BYHP is a registered charity (Charity No 1115514) that exists to support and assist vulnerable young people aged 13 – 25 in finding and maintaining a safe home from which they may be assisted to determine their own opportunities in life through
- The provision of free, confidential advice, information and support services to young people in housing need
- Lobbying to increase the availability of emergency and move-on accommodation in partnership with housing providers, voluntary and statutory organisations.
- Developing a range of services to support young people in securing and maintaining housing.
- Involving young people in the planning, development and delivery of services.
We have consistently been recognised as excellent in our field. In 2012 we won the Queens’ Award for Voluntary Services, and the Cherwell Business Awards recognising our community work in the local area. In November 2013 we were awarded the Children and Young People Now prize for Advice and Guidance.
Mediation
In a mediation meeting young people and their families are encouraged to listen to each others perspective to problem solve for themselves. They do this by discussing tensions in their relationship and finding ways to manage these and agree on ways to move forward.
In family work BYHP can offer one to one support to young people and their families so that difficulties can be discussed confidentially and options explored in preparation for a joint mediation meeting or more in-depth individual support.
Counselling
If a young person has issues or concerns about their life, be it personal, family, or social, they can contact the Health and Wellbeing worker at BYHP.
Training
An Unlocking Potential course helps young people to move into employment, education, training or volunteering opportunities (NEET-EET).Young people aged 16-25 take part in a five week course. This is made up of five accredited AQA units and a Level 2 award in Food and Safety in Catering. The course is designed to assist the young people identify personal goals, and to acquire life and work related skills.
Housing Advice
We support young people in finding and maintaining accommodation, which can be difficult given the challenges that are faced when trying to access affordable housing in the Banbury area.
However, young people do manage to access private rented accommodation at times which often results in us supporting them with understanding tenancies, learning how to live independently and everything else that they need to know when it comes to successfully living on their own.
Private tenancies often do not go as planned and that is where we play a key role in making sure that disputes are resolved properly to prevent any negative outcome for the young tenant, such as having to leave the property.
