3.4 Beneficiaries

Fictional extract. Project figures, quotations and grant details are illustrative.

Overview of beneficiaries and annual reach

We support approximately 180 unique young people aged 11 to 17 each year across Barking and Dagenham, alongside around 140 parents, carers and siblings who engage through mentoring review conversations, parent check-ins and our annual Summer Showcase (reaching around 320 individuals annually):

• Weekly Youth Club attendance: An average of 40 young people attend every Tuesday evening at Mayesbrook Park Pavilion, generating 1,800 to 2,000 youth attendances per year across term-time and holiday sessions.
• Structured Mentoring caseload: 15 young people supported at any one time in weekly one-to-one mentoring (reaching 30 to 35 mentored young people across a full year), with a live waiting list of 20 referred young people.
• Detached street outreach: Regular contact with a wider peripheral cohort of 40 to 50 young people per year on local estates, around a third of whom transition into attending the Tuesday club or holiday programme.

Who we reach

• Primary age group: Young people aged 11 to 17 (School Years 7 to 12), with our heaviest referral volume concentrated around ages 12 to 15 (Years 8 to 10), the point at which secondary school disengagement and fixed-term suspensions peak locally.
• Socio-economic and family pressures: Over 70% of our members live in households experiencing economic hardship (including eligibility for Free School Meals, household reliance on Universal Credit or low-paid shift work, and overcrowded flats or temporary accommodation in Thames, Gascoigne and Becontree wards).
• Overlapping risk factors among mentored young people: Young people referred to our mentoring strand typically experience two or more overlapping vulnerabilities, including repeat fixed-term school suspensions, persistent school absence (below 85% attendance), a sibling or family member known to youth justice or social care, exposure to domestic abuse at home, or young carer responsibilities.
• Special Educational Needs and Neurodiversity (~20% of members): Roughly one in five (20%) of the young people we work with has an identified special educational need or disability (SEND), most commonly relating to speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), social, emotional and mental health (SEMH), ADHD or autism, with several more awaiting formal assessment.