Welcome to our series, ‘Meet the charity’, where we meet charities from the Channel Islands. We find out what they are doing, how they are helping others and how we can help them succeed.
Today, we meet Jersey’s Brighter Futures.
Brighter Futures was founded in 2008 by Wendy Hurford MBE. Based within The Bridge, at Le Geyt, Brighter Futures supports parents, families and children in Jersey. Working alongside the main carer, their educational model provides them with the tools to cope with the challenges of caring and parenthood.
Tell us about the charity’s ‘journey’
Founder Wendy Hurford MBE is a former teacher and head teacher in Jersey, who recognised the need for the main carer to be supported in the following ways:
- Parent and child relationships, helping our clients recognise and value their role as their child’s first and most important educator;
- Wellbeing and positive mental health, supporting social and emotional wellbeing, allowing increased resilience with the outside world to give our clients a brighter future and hope.
- Personal development and second chance learning, providing the skills our clients may need in order to progress and succeed in education, work and life.
How do you help make people’s lives better?
Our mission is to support families when they need us. We are non-judgemental and actively support the families who have been referred to us by focusing on the three key areas, discussed above.
We measure the impact of our programmes so that we know what we do, works. Each client is first referred into the ‘Transition Team’, and then allocated a dedicated key worker (and co-keyworker) to work alongside and to set their individual goals with them.
We aim to build the main carer’s confidence, sense of self-esteem and skills such as listening to and working with their children, to improving areas such as their own literacy and numeracy. Our services are provided free of charge so that funding is not a barrier to accessing our support.
Finally, our support is given on a sustained basis. We will often work with a carer for up to three years, if they need us to.
Are you part of a bigger charity?
Brighter Futures Jersey is a stand-alone, local charity. (Reg No 204).
Can you talk us through a typical working day for the team?
We have found that there is no such thing as a typical day at Brighter Futures!
Our key workers see clients both individually and also facilitate groups, such as Growing Together Child Development Programme (for babies, parents and children) and Incredible Years Parenting Programme.
Our key workers will also work with clients to refer them on to other agencies and perhaps support them on their return to work. We aim to meet all our clients, individually, once a month and also to check in with them via phone, regularly.
Our qualified Crèche Facilitators are the bedrock of our service and we could not function without them. They look after our clients’ babies and children in a safe environment whilst our keyworkers facilitate programmes for parents and carers.
As an example of a non-typical day, recently we had a very kind offer from some premises which are closing down, to provide us with non-perishable food and many other useful items. A small convoy of Team Brighter Futures went to collect the items and we are very grateful for this help. All of the items are kept in our larder and provided to clients who need extra support with food from time to time, especially just before and after Christmas.
As well as our everyday activities at The Bridge, our Community Engagement Team spend their time actively seeking sponsorship and funding for our projects and planning amazing events. Our CEO, Fiona Brennan (shown in the main picture), liaises with external agencies and government as well as our Board.
Do you work with government?
If applicable, we take part in consultation processes with the Government of Jersey. We recently provided a report to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the politicians who run this committee.
What would you like the States of Jersey to do in order to help charities?
We are grateful to the States of Jersey for providing us with funds from the Fiscal Stimulus Fund. This has enabled us to backfill certain posts at Brighter Futures and also to take on a Digital Strategy Lead, to ensure that our social media and website content is consistent.
Where is your funding from?
Brighter Futures’ receive approximately 9% of our funding from The States of Jersey and we are responsible for fund raising in respect of the other 91% of our operating costs.
This is done via applying to Trusts and Foundations for grants, kind and generous giving from individuals and businesses and also through events fund raising. This way, we can raise the profile of Brighter Futures and its vision, which is for every family to have a brighter future.
How has Covid-19 impacted your charity?
The largest impact that Covid-19 had on our charity was to further isolate many of our clients. We responded to the issue of not being able to have clients on the premises (due to lockdown) by increasing the frequency of our contact calls and using video calls to stay in touch.
Covid-19 has also meant an increase in referrals. This means that we now help 170 families in any one week, rather than 150 families as was previously the case.
We decided to be bold with our events and held both our annual White Collar Darts tournament with 350 attendees and Fashion for Futures in September 2021, as well as The Sound of the Evening at Government House (to say thank you to our supporters) and also a private lunch event that generated much-needed funds.
We hope that our events will be held on an even larger scale in 2022.
What’s been your biggest challenge as a charity?
Meeting the needs of the many clients who are understandably being referred to us. Ideally, we would like to be able to take on additional premises to support clients who don’t live near The Bridge.
Can you share any pleasant experiences?
I cannot believe the difference in my child… I can’t believe that parenting could be so enjoyable. I don’t know how I would have got through the year without you
We are privileged to work alongside our clients on their Journey to Wellbeing and share their journey with them.
Many of our clients report an increase in their confidence and self-esteem as they access the menu of Brighter Futures programmes. 80% of clients reported an increased level of wellbeing this year, and we know that 20% of clients are currently seeking work.
36% of Brighter Futures clients also returned to work this year. Our client feedback, known as ‘Story Catches”, speak for themselves. Here is just one: “I cannot believe the difference in my child… I can’t believe that parenting could be so enjoyable. I don’t know how I would have got through the year without you. Thank you so much for everything you have done.”
More Story Catches are in our Annual Report, which is now online here.
Are you looking for volunteers?
From time to time, we require volunteers to help in our crèche. If you are interested in helping us in this way, please do contact our Manager, Lauren, on 01534 449129.
Anyone who would like to consider becoming an Ambassador for Brighter Futures can contact Sharon Betts, Community Engagement Officer [email protected]. Ambassadors are people who help us to raise our profile, organise and attend our events and lend their expertise.
Are you looking for donations? How can people donate?
We are always seeking donations and we’re grateful for every penny that we receive.
It costs £4,400 per annum for Brighter Futures to support one family, so any donations are gratefully received. You can donate online here.
If you would like to speak about supporting us, our Community Engagement Officer, Sharon, would love to hear from you.
How to contact Brighter Futures:
Are you a Channel Islands charity who would like to be featured in Channel Eye? If so, please drop an email to [email protected]
