Executive Summary
Bolton Lads & Girls Club is one of the biggest youth centres in the
UK. A registered charity, we are based right in the heart of
Bolton. The Club is open 7 days/nights-a-week, 51 weeks-a-year
and welcomes all young people aged 8-21 years old.
‘Bolton Lads Club’ was founded in 1889 by a group of local
businessmen who felt the need to support young lads who worked
in some of the town’s mills. Back then, the facility wasn’t great, but
it was somewhere safe in which these young lads could spend their
free time.
In 2002, Bolton Lads & Girls Club moved to its new home on Spa
Road in Bolton town centre. The new £5million facility to this day
remains a building that is fresh, modern, exciting and, above all, fit
for purpose. In addition to the universal 7 night-a-week youth club,
the Club also provides a range of targeted projects for the town’s
youngsters. Supported by a team of just under 100 staff, most of
whom are part time, and an army of nearly 300 volunteers, the
Club prides itself on being innovative, fun and without doubt, the
leading youth centre in the country.
As an organisation we strive to offer services that meet the
changing needs of Bolton’s children and young people and we are
therefore flexible and responsive in developing services that are
unique, cutting edge and lead the way, both in terms of facilities
and direct support. Our membership has reached nearly 4000
children and young people.
Our Business Plan outlines our key priorities for the year ahead, the
challenges and how we intend to meet both. It states our core offer
and business functions, our financial position and our ambitions.
As a registered charity we are making great headway in
demonstrating the cost effectiveness of our services, the social
return on investment and that the Club is value for money for the
many investors and stakeholders that enable our work to happen.
We are independent and have robust partnerships with the Local
Authority, the business community and central government as well
as a reputation for delivering high quality services on target and to
contract with our funding bodies. Aiming for Excellence is high on
our agenda.
Crucially children and young
people’s involvement is at the
heart of what we do and our
members are our ambassadors,
with a long and successful history
and the drive and determination
to deliver the best quality service,
we have an exciting year ahead of
us.
We are proud to be at the heart of youth services in Bolton and
leading the way for many new centres to follow. We aim to ensure
we remain at the forefront of excellent youth services.
Bolton Lads & Girls Club
Our Principles and Values
Bolton Lads & Girls Club aims to help the young people of Bolton
become happy, caring and responsible citizens of tomorrow by
providing somewhere to go that’s fit for purpose, something to do
that is developmental and challenging and above all someone to
talk to who genuinely is interested, at times when they may need
to.
Our mission statement is: “To inspire and enable all young people,
especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realise their
potential and become happy, responsible and caring citizens.”
More specifically we help all children and young people, aged 8 to
21 (25 for young people with disabilities) reach their full potential
and to succeed in life through a wide range of programmes and
opportunities designed by the young people themselves to meet
their ever changing needs.
Quite simply, our organisational objectives include:
 Changing lives for the better
 Making a measurable difference
 Identifying and realising potential
 Enriching and nurturing development
 A quality universal service with universal rights
 Shaping the citizens of tomorrow
 Raising confidence, aspiration and leadership
“Somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to”
We achieve our mission through a range of opportunities, all of
which are based upon the following key principles:
 An open door policy, everyone is welcome, we strive to be
an inclusive organisation
 Children and young people are at the centre of everything
that we do.
 Our commitment to young people is key at influencing our
decisions
 Nurturing a culture of openness & honesty
 Ensuring value for money in our services for the benefit of
our young people and demonstrating a real return on
investment
 Welcoming opportunities to challenge and change things for
the better
 Safety – for our members, employees and volunteers
 Developing a learning and supportive environment
 Changing through innovation, creativity and empowerment
 Promoting health, well-being and positive lifestyles for all
 Listening, learning, reflecting and improving
 Removing barriers that challenge young people
 An environment of respect, trust and most of all fun
 Aiming for excellence
 Investing in young people, volunteers and staff through
developmental opportunities
Bolton Lads & Girls Club
A look back at 2012-13
@NCS YP challenging hoodie stereotypes pictured with Bolton's dep. Mayor
In 3 weeks I will be in Tanzania setting off up Kilimanjaro raising ££ for a very special place
@BLGCofficial that changes kids lives, RT x
Young person "the more you helped, the more I pushed to see if you'd stay" And we do. Be a hero,
be a mentor: 01204 540100
It’s great when members greet you with a big smile & tell you about how much fun
they're having @ Holiday Club! #loveit
@BLGCofficial outreach r celebrating 50 of Jamaican independence with Jamaica
day at @Barlowpark! Come on bolt! We've got our #ricenpeas
An hour of your time a week can make a life time of difference to the lives of young
people. Be a hero, be a mentor: http://bit.ly/NfMvqS
Fusion Arts team have loved being up in Breightmet working as part of the family fun week!
Thanks @Boltonathome
Congrats to Haydn, Alex, Jack, Joshua, Nicholas & Peter for passing their canoeing paddle power
award!
7 of our members completing maths + English assessment for an accountancy #apprenticeship
with one of our patrons
Return of the successful alternative football league, every Saturday for junior members, can't get in
a team? You will be guaranteed a game
Today we had a group of dancers rehearsing for the Bolton Dance Festival, which will be 550 in
audience at The Albert Halls #bolton
It's wet but that won't stop our Independence Group members enjoying an outdoor activity
weekend, have fun guys ;)
“Somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to”
Bolton Lads & Girls Club
Strategic Objectives for 2013-14
Our Strategic Objectives for the year are
Ensure everything we do is of the highest quality
Improve our communications with key stakeholders
Develop strong networks and partnerships
Sustain and grow our business model
Develop programmes that are exciting and developmental
that meet our members needs
6. Improve our facilities
7. Develop a strong workforce
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5.
