Impact Report 2019/20

The ClementJames Centre is an award-winning charity that empowers the community to release its potential in one of London’s most disadvantaged areas.

Our vision is for everyone in the community to release their potential and live fulfilled lives. We achieve this through education, employment and wellbeing support in a safe and compassionate space in four key programmes: Children and Young People’s Education, Employment Support, Adult Learning, and Wellbeing and Support.

Grenfell Tower Fire

The ClementJames Centre is situated in Sirdar Road, adjacent to the Lancaster West estate. Prior to the fire, we supported over 300 families from the estate (which includes and surrounds Grenfell Tower). Because of its long history of community service, local people instinctively identified The ClementJames Centre as a place where they could find practical and compassionate care.

Since the fire, we have continued to provide support to those affected through our regular provision and have provided more intensive support wherever possible.

This includes:

• Delivering our Employment Support programme at Grenfell United (the organisation representing the survivors and bereaved) one day a week, to provide survivors and bereaved with tailored employment support
• Delivering Women’s Confidence Programmes at Grenfell United
• Providing intensive literacy and numeracy support to children and young people who have been struggling with their academic work since the fire
• Employing a Young People’s Counsellor to deliver counselling support on site twice a week
• Offering young people’s creative courses during the holidays, enabling them to come together, support each other and express their feelings
• Extending our weekly drop-in Wellbeing Clinic – providing NADA acupuncture, relaxation and health and wellbeing advice with a qualified practitioner
• Offering regular therapeutic gardening sessions in our beautiful community gardens

We continue to host a number of specialist services on site, such as Crosslight debt advice, Latimer Art Therapists and Child Bereavement UK for workshops for adults and children.

ClementJames is committed for as long as it takes to serving this community and we will remain a place of care and service.

Covid-19

Although we had to close the doors of The ClementJames Centre in March, from the very first day of lockdown, we continued to support the community. With many people losing their jobs and applying for benefits; many families struggling with home-schooling; and many members of the community struggling with isolation, we ensured that we adapted our services to meet the needs of the community, including:

• Offering a full timetable of Adult Learning courses
• Making over 1200 weekly pastoral calls to hundreds of children and young people
• Offering an online curriculum for children who did not have enough schoolwork
• Hosting an online exhibition of students’ work
• Providing 807 one-to-one employment appointments
• Bringing people together through online coffee mornings
• Organising food deliveries in the local area
• Simplifying and distributing government information

We also continued making mentoring calls via video and telephone as well as making regular welfare checks to the most vulnerable members of the community who were no longer able to pop into the centre for an afternoon to say hi. We are pleased that despite the challenges of the pandemic, we were able to support over 1,200 children and young people and over 1,100 adults.

Children and Young People’s Education

We help children and young people to learn, flourish and achieve.

This allows them to feel fulfilled and have the opportunities to build the future that they choose. We provide academic support, mentoring, intensive literacy and numeracy support and aspirational activities. The IntoUniversity programme was piloted at the centre in 2002 and in 2007 a new charity, IntoUniversity, was launched to expand the programme nationwide.

The Challenge

44% of children and young people in the north of Kensington and Chelsea are living in poverty. Young people from Britain’s poorest backgrounds face a considerable educational disadvantage. A child living in poverty will, on average, develop slower, do less well at school, have poorer physical and mental health, and will generally have reduced life chances than wealthier children.

Taking Action

We provide sustained academic support, motivation and encouragement to give young people a fair chance of realising their full potential. We provide 7 – 18 year olds with a combination of:

• After-school academic support
• Undergraduate student and corporate mentoring
• Specially-designed study weeks (FOCUS Weeks)
• Careers workshops run by industry professionals
• A Summer Carnival Arts programme
• One-to-one literacy and numeracy support

1,202 individual students benefited from our young people’s education programmes in 2019/20.

Our IntoUniversity Programme can demonstrate evidence of:

• Improved academic performance
• Improved chances of getting into university
• Improved attitudes to learning

Our Impact: Children & Young People’s Education

We offer a long-term, multi-stranded programme to children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We believe that it is most beneficial to start working with children in the primary years in order to have the greatest impact upon their futures. We continue to offer academic and pastoral support through to post-college applications and beyond.

