for the Welsh Government)

Research into poverty and ethnicity in Wales, undertaken in partnership with

Continyou Cymru, the Wales Refugee Council, Community Development

Cymru and Riverside Community Development (for the Joseph Rowntree

Foundation)

Research into Adult Community Learning Provision in Cardiff (for the Cardiff

Community Learning Network)

Examples Of Recent Contracts – timelines.

Title/Details Dates

Outcome evaluation of the Autistic Spectrum Disorders Strategic

Plan for Wales

Nov 12 – Oct 14

Pilot study to inform and evaluate SENTW, for the Welsh

GovernmentMay 12 –Aug 13

Research into Poverty and Ethnicity in Wales, for the Joseph

Rowntree Foundation March – Nov 12

Evaluation of the Get on with Science pilot, for Chwarae Teg and

ContinYou CymruJune – Dec 12

Rapid Evidence Assessment, for Heads of the Valleys Strategy May – Oct 12

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Evaluation of the SEE Change, for InterlinkSep 11 – Sep

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Evaluation of the Building a Better Future together project, for

RCT CBC Oct 11-Feb 12

Structure and Governance

The People and Work Unit is a charity with eight Trustees and nine members of

staff. The Unit’s Trustees receive written reports on all aspects of our work at their

monthly meetings and meet with all staff at least twice a year. Budgets are set at

the beginning of the year (January) and monitored as the year progresses with

monthly cashflows updating financial predictions for the coming 12 months. Income

and expenditure is checked monthly by the Treasurer who reports to the

Chairperson.

2013 Trustees

Judith Jones – Chairperson Catryn Grundy

Archie McCaffer – Vice-Chairperson Hugh Edney

Philip Watkins – Treasurer Gordon Davies

Denzil Jones Lee McPherson

Finances

Accounts examined by Dorrell Oliver Ltd show in the 12 months to December 2012

the People and Work Unit had:

Income: £385,278

Expenditure: £346,729

Fund Balance: £161,747

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Charity number 515211

Company number 1809654

Unit 1 @Loudon 54 Garth Avenue

Plas Iona Glyncoch

Cardiff RCT

CF10 5HW CF37 3AA

Tel: 029 2048 8536

Email:admin@peopleandworkunit.org.uk

Website: peopleandworkunit.org.uk

Facebook: pawu1984

Twitter: @PWUnit

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