#awtf

[rancidpancakebatter]

Gwen's really pissing me the fuck off with how she's treating reader. Don't get upset at her just bc your bf is a dickhead. She's smarter than that. Anyways, great chapter!

She's pissing me off too, but to be fair:

If I was dating a man for five years just to find out that a member of my friend group (who he spends a lot of time with already) has now outranked me, GIRLFRIEND OF FIVE YEARS !!! who's done nothing wrong, I would be mean too 😘 Smart or not.

[pahhjayy]

"I've seen some things maaaan. Terrible things" #awtf #seensomeshit #aliensdude

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There are a lot of benefits to our approach. 

Because we go out of our way to maintain positive relationships with families, we can help reassure when there is stigma around receiving help (stigma is seen as barrier to children receiving the support they need http://centreforum.org/live/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/State-of-the-Nation-report-web.pdf )

We are in great place to notice early warning signs and enhance the intervention of schools to meet the demands of disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils.Teachers and schools are overworked, have fewer staff and more pressure to perform (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/31/teachers-natasha-devon-childrens-mental-health-tsar-schools ).  

Our collaborative multi-agency response to children with mental health problems is effective and AWTF are positioned perfectly between the school, social services and other charities to understand the problem and either provide or identify appropriate solutions

We promote resilience in young people, which is essential in giving them the tools they need to overcome the difficulties they face through no fault of their ownhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/414024/Childrens_Mental_Health.pdf

Our mentoring in schools promotes inclusion, improves attainment, reduces social and emotional barriers to learning, contributes to more thorough safeguarding procedureshttps://www.rbkc.gov.uk/pdf/Practice%20Guide%20for%20Learning%20Mentors%20and%20Line%20Managers%20(PDF).pdf

We give children space to express themselves and be creative. Whether it’s using drama as a tool to discuss domestic violence, or creative writing and photography to communicate difficult emotions, the use of the arts demonstrably results in enhanced well-being (http://www.artsandhealth.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/A-prospectus-for-Arts-Health-Arts-Council-England.pdf )

Sources: (Click to open) 300,000 teens with anxiety issues  1 in 5 children domestic abuse  Rate of depressions in young people have risen to 70% 1 in 5 with depression, 1/3 of teens have thought about suicide 1 in 10 young people self-harm 1 in 5 young people experience domestic violence  The number of LAC in the UK  Cuts to foster parents  reduction in CAMHS  The number of cases turned away by CAMHS CAMHS waiting times  Poverty and mental health poverty and mental health 2 

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So who are you?

We are the Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation, and we are committed to helping young people in our area overcome their setbacks and achieve their full potential. You could also say we help young people find and achieve their dreams.

The Foundation was set up in honour of seventeen-year-old Alexandra Wylie whose death in 2010 spurred her mother (founder, Lindsey Wylie) into achieving her daughter's dreams - to eradicate all forms of social exclusion.

So now we work in collaboration with local schools and community groups to improve the well-being of disadvantaged and vulnerable youths in north London.

Alexandra was lucky to have had very few social barriers to have overcome.  Her ability to love life and find her passions and place in the world whilst so young is something we are keen to help others achieve.

So helping children achieve their full potential. That sounds very fluffy. What is it you actually do?

To help children achieve their full potential, it is important that they have their very basic needs met. We have found in our local area that 40% of children live below the poverty line. This means that we work to help these children receive the provisions they need to be healthy. Many rely upon the Free School Meal system as their main meal of the day. Obviously, this is an issue in the holidays, an issue that we attempt to mitigate as much as we can.

Many young people are finding their services being reduced as well - we have mental health services being cut, youth centres shutting down, child minding services being reduced and dependency on food banks is increasing.

This tells us that we have a problem, a problem that puts young people on the back foot. By addressing these issues with our in school and community projects we are helping young people stand firm on their own feet.

So what about following their dreams?

If a child lives in poverty, their disposable income is much lower. This can mean that experiences can be fewer for these children. In her short life, Alexandra was lucky enough to have had her basic needs met allowing her to try new things and travel to far off places.  This helped her find her place in the world and developed her determination to change the world (and probably ice skate a bit as well)

With experience comes growth of a sense of the world and one’s place in it as well as the opportunities that are out there.  It is our dream to fulfil young people’s basic needs and then help them move towards a place where they can achieve what they have dreamt of their whole lives or to find just what it is that makes them tick.

Together fulfilment of the basic needs of a person, and the fulfilment - or journey towards - their aspirations, results in total wellbeing. That is our end goal.

How are you going to get to your end goal?

Well, 

we have set three goals:

Mitigating the effects of poverty

Improving living conditions of young people

improving the academic and social lives of young people

To achieve these smaller goals we work in schools and in the local community, implementing schemes and projects, helping young people reach their potential by helping them access extra-curricular activities, advice and guidance.

In schools…. We work with vulnerable who are under the Pupil Premium scheme (which aims to reduce inequalities between disadvantaged children and they peers) or young people with emotional and social barriers to learning. For example, we work at Acland Burghley School, where our Youth Development Manager supports some of the most vulnerable pupils by providing intervention during the term time and in the holidays. Intervention ranges from individual and family support to organising suitable holiday activities to inspire them to reach their full potential both in school and in their communities. And in the communities…

We target hard-to-reach groups, such as homeless young people. We ensure we collaborate with other organisations and social workers so we are not simply re-inventing the wheel but making the most of everyone’s areas of expertise.

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For many inner-city children, the opportunity to see the small animals of a working farm are far and few between. The Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation?s Springfling on Sunday 15th May provided some of the youngsters from Parliament Hill School (PHS) with their first chance to come face to face with goats, rabbits, sheep and other farm animals. The petting farm marked the start of a week-long series of engaging programmes - from a Wake up to Wellbeing Bagel Bar at the  breakfast club to mindfulness sessions and revitalising aromatherapy tasters.  Wellness week is about promoting all round wellbeing in students in the lead up to exam season.  They will be taught stress prevention techniques and the importance of physical and mental relaxation. One student of Parliament Hill School described her experience:  “I was studying in the library and rushed out when I saw the animals arrive.  I went home feeling so different from the stressed state which I had been in before  - with a giant smile and selfie of me and an adorable piglet to show everyone! It really made me lose all the worry I had been feeling, to pet this tiny little creature and know that they don’t need to worry so in a way I shouldn’t put so much pressure on myself either.” AWTF are excited to be arranging wellness week. The founder, Lindsey Wylie explained: “We at AWTF are all about mitigating the effects of poverty and to us that means helping to make sure basic needs are met but also, and equally importantly, it means helping disadvantaged young people have experiences they might not otherwise get to have.”  This is the third SprinFling the charity has run.  In previous years the students enjoyed the company of Fortitude star Christopher Ecclestone and Ex- Hollyoaks actress Wallis Day.  Young people are given the chance to interact with the stars as much as with the animals.  Ex-Parli girl and AWTF volunteer, Tara Griffin (21),  said of the project “This can be a great learning experience for the children. Poverty can lock people down. It can make them feel as though there is no other place than where they are.  This constantly negative experience of the situation can then lead to a cycle of depression. The petting farm is an excellent way of showing an alternative way of life. The city can be bit of a cage sometimes and so showing these children there is a way of life that is a little slower paced can open up their horizons a little more.” 

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http://qr.net/bGmHA Phoebe Topping running for our charity and our cuties AWTF

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awtf

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Always remember you are! 

AWTF