G-Force Charity Who We Are

WHO WE ARE

G-Force's is a charity whose aim is to provide support, services and developmental opportunities to all the members of the community living on the Broomwood Estate (a sub-ward area of recognised social & economic deprivation) as well as other similar communities in South Trafford.

All these opportunities are designed to encourage, educate, empower, engage and draw 'isolated' individuals and groups (regardless of background) back into mainstream society with all the opportunities that offers.

All these aims are in line with the Government initiative 'Every Child Matters'.

Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying and Achieving
Making a positive Difference
and Achieving Economic Wellbeing

G-Force was started by residents and local volunteers and within four years became a formally constituted body and turned into a registered charity. To this day has a very high level of residents confidence and support.

Why Broomwood?

Broomwood Estate is an area of recognised social & economic deprivation and the area where G-Force first started.
Broomwood Estate falls into the bottom 15% of areas in the country with these issues.
Broomwood is sub-ward level and circled by areas of relatively high wealth and because of this it finds it very hard to draw in financial resources to help adds these issues from normal government or European Funding sources.
As a further indication of the deprivation, over 50% of children attending the Broomwood Primary School are entitled to free school meals.

Because of its success on Broomwood G-Force have been invited to role out their working model, practices and procedures into other similar areas in South Trafford. So far they have expanded into Oldfield Brow and are supporting work in Broadheath and Benchill in Wythenshawe. G-Force have also helped launch new Youth groups in Irvine in Scotland and Preston.

Our work is delivered in these various ways: -

Through the G-Force’s 'Youth Club' targeting 8 to 18 year olds.

G-Force prides itself, and has a reputation for its innovative approach to reaching and working with children & Young People.
The club approach is to offer educational and developmental projects for those that attend in line with the 'Every Child Matters' aganda. We do not just provide diversionary activities but real opportunities encouraging personal development.
We also try to be open most evenings and weekends and not just set hours. This has allowed us to be very reactive to the requirements of our members and be able to meet and support them at their point of need.
We also run a full programme of activities each school holiday. The reason being is that these, historically, are the times when most Children & Young People tend to be at risk of committing low level nuisance crime, out of boredom.
The projects are designed to challenge, empower, encourage and promote life skills in a safe and secure environment.

Examples of previous and current work include Skiing lessons, rock climbing, Youth Forums, numerous health related workshops, CV writing, support getting jobs, computer skills workshops, Healthy eating cooking, sewing, removing graffiti, many environmental projects such as laying woodchip paths in the local woods and maintaining and improving them over a number of years, woodwork, gardening for disabled residents, art & Craft clubs, Orienteering & other outdoor skills, helping to maintain the school garden, History projects, intergenerational events, and much more.

We also offer a range of ‘residentials’ each year, with last year, as an example, over 50 children and Young People having taken this opportunity.
We are also a delvery centre for the Duke of eEdinburgh Award Scheme as well as offering Millennium Award Scheme opportunities.

Most importantly, we are most focused on 'on the ground delivery' and as proof of this can cite the following statistic In 2006 we have delivered over 13000 hours of face to face work with nearly 250 children & Young People

Supporting adult individuals i.e. sourcing and supplying Adult educational opportunities
Supporting individual families. i.e. Crisis support, family respite holidays, etc.
Supporting other independent established groups, i.e. offering use of our minibus, joint projects, strategic partnership work, funding application support, etc.
The G-Force Theatre Group – Which targets isolated older residents to give them opportunities for social engagement through evenings and daytrips out.
Art & Craft Clubs – For elderly and/or infirm residents (particularly aged over 75) living in local sheltered accommodation. Again giving them for social and constructive outlets.
Being a conduit for other agencies. We are used by residents and other agencies so extra focused support can be provided

This has resulted in us working with over 150+ Adults in the last twelve months.

We particularly target children and families in most need of support and Young People who display challenging and/or antisocial behaviour.

Our working policies include the following: -

Child Protection Policy
Health & Safety Policy
Good practise Guidelines
Practical guidelines for Street based work
Strategic policy document for Street based work
Equal opportunity Policy
First Aid Policy
Staff training Policy

All these policies have been born out of our on the ground delivery experience and are revenued on a regular basis by all the staff and regular volunteers who work with the children, Young People and adults.