The family, community and interpersonal relationships focus area is about cultivating positive relationships for children and young people between themselves, their families and their broader communities. Family or carer relationships are important as they are central to individual wellbeing (1). These relationships help to build trust within the family unit and provide a support structure for young people to rely on when facing tough situations or mental health challenges (1). Community relationships are important for young people to maintain a sense of self and identity and has known benefits for youth mental health and educational attainment (2). Additionally, young people feeling connected with their local community leads to more active citizenship and participation in the community in the short term and long term into adulthood (3). In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people feel a connection to their local community and the time is ripe for more young people to be involved in their community and reap these benefits of community engagement (4).
Ormiston Trust is committed to empowering others and sustaining success. A large part of facilitating this is ensuring children and young people have support networks within their families and communities to be successful in academic education and later life and cope with any challenges they may face. Furthermore, community engagement has the ability to empower young people to make a difference in their communities in the future and empower others in their local communities in the process.
Grant programmes examples: Parental engagement, children centres, prison visitor centres, community space, community cafes, parenting advice, family support etc
References
(1) Relationships Australia. “Why are healthy family relationships important”. Relationships Australia. https://www.raq.org.au/faq/why-are-healthy-family-relationships-important
(2) Chris Elmore MP. ” How do we engage more young people in their local communities”. The Fabian Society. https://fabians.org.uk/how-do-we-engage-more-young-people-in-their-local-communities/
(3) Positive for Youth Summit working paper, 2011. “Young people’s role in society”. Gov.uk
(4) National Lottery Community Fund. “2021: Importance of communities set to remain high as people identify loneliness and isolation as a key issue to tackle in their local”. National Lottery Community Fund. https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/news
/press-releases/2021-01-12/2021-importance-of-communities-set-to-remain-high-as-people-identify-loneliness-and-isolation-as-a-key-issue-to-tackle-in-their-local-area
Registered company no: 09648958 | Registered charity no: 1164358
James is the Chief Executive officer of Ormiston Trust. He has worked as an organisation advisor in the private, public and voluntary sectors, helping organisations to grow sustainably over the medium to long term. He has helped charities for over 20 years in the fields of strategic development, partnership setup, programme and project delivery.
Poppy is the Youth Engagement and Partnership Officer at Ormiston Trust, responsible for coordinating our team of Young Advisors and developing effective working relationships with external organisations. She is currently studying ‘Politics, International Studies and Global Sustainable Development’ at Warwick University and previously worked as Board Advisor for a non-profit youth-focused organisation in Croydon. She has experience in activism work – attending COP26 with environmental education company Force of Nature and had been a member of the UK Youth Parliament for many years, speaking on environmental issues in the House of Commons for its ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign.
Tom heads up Comms and Youth Engagement here at Ormiston Trust. His role focuses mainly on helping run the Youth Advisory Council, as well as heading up our social media accounts and planning events. His creative roots lie in journalism, music and theatre as well as horticulture and creative producing, having been involved in a variety of workshops and projects. Tom is passionate about the environment and politics and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Birmingham in International Relations.
Fiona is the Grants Assistant at Ormiston Trust and in her role she supports the Grants team. Previously, she worked in the City for 10 years, firstly as a dealer on the floor of the London Stock Exchange and then as an equity salestrader.
Samia is a business and ICT Teacher with over 20 years of leadership experience in Education, working with leaders from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 5. Her experience has ranged from working as an Acting Head Teacher to a Deputy for an Education Trust. Some of the key highlights from her education career have included building schools and setting up education provisions, including a teaching school, and winning several National awards. Samia is passionate about ensuring the young people in her care have the best possible experience and has always led by example by sending her own children to the schools she has been a part of.
Ray leads the youth engagement, partnerships and fundraising work streams at Ormiston Trust, in particular having strategic oversight of how we as an organisation can embed the voices of our young people in everything we do, and how we can work with partner organisations to maximise shared outcomes and opportunities.
His background is in community project development and funding, having worked with charities, schools, and local authorities in East Anglia to develop a plethora of projects including primary-secondary school transition, award-winning youth amateur theatre, social prescribing in rural GP practices, and youth commissioning boards, for which he was recognised as a Prime Minister’s Point of Light.
Ray is a global health and medicine graduate, alongside his work at Ormiston, he is a hospital doctor and public health academic. He is also an #iWill Ambassador and national #iWill Partnership Board member.
Anne is Finance Manager at Ormiston Trust and has worked for Ormiston Trust for over 30 years, overseeing the property portfolio and asset management. She combines her work at the Trust with voluntary community work and has raised thousands of pounds to enhance leisure and education opportunities for young people in disadvantaged communities.
Karlene is Finance Manager at Ormiston Trust and has been handling the Financial Management of Ormiston Trust since 2014. Her background is in Financial Services with 20 years working in the industry and she has a passion for systems, processes and spreadsheets to enable good finance management.
Aneela is the Head of Education at Ormiston Trust. Prior to joining Ormiston Trust, she was Head of Professional Development and School Improvement at Beaconhouse Group, overseeing the professional development of over 8000 teachers and implementing systems for school improvement across 200 international schools, in the Southeast region. Prior to this, she worked at Universities in the UAE, where she taught on the Bachelor of Education and Diploma programmes, and previous to this she was a Lead Advisor for Nord Anglia Education services, working with head teachers and principals to raise educational standards across schools in Abu Dhabi.
Melissa is a Programme Management Officer at Ormiston Trust. In her role she supports the #WeWill programme management, and works closely with the monitoring & evaluation, social action toolkit & skills, and youth engagement teams. She completed her undergraduate degree in International Development at the University of Sussex, and her postgraduate degree in Global Health and Development at UCL. Over the last eight years, she has dedicated much of her time to working with non-profit organisations in the UK, Nigeria, China, and Tanzania.
