Interim CEO
Streetwise Young Peoples Project (UK)
I held overall responsibility for this innovative youth charity for 11 months, reporting directly to the Board of Management & supervised by the Chair. Streetwise provides counselling, youth work, sexual health services & generic advice & guidance to over 6,500 young people per year in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Although a local charity, Streetwise is an award-winning organisation with a strong reputation & has consistently developed approaches that have a national impact. Streetwise had been in operation for 17 years & grown rapidly in the years just prior to my joining them. Streetwise was offering a range of services & projects focussing on outcomes such as a reduction in teenage pregnancy; an increase in under 25’s undertaking chlamydia tests; improved mental health & wellbeing of school age students; better understanding of sexual decision making in young people; developing group work support for young people who self harm.
The permanent manager (of nine years) & the Board were keen to take advantage of my skills & experience to advise on, develop & improve the current management & operational structures, policies & procedures. I had direct line management responsibility for the Youth Work & Counselling Managers & Administrative Team & indirect responsibility for a further staff of 24 part & full time youth workers, sexual health workers & counselling staff. I joined at a difficult time for the organisation, as the manager was in the middle of a specific staff competency review & there were financial concerns. I needed to build trust & show credibility quickly & I worked hard to re-build damaged relationships between management & staff, allowing the permanent manager to return to a more settled team.
I also successfully fundraised & managed finances & resources for the organisation, taking Streetwise from a deficit position of over £105,000 at 31 Mar 2007 to a surplus of £23,735 on 31 Mar 2008 (after costs of £418,711). I identified alternative funding sources & structures including direct service provision contracts with schools as well as continuing to make successful bids for statutory, trust, lotteries & grant based funds & undertook research & development of social enterprise models for the CRUNK under 18’s ‘nightclub’.
I identified policies & procedures that required updating, improved the financial processes (including the implementation of SAGE) & worked with the board to develop effective performance management & staff development processes. I collaborated with the management team to develop the initial application for the Glaxo Smith Kline Impact Awards. Streetwise went on to be the 2009 overall winner & the Streetwise Management Team & Board invited me to accept the award with them in recognition of my input. My final achievement for the organisation was the planning, design & facilitation of a service user led AGM with an Annual Report designed as a CD of tracks performed by the young people involved in the social enterprise.