• 103 children and young people received intensive one-to-one literacy and numeracy support
• 77% of Academic Support students said they are ‘more likely to go to university’
• 79% of Academic Support students reported better grades at school
• and 75% reported improved confidence

IntoUniversity North Kensington school leavers 2019

• 66% have a university place
• 12% employment/apprenticeship/further study
• 8% undecided or looking for employment
• 6% taking a gap year
• 2% going through clearing
• 1% applying for other education
• 5% unknown

Children and Young People’s Education During Lockdown

The announcement of the lockdown in March 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19 challenged our Young People’s team to reach the most vulnerable children in our community remotely, some of whom did not have access to devices or the internet in their homes. Varying levels of support from schools, overcrowding in the home, and the mundanity of lockdown were some of the issues facing the children and young people we support. Here’s what we did to combat the problem and continue our provision remotely:

Weekly Pastoral Check-ins

Some of our students were not able to access the internet or their own device during the first lockdown. To ensure we reached every child, we made phone calls to help with homework, check in with how they were feeling, and provide support where needed.

Online Curriculum

As we (and our students!) adapted to lockdown, we were able to deliver an online curriculum in the spring and summer before schools reopened again in September. Students were able to dial in to participate in lessons and those without access were sent the same activities to do at home.

I want to thank you so much for calling, my daughter says it’s just like when she finishes school, she has a snack and then it’s like she’s still going to homework club because you call. It’s really helping us have the same routine.

Academic Support Parent

Community, Carnival and the Arts

Our students normally celebrate the Notting Hill Carnival with us every year to learn and celebrate the history of the local area. Although carnival was cancelled this year, we kept its spirit alive with an online summer holiday carnival arts programme focusing on the links between community and carnival.

1 to 1 Support

Our literacy and numeracy 1:1 sessions were able to continue via video call, providing structure for students who were struggling with independent learning at home.

This session is the most she’s been doing all week! Thank you for your support, it really guides her through and is like a school day in one!

Parent of 1:1 Student

Yusuf’s Story

Yusuf and his brother started coming to The ClementJames Centre when he was in primary school. He shares his plans to become a neurosurgeon.

“By coming to The ClementJames Centre and getting help with my homework, I hope to get the best grades I possibly can in my exams. I keep coming back because it is a very nice, social place where you can get your homework done but also see friends at the same time!

My grades have probably improved since I started coming here because I get lots of help from the adults at the centre. Since attending ClementJames, I’ve explored my future pathway. On a Holiday FOCUS programme, I learnt all about the career of a neurosurgeon, I want to now be one when I’m older! It’s has also helped me improve my confidence by meeting lots of new people.

My mentor meetings are probably my favourite part of coming here because I can talk to my mentor about everything. I tell him about areas I am succeeding in and we also look at ways in which I can improve. I really enjoy my mentor meetings because we often have group meetings with another mentor pair.

I really enjoyed the science Holiday FOCUS programme where I learnt about the career of a neurosurgeon. I enjoyed learning about science and going on a trip to the University of Roehampton. I liked going to the university because it was interesting to see real life students in classes.

Out of all the programmes, Academic Support is the most beneficial because I can get one-on-one support to help me with the homework I am struggling with. The volunteers who have certain subject specialities really help me as well.

In my mentor meetings we think about my future a lot. I realised I wanted to be a neurosurgeon after a Holiday FOCUS programme. Since then I have planned my future pathway with my mentor so I can reach my goal of becoming a neurosurgeon! For example, we discussed that I will need to take triple science at GCSE. We have also researched the best universities for this subject.

[During lockdown] everyone helped by calling every week to make sure me and my brother are alright. We’ve also been given projects to keep us busy. I know if I need help I can call and get support. I have really enjoyed my group virtual mentor meetings. In the last meeting we talked about what we had been up to during lockdown. My mentor gave me some ways to keep active!”

Employment Support

We help people gain meaningful and sustainable employment. This enables our clients to improve their quality of life, security and independence. We do this through tailored advice and support, mentoring, and work skills activities.

The challenge

Unemployment is a major issue in the north of Kensington and Chelsea, with 5,000 residents unemployed borough-wide.

