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You Matter

"Everyone I worked with or passed by all showed such kindness towards my children and I. No matter your situation, it feels like there is a place for everyone here!"

Our You Matter programmes were set up to provide young people with essential life skills, support networks, personal growth, and opportunities for career enhancement.

 

The subject matters discussed are far ranging and designed to work with your aspirations at the heart of it all.

You Matter is an accredited life skills programme for 16 – 35 year olds offered over a total of 14 weeks in Test Valley, Southampton, Basingstoke, and the Isle of Wight. The programme has two core themes which inspire the content for the rest of the course: Money & Housing, and Life & Futures. Our primary aim is to equip you with the skills to obtain and keep a tenancy. Along the way we cover many other essential life skills, giving you the means to better understand how to support yourself and those you care about most.

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  • Obtain skills for independent living.

  • Sessions are safe, trauma-informed, and promote an inclusive environment.

  • Regular guest speakers from local organisations providing additional support and information.

  • Accessibility Fund available for transport, childcare, and other essential needs.

  • Completely free for any young person to take part in.

What Happens on
You Matter?

In weeks 1 and 14 you meet 1-2-1 with your You Matter Coach – this is so we can identify where things are at for you both before and after the course to help us support your journey. This means we can create a personalised plan for what you want to get from the programme and your next steps.


 

Weeks 2-13 consist of weekly You Matter sessions – these run for 2 hours and are delivered in a small groups. We make sure these sessions are as safe, trauma informed, and uphold an inclusive environment.

 

The Money & Housing sessions include discussions around:

 

  • Budgeting

  • Understanding financial terminology

  • Types of bills

  • Cost of Credit

  • Rights and Responsibilities of a Tenant

  • Fire Safety

 

  • The Life & Futures sessions focus on:

  • Healthy Relationships

  • Sexual Health

  • Protecting Yourself and Others

  • Mental Health and Coping Mechanisms

  • E-Safety

  • CV’s

  • Personal statements

  • Goal Setting

 

We invite speakers and experts from local supporting organisations to attend these sessions on a regular basis. This provides a unique chance to meet others who can support you beyond your time with us. Additionally, this is also a great time to ask questions relating to their specialisms and to find out more about the services they provide.


 

We believe that any barriers should not prevent anyone from engaging with You Matter. We provide all the digital and non digital equipment needed to take part. We also have an Accessibility Fund, which can be used to provide transport to sessions, childcare while you attend the programme, or to cater to other essential needs. The course itself is fully funded and completely free to take part in.


If you would like to get involved you can either: be nominated through an organisation, fill in our form in yourself, or come along to a taster session.

 

Nominations are processed through a form on the ’Nominations‘ page of this website. A button taking you to here can be found below this text. For more details on the programme and how to get involved, do get in contact with us.

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The delivery of this project relies on the receiving of public funds to provide these crucial services. If you would like to commission sessions or make a donation then do contact us. More information can be found on the ’Support Us’ page.

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