Improve our communication with key stakeholders
 Ensure regular and targeted publicity related to young
people, community involvement and Club success
 Develop our Social media platform
 Uphold existing and develop new relationships with key
contacts of local, regional and national press
 Develop a contact strategy within our CRM
Key priorities within each objective are
Ensure everything we do is of the highest quality
 Robust internal quality assurance frameworks for all
departments
 Aiming for Excellence implementation plan
 New post of Youth Policy and Performance Manager
 Youth Policy review and update
 Embed Youth Work standards development
 Introduce Code of Practice
 Learn from others
 Monitoring and evaluation systems
 Continuous Improvement strategy
“Somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to”
Develop strong networks and partnerships
 Devise and deliver services in partnership with other
agencies, forging alliances and partnerships where
appropriate
 Negotiate and develop service level agreements with a
range of identified partners to deliver services for the
town’s youngsters.
 Continue to investigate and share best practice
 Increase referrals in to the Club and pathways for young
people out of the Club
 Identify and maximise new opportunities and create links
 Become a key partner within the Better Bolton Consortium
Bolton Lads & Girls Club
Sustain and grow our business model
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Analyse and review levels of income and potential areas for
increased funding
Continue and update where appropriate our unique
sustainable funding model based on Private Sector;
Statutory; Trusts, Foundations and Lottery; and Internal
Trading sources
Increase support and investment from Patrons
Ensure that the internal fundraising team are equipped with
the skills necessary to benefit from new sources of funding
Further develop the Charity Shop and other trading
opportunities including online shops
Broaden community fundraising
Strategically work towards the free reserves policy detailed
in the Trustee’s Annual Report of 3 months of the core
service resources expended, which as of March 2012
equated to £313k
Develop programmes that are exciting & developmental
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To ensure that young people’s needs are fully reflected
within the Club’s youth offer
To ensure that young people influence and shape the
services they engage with
Develop links with schools and other organisations
Increase membership
To increase opportunities for leadership and personal
development for our members
To encourage young people’s involvement in governance at
the Club
“Somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to”
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Development of a shadow board of young people
Development of the ambassadors role within the Club
Enhance our Enterprise and Employability offer
Develop our Arts provision
Improve our facilities
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To ensure the Club and its facilities are of the highest
standard and fit for purpose
To implement a planned preventative maintenance
schedule and renewal schedule
Secure funding to renovate the Hacken Lane site
Update fleet of vehicles
Develop a strong workforce
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To value all staff and volunteers
To challenge our employees and cherish our volunteers
Develop assessment of staff performance and ensure staff
turnover is healthy
Provide training and developmental opportunities in
leadership and management for those employees with
supervisory responsibility
Improve Volunteer training
Develop Volunteer Recruitment and retention strategy
Each Department has a detailed operating plan with Key
Performance measures
Bolton Lads & Girls Club
Market Analysis
our graduates fail to secure meaningful employment locally,
resulting in them leaving for employment elsewhere.
The Borough of Bolton is one of ten metropolitan districts that
make up Greater Manchester. Just over 262,000 people live here,
mainly in and around Bolton town centre and surrounding wards.
Bolton is a borough of contrasts with some of the most and least
deprived areas in the country. About half of the area is built up,
but the rest is countryside. Bolton's population is changing, with
the number of older people expected to increase in the next ten
years. Around one in ten people are from ethnic minorities, with
large numbers of people of Indian and Pakistani origin and they
mostly live in the areas around the town centre.
For young people who are 16 to 19 the picture is mixed. Overall
more young people are achieving GCSE and A level qualifications or
vocational qualifications. This includes more young people from
poorer backgrounds. Partners have made a big improvement for
those who are not in education, work or training, but more needs
to be done. However Bolton’s NEET figure is high compared to
other areas and whilst there has been significant investment in
addressing this issue, the figures remain high.
Bolton has an active voluntary and community sector which plays a
vital role in enhancing the life of the people of Bolton. Compared
with other areas more people volunteer in Bolton, demonstrating a
real commitment to making a difference in their local community.
Partnerships provide support to voluntary and community groups.
Housing is problematic. There are still not enough affordable
homes for people on low incomes to buy or rent. There are rising
waiting lists and some vulnerable people are at risk of becoming
homeless.
Bolton believes the key to success is in providing a flexible set of
services. Improvements are needed for the most disadvantaged,
which may take some years. Bolton's plans should mean large
numbers of extra jobs in the future. However many Bolton people
do not have the skills and qualifications that employers want and
“Somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to”
Young children do well in primary school. Children from ethnic
minorities do particularly well. At age 16, attainment is just below
the average compared with other similar areas. Asian heritage
pupils achieve in line with national averages at age 16. But this is
not true for Black pupils of the same age. There are large
differences within Bolton and generally education results are still
worse for those children living in poorer areas. Educational
standards are generally satisfactory and are now about the same as
national averages. Most secondary schools have good or
outstanding standards of behaviour.
Increasing prosperity within the Borough is linked to creating a
workforce with higher level skills. It is estimated that 4,000 of the
10,000 new jobs in Bolton by 2017 will need degree level
qualifications. Many students at the local university are Bolton
people and more than half are over 20 at entry. Almost all the
students are from state schools and half are from working class
homes. Compared with national averages, double the number of
Bolton Lads & Girls Club