Over 6,100 North Kensington residents do not have any qualifications, making it difficult for them to find employment or progress with their careers. In our local ward alone, 76% of households suffer from at least one form of deprivation around income, education, health or housing.

What is distinctive about our employment programme?

When we evaluated the need for the programme back in 2010, we found that pre-existing provision was insufficient for long-term unemployed residents and those with multiple barriers. Ten years on, we are still the only organisation based in North Kensington that provides a comprehensive package of pastoral employment support for a client to find meaningful employment or training. Our weekly appointments are on a one-to-one basis and last an hour, allowing staff to fully understand each individual client’s barriers to work, and any other personal issues that may be affecting their search for employment. We have established partnerships with local employers and corporates who provide opportunities and business engagement days for our clients.

Taking Action

The programme is designed to appeal to local adults and young people who are seeking employment or training opportunities. We:

• Assess each person’s barriers to work
• Identify job and training opportunities
• Develop confidence and identify transferable skills
• Assist with job preparation and applications
• Run Interview Skills Days with corporate volunteers
• Deliver workshops in schools and colleges

Our employment programme can demonstrate evidence of:

• Improved chance of gaining employment
• Improved confidence
• Improved interview skills

Our Impact: Employment Support

• 66% of clients (seen give times of more) found work or training in the last five years
• Last year we supported 307 individual clients
• 55 clients benefited from eight successful Interview Skills Days where a team of corporate volunteers worked on a one-day challenge to develop skills, build confidence, and cope under pressure
• 38 survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire and bereaved relatives received one-to-one support at Grenfell United

Thanks to all the incredible support and guidance from the team at The ClementJames Centre … I landed my dream job working in communications and feel excited and eager to kickstart my career again. For anyone feeling hesitant about reaching out for help, I would 100% recommend

Employment Support Client

• 57% of clients (of 195 clients) seen five times or more found work or training despite the difficult employment landscape during the pandemic
• 54 young people at risk of permanent exclusion from education attended a series of employment-based workshops and received one-to-one support

Employment Support During Lockdown

Lockdown restrictions and the shutdown of many industries meant some of our clients lost work and relied on state support to stay afloat. With the unemployment rate increasing to 4.5% in June – August 2020 and over 8 million people furloughed, our services became more important than ever.

We were able to train clients for remote interviews and give advice on furlough and applying for benefits. Most Employment Support appointments were able to take place over the phone, with some taking place over video call.

• We held 807 remote Employment Support appointments with 139 clients between March and August

My caseworker regularly set up calls with me, reviewed my CV, kept an eye out for new job listings, encouraged me to learn new skills and, most importantly, offered me impartial advice and support, all of which greatly helped me regain my confidence and feel more optimistic about my future.

Employment Support Client

Thank you for giving me this opportunity today to develop my interview skills. I will take away so many tips and ideas for my next interview.

Interview Skills Day Attendee

AL’s Story

AL started coming to The ClementJames Centre for support to find a job and learn English. She describes how ClementJames has helped relieve pressure on her and her family in the time she has been accessing our services.

“All I can tell you is that [ClementJames] has helped me with a lot of things. They help my children with their homework, I get mentoring here, I’ve done English courses, I was helped to find a job, they helped me get my confidence back. In the beginning my self confidence was low and I was looking for a job.

I found it really difficult to find a job because everything was online and I was not good with technology but I attended an English course and a computer course and Bobby showed me how to look and I would come into the centre every week to search for a job. Now I work in a school as a lunchtime catering assistant and I’m happy at my job and I enjoy it.

ClementJames has also shown me how to fill in a lot of forms – for Council Tax and for Universal Credit. I don’t like going to other organisations but I feel confident coming here because it’s like I’m seeing a friend rather than going into an office. I’ve known people here for 15 years, so when I’m going here I feel confident.

ClementJames has also helped my children with homework club, mentoring and academic support. It’s helped because they have people to support them after school. We’re overcrowded at home but at the centre they have space to do their homework and it’s a safe space to come to.

Secondly, they also have someone to talk to. When my daughter goes to the homework club, she knows she always has someone to talk to her privately if she’s struggling. My daughter has been suffering from PTSD after Grenfell. I didn’t know where to go or where to start so I called you guys and you referred me to Grenfell Tower Wellbeing Centre to talk to somebody and now they’re helping her. ClementJames also helped me apply for two more laptops for my children to do Google Classroom during lockdown when they had to do school online as we didn’t have enough at home.

