Our Trustee Julia Valentine and Supported Housing Coach Jenni Birch were nominees at the Milton Keynes Soroptimist Club Violet Awards for Women in Action.
Julia Valentine Jenni Birch
The event took place on Friday 3 September to celebrate the hard work of staff and volunteers of charities linked to Soroptimist International Milton Keynes (MK). We would like to congratulate Ruth from the Winter Night Shelter for receiving the award on the night.
Strategic support
Julia’s nomination was in recognition of her work as a Board member of YMCA MK. In March 2020, we transitioned an entire staff team and 200 young residents from our old site into a new campus. Within a week of the move, we went into lockdown and had to deal with the challenges of stringent lockdown measures.
Against this everchanging backdrop, the staff team has grown considerably. As a member of the YMCA Board, and a member of both the Development Reference Group and Personnel and Training Sub-Committee, Julia closely supported the CEO and the staff team with many elements of this transition and the challenges that needed to be faced and overcome. Julia has been a longstanding volunteer as a Trustee of YMCA MK, but at times last year the level of her support and involvement became almost as extensive as a member of staff. We couldn’t have navigated the past year without her.
Frontline support
The pandemic has had a huge impact on the young people living at YMCA and we have seen a big increase in mental health issues and anti-social behaviour, due largely to the complex needs of our residents. This includes substance addiction and experience of abuse, neglect, trauma and homelessness. It became clear as lockdown continued, that we needed to provide a higher level of support to these individuals, and this would have to be done in-house as all external services were overwhelmed.
Throughout lockdown Jenni gone above and beyond to provide support to our residents who have more complex needs and require the highest level of support. She gives 110% to every resident, ensuring a person-centred approach and bespoke support. Jenni has incredible patience and is extremely thorough and works to meticulous detail. She is an absolute asset to any team.
As a result of Jenni’s incredible work, we are now seeking funding to make this a permanent role within YMCA, ensuring residents with complex needs always have access to a high level of support in order to achieve a positive outcome.
YMCA MK would like to thank Soroptimist International Milton Keynes for their continued support and for providing the opportunity to celebrate the many fantastic staff and volunteers who are making a positive impact on the lives of others in our local community.
