The Berkeley Foundation and Hackney-based charity SkyWay started working together in January 2020 as part of the Skills for Positive Futures funding programme.
The programme aims to equip 8-14 year olds at risk of exclusion with the skills needed to make positive life choices. In close partnership with Hackney Quest, SkyWay delivered a holistic package of support for local young people and their families. This included one-to-one sessions, youth-led workshops and parental support groups, lasting between three months and one year.
Just a few months into the three-year partnership the global pandemic struck, causing significant disruption to the project. However, SkyWay and Hackney Quest quickly learnt the ingredients to successful partnership working and have collectively produced a ‘How to’ guide for other organisations looking to collaborate with each other.
“We have seen so many benefits in working together.”
Through co-working, sharing best practice around monitoring and evaluation, and even sharing training resources and Youth Workers, the two local charities were able to act quickly and deliver additional activities in response to the crisis, including the distribution of food parcels and laptops. Our funding supported SkyWay to deliver food packages to 40 families.
Through successful partnership working and collaborative delivery of one-to-one mentoring, educational trips and parental support groups, the project has had a positive impact on 72 local young people and achieved some impressive outcomes:
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100% of the young people reduced their risk of exclusion;
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90% improved their behaviour;
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99% improved their ability to make responsible decisions.
“We have built such good relationships together as a staff team that we will always still work together in some capacity.”
Both charities have also developed strong, trusted relationships with local schools, and now have permission to attend school meetings with families. Going forward, SkyWay and Hackney Quest are examining how they can improve the organisational function of both charities and will continue working together in the future. We’re really pleased to share their ‘A successful partnership: How to guide’ with our wider network of partners.