It would have been very difficult without ClementJames. It’s not just like a community, it’s like a second home and the people who work there are like family. When we go there, we come to see all the familiar faces. You can’t find another organisation like them, it’s completely different. There are a lot of organisations but all of them are different to ClementJames.”

Adult Learning

We support adults to improve their English, Maths and ICT skills. This gives our students the confidence and knowledge to help them succeed and strengthens their place in the community. We offer a wide range of Functional Skills courses and intensive literacy and numeracy support.

The challenge

Due to limited English language skills, many local adults are struggling to interact with their community and feel isolated or dependent on others. Some are also intimidated by formal learning environments or have had negative learning experiences in the past. In Kensington & Chelsea there are over 16,389 households where no occupant speaks English as their main language. This is the fourth highest proportion in England and Wales.

Taking action

We provide a range of adult learning provision including:

• Daytime and evening accredited Functional Skills courses
• Community Learning courses
• Sunday classes for Domestic Workers
• Functional Skills ICT Classes
• Literacy classes
• One-to-one literacy and numeracy support

What is distinctive about our Adult Learning programme?

We offer an appealing and welcoming learning environment in a community setting that attracts hard-to-reach learners. All our students come from low-income households for whom free high-quality learning programmes are crucial to improving their language skills. We provide both academic and pastoral support and offer a wide range of volunteering opportunities at the centre.

Our Adult Learning programme can demonstrate evidence of:

• Improved English, Maths and ICT skills
• Improved chances of gaining employment
• Improved chances of getting to further education

Adult Learning 2019/20 in numbers

• 250 students completed a course throughout the year
• 32 courses were delivered this year
• 86% of our learners on our accredited English courses achieved their accreditation
• 98% of our learners on our non-accredited English courses achieved the outcomes of the course
• 75% of learners on our Maths courses achieved their learning outcomes
• 90% of learners on our non-accredited ICT courses achieved the outcomes of the course

Adult Learning During Lockdown

Our Adult Learning team were coming to the end of their spring term of teaching when the first lockdown was announced and rose to the challenge presented to them. Teaching students how to use a computer remotely was not always easy but the team managed to achieve great results, including creative lessons such as online trips to the National Gallery!

We were able to offer a full timetable of 11 courses in maths, English, and ICT, reaching learners at home on their tablets, phones, and computers via video call.

We also ran a shorter timetable of online classes during the summer holidays to keep students engaged.

Everything has changed since starting English classes at ClementJames. … now I can speak more, understand more, write more. It’s much better. Now I can speak with my children’s teachers, I can take the train by myself.”

“This course helped me brush up on my previous skills in Excel. … [This] will be very valuable in my future work.

Adult Learning Students

• 70% of the learners on the ‘Excel for Work’ course were recruited during the lockdown period
• 100% of learners whose course finished at the end of the Spring term completed their exams
• Sunday’s ICT class had 100% attendance in the summer and 100% achievement

PK’s Story

PK started coming to The ClementJames Centre for English classes in 2019. Here she describes how they helped her unlock London.

“My life in London was very difficult when I came and I couldn’t say any words. Especially when my children were at school and the teachers wanted to speak to me but I couldn’t reply. I couldn’t understand. It was terrible.

I learned English for four or five months at another organisation but when I moved from east London my friend told me about ClementJames. It’s been a very good experience. My teacher helps me a lot with my English.

Everything has changed since starting English classes at ClementJames. In east London, I only had some words but now I can speak more, understand more, write more. It’s much better. Now I can speak with my children’s teachers, I can take the train by myself. Before I couldn’t take the train by myself – my friend would always have to come to me. I couldn’t go to her house but now I can go by myself because if I have any problems with travel like getting lost, I can speak to someone and get help. My confidence in English has increased a lot.

I started learning English to speak with others, to be able to do everything by myself and now when I get mail I can read and understand it. I can translate. I’ve never worked before as I have children but now that I speak better I’d like to find a job. Last week I went to the charity shop to speak to a lady about some part-time work.

