Turning Tides and young participants welcome Alison Hume MP in Scarborough

Turning Tides, BOP’s community-led wellbeing and resilience support programme for local young people in North Yorkshire, is delighted to welcome Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, to meet its young participants and learn about the programme’s innovative, preventative support.

Alison joins young programme participants at Sidewalk Charitable Trust, a Turning Tides partner, to listen to youth voice poetry written by and spoken by young women and girls who have used the medium as an important creative and emotional outlet for expression.

As well as spotlighting voices of the youth in the local area, the visit highlights the need for strong place-based, preventative mental wellbeing support for young people, at a time when they are facing growing challenges. Sidewalk’s hub offers a safe space for connection in the community.

Alison will also be speaking to Turning Tides staff about the programme’s person-centred Social Outcomes Partnership (SOP) approach, and the positive impact of community-led initiatives.

Turning Tides is a two-year pilot project, funded and initiated by Anglo American and designed and developed collaboratively with local young people, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) expertise, North Yorkshire Council, North Yorkshire Public Health, and Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, which also manages delivery. The SOP provides tailored support for young people before they reach crisis, giving them a trusted adult to provide long-term strengths-based support, helping them navigate the transition to early adulthood and achieve the best outcomes in each of their lives.

As a SOP, Turning Tides is able to tailor its solutions responsively, locally, and individually to focus on long-term outcomes rather than short-term outputs. The model brings together private and philanthropic capital to fund early intervention and preventative services, with payments by outcomes funders tied to the achievement of measurable improvements in people’s lives.

Earlier this year, the UK Government announced a £500 million Better Futures Fund focused on delivering better outcomes for 200,000 disadvantaged children, young people, and their families. The clear endorsement of outcomes-based commissioning will provide a major boost to SOPs like Turning Tides.

Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, commented: “It was a pleasure to meet everyone at Sidewalk and listen to the wonderful spoken word poetry. The experience was even more powerful when you consider how writing and delivering it is helping the young women and girls responsible. Turning Tides, which works closely with Sidewalk, provides person-led, tailored support for young people as they make the transition from youth to early adulthood. That benefits everyone in our community, which is why I was proud to see the government unveil and then make such a significant investment in the Better Futures Fund.”

Katie Cowie, Programme Manager at Turning Tides, said: “It is a testament to the strength and talent of young women and girls of Scarborough, who once lacked confidence, that they are now using their voices, engaging in social action, and speaking to their local MP about their lived experiences. Through this SOP we have helped over one hundred young people find their place, people, and purpose.”

Matt Parsons, Social Performance Manager for Anglo American’s Crop Nutrients business, said: “Turning Tides is one of the many projects we support as part of our commitment to local communities across North Yorkshire and Teesside. We’re proud that Turning Tides has been such a successful pilot project which is making a real difference to the lives of young people.”