I’ve also become involved with other activities at The ClementJames Centre as well – I submitted work to the This Is Me: Belonging exhibition. Before I didn’t understand what I could say or do to submit my work but my tutor explained more about what could be submitted and I was able to have my work displayed on the website.

If I hadn’t started English classes at ClementJames I think I’d feel sad all the time. It was a very bad feeling. Thank you for accepting me.”

Wellbeing and Support

We empower people to overcome barriers and challenges and to engage with their own wellbeing. This enables our clients to pursue their goals. We do this through the provision of Information, Advice and Guidance, and wellbeing support and activities.

The challenge

A quarter of adults in the poorest fifth of the population experience depression or anxiety. The rates of self-reported bad/very bad health and limiting long-term illness in North Kensington are amongst the highest in London. Shockingly, life expectancy is 16 years lower for men in the most deprived areas in Kensington and Chelsea than in the least deprived areas. Locally, mental health is the most common reason for long-term sickness absence, and several local wards fall in London’s highest 20% for incapacity benefit claimant rates for mental health reasons. As many students and clients face a range of barriers affecting their ability to achieve their potential, it is not enough for us to limit our services to education and employment support.

What is distinctive about our Wellbeing & Support programme?

Our Wellbeing and Support programme is designed to provide tailored support to young people and adults who require further help to overcome the barriers they are facing. Some people we support are facing personal problems that affect their ability to study or find employment, for example, problems at school, debt or inadequate housing. By offering Information, Advice and Guidance we can get to the root cause of issues and resolve them quickly, preventing situations from escalating and causing further stress.

Some of our centre users suffer from low-level mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, and many are quite isolated. Given our trusted position in the community, The ClementJames Centre plays a key role in reducing the stigma around mental health and supporting our students and clients in strategies for self-help. By delivering a range of appealing wellbeing activities across the year, we provide our clients and students with space and time to meet new people, build confidence and resilience and learn about the importance of self-care.

Our Impact: Wellbeing and Support

We provide impartial information, advice and guidance to help people overcome a range of issues affecting their lives. This ranges from help with housing and benefits to changing schools and everything in between.

Information, Advice & Guidance: Advice Topics 2019/20

• 17% Welfare Checks (89)
• 21% Benefits (110)
• 21% Debt & money (110)
• 12% Housing (66)
• 9% Education (48)
• 4% Work (19)
• 7% Consumer, legal & rights (38)
• 9% Other

• 257 adults and young people received Information, Advice & Guidance
• 359 advice issues were resolved
• 55 referrals were made to specialist providers

Wellbeing

We also provide a range of wellbeing activities for our clients to engage and connect with the wider community and their own mental health.

For adults:

• Women’s Confidence Programmes, including a six-week course and annual conferences
• A Nutrition and Gardening Course and community gardening workshops
• Shared reading group
• Weekly Wellbeing Clinic, offering ear acupuncture and guided meditation
• Creative self-expression workshops
• Offsite trips

For children and young people:

• A Young People’s Creative Programme
• Weekly Art Therapy
• A Children and Young People’s Counsellor

Last year:

• 251 clients participated in wellbeing activities
• 46 clients attended the weekly Wellbeing Clinic
• Since offering counselling and art therapy, we have supported 23 and 96 children respectively

The level of trust I have with you means that we can have such supportive conversations.

Client Feedback

Advice and Guidance During Lockdown

Our Wellbeing and Support programme was able to continue throughout the lockdown period. We wanted to ensure that our clients were able to access the same support, including:

• Regular phone calls to our more vulnerable clients to check on their welfare and provide additional support
• Facilitating food bank vouchers for clients who were no longer able to collect from the centre
• Transcribing forms for clients and posting forms to get them filled in
• Using three-way phone calls to facilitate appointments without video
• Liaising with grant providers to make grant applications accessible for our clients who were not well-versed in online applications
• Using Google Docs to enable clients and advisors to work on documents remotely
• Arranging food deliveries

A month or two ago I was very sick with this horrible virus and I had my four children at home. I felt that I couldn’t look after them properly and I was struggling to be honest. I didn’t have enough food and basic things and I knew who I could go to – you guys, ClementJames.

Advice & Guidance Client

Providing a lifeline to many families in the nearby area during this difficult time.

Advice & Guidance Client

During this time (18th March – 31st August 2020), there were…

• 734 remote appointments with 119 clients and 51 welfare checks

Wellbeing During Lockdown

Our Wellbeing team faced a unique challenge during the lockdown period. How would ClementJames be able to reduce social isolation when we all had to stay safe and distance from each other? We had to cancel our annual Wellbeing Day in April, we were no longer able to offer the weekly wellbeing clinic, and our other wellbeing activities were up-in-the-air due to the ever-changing restrictions. It was clear the wellbeing programme needed some serious adaptation to be able to deliver it online! Here’s what we did:

• Organised 8 ‘Get Together’ coffee mornings for people to chat and play games
• Hosted an online ‘This Is Me’ exhibition on our website with 41 entrants
• Held creative workshops online for young people called ‘Express Yourself’
• Sent out excerpts of stories for reading group to read before calling to discuss
• Held an online speaking group, enabling people to dial-in from anywhere!
• Adapted our six-week Women’s Confidence Programme for digital use

100% of wellbeing clients significantly improved their wellbeing after taking part in the wellbeing programme.

I am definitely more confident now, not hesitating to do things and to make things happen. It made me recognise my strengths and weaknesses. [It] made me a better person and inspired me to accomplish more.

Women’s Confidence Programme Attendee

EM’s Story

EM started coming to The ClementJames Centre five years ago to get help with debt. She describes the support the centre has provided her family.

“My family and I have been getting services from the centre for the past five years. It started off with coming into the centre when I was having a hard time with my rent and getting support from Crosslight. I was still at that stage where I wanted to develop my writing. Being a child of war I didn’t receive a basic education in primary. My speaking is mainly self-taught and when I wanted to improve my writing, I used to come to Hannah and speak about my concerns and insecurities around that.

One of the biggest impacts the centre has had is when my oldest was being bullied, ClementJames stepped in. When my daughter was struggling with her maths, they went beyond and got someone to tutor her. He was a really nice gentleman. Hannah was really amazing in how she always listened to me. When I come into the centre, I’m always being heard.

There are so many places you go and you express your concerns and your needs and your frustration but you might never feel like you’re being accepted or like you’re being supported but that’s never been the case at ClementJames. I was accepted and I still am being accepted as who I am, no matter my background or what beliefs I have. At the same time, whatever concerns I have, I never feel like it goes to a deaf ear. Whenever I come across any issues, I don’t think twice before I go to the centre! I sometimes walk in without an appointment because it just feels like home. I remember coming into the centre and having tears in my eyes crying and being given a cup of tea but feeling like there was hope at the end of the day when I left. Hope for better, hope for change.

I’m doing so well because of the support that I’ve obtained from the centre. I’m managing financially even though we’re in hard times. I don’t know how I would be able to manage the little that I have if I wasn’t mindful of my spending. With my mentor, Calla, we talked about budgeting, meal planning, and getting a few essentials for my family that could make life easier. Every time we talked, it was like the centre was listening and connecting me to the things or people that could help me get to the next stage. I have a fridge so I’m able to do a full shop once a month, cook meals, and pre-prepare things.

I’m proud of myself as a mum more than ever because I’m able to homeschool my children. Honestly, it is down to my effort but it’s through the guidance, support and encouragement that the centre has provided me. That door was open for me to celebrate the job I got, that door was open for me to conquer some of my struggles, that door was open for me to seek support for my husband. Never have I felt like that door wasn’t open for me.”

I’m doing amazingly because of places like this centre. Everyone has an amazing ability in themselves but either you’re surrounded by an environment that helps unleash that ability in yourself or you’re around people who make you feel like you can’t be yourself. … If anything, I want people to know that this centre is a place where you can be anything and you can be accepted for anyone that you are.

EM

Organisational Outputs

Total funding

for the 12 months ending 31st August 2020

£1,200,383
2018/19: £1,091,724 (including £8451 held on behalf of Grenfell United)

Total expenditure

for the 12 months ending 31st August 2020

£1,190,957
2018/19: £1,060,957 (including £135,247 held on behalf of Grenfell United)

Total funds

brought forward at 31st August 2020

£579,423
2018/19: £569,997

Total expenditure by project area

• 5% Raising Funds
• 1% Governance
• 24% Children & Young People
• 18% Wellbeing & Support
• 7% Capital
• 18% Adult Learning
• 27% Employment Support

Funding by source

• 61% Trusts and foundations
• 24% Statutory
• 8% Donors
• 7% Corporate

1,202 children and young people used our services

1,103 adults used our services

Evaluation & Accreditation

External Evaluation

National Foundation for Educational Research

The National Foundation for Educational Research conducted a qualitative evaluation of the IntoUniversity programme.

The evidence in this report supports the conclusion that the IntoUniversity programme has a positive, transformational impact on children and young people in terms of their academic success, attitudes to learning and social skills; all of which are key elements of helping children and young people to aspire and achieve.

It was clear that IntoUniversity had played a key role in helping children and young people in clarifying, supporting and strengthening their aspirations and achieving their goals.

Accreditation

The ClementJames Centre has achieved the Advice Quality Standard for Information, Advice and Guidance – a nationally recognised accreditation.

Our Information, Advice and Guidance service is registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) and are able to give Immigration Advice at Level 1.

ClementJames is registered with with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest.

We are also registered with the Fundraising Regulator, who regulate charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Charity Times Awards

We are delighted to have been shortlisted for the Charity Times ‘Charity of the Year’ Award in 2016, 2019 and 2020.

Building on Success

After working with the local community for almost 40 years, The ClementJames Centre needs more space in Sirdar Road to continue to deliver education, employment and support services within our community.

We are delighted that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea granted The ClementJames Centre planning permission in December 2020, enabling us to extend our buildings, enhance our beautiful community gardens and support thousands more local people each year.

This is what we propose:

Our beautiful garden and welcoming premises at The ClementJames Centre provide a sense of calm and safety in our busy and, at times, stressful lives.

We have been looking ahead for some years, as the Centre has reached its capacity. With long waiting lists and ever-growing demand locally, we are looking to extend our facilities to provide greater support to our community. Our building plans involve a new Learning Annexe and a Winter Garden, created by covering an under-utilised area of the site. We know how important our Community Garden is to our users and the local community; we are planning better use of the space whilst maintaining the tranquil and peaceful garden which is integral to the Centre.

Learning Annexe and Winter Garden

Learning Annexe

The focus of our project will be a two-storey facility which will be attached to our existing learning building, replacing the current single storey studios. The building will provide:

• 5 new teaching/workshop facilities
• A new reception and office
• New toilet facilities
• A lift providing access to all areas

Retaining the feel of our beautiful garden space has always been integral to our plans. We are also introducing a covered walkway with a planted roof (commonly called a green roof) linking the Learning Annexe with the existing learning buildings and the Winter Garden. This will allow people to enjoy the garden throughout the year.

Winter Garden

Our plans also include an enclosed winter garden, occupying the area between St Clement Church and the north facade of the existing learning building. Our proposal is to cover this under-utilised space with a roof allowing the garden below to be used all year-round for meetings and gatherings.

The timber and glass roof and indoor open plan space will enable us to hold large group activities and events throughout the year, as well as providing opportunities for informal meetings, whatever the weather.

More Support & More Opportunities

The new space will enable us to provide:

• Additional classes each week for adults and young people
• More one-to-one employment, education, and advice appointments
• Specialist employment and wellbeing workshops
• Level access to both our existing building and the new building
• Space for partner organisations and specialist agencies to deliver their services on site

Each year this will mean we can support up to:

• 300 local people gaining employment or training and 400 young people in education with improved goal setting and increased employability
• 600 adult learners improving English, Maths, and IT skills, gaining qualifications
• 2,300 young people with raised aspirations, increased confidence and improved academic achievement
• 1,500 local adults with increased confidence, reduced isolation and greater ability to cope with challenges

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There are lessons to be learned here for government, universities, local authorities, and others who are seeking to tap fully the nation’s talent in the hardest areas to reach.

Sir Peter Lampl
Chairman of the Sutton Trust

To find out more, please contact:
The ClementJames Centre
95 Sirdar Road, London
W11 4EQ

020 7221 8810
reception@clementjames.org
www.clementjames.org

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Twitter: @ClementJames
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Facebook: @theclementjamescentre

Registered Charity No. 1009253; Company Registration No. 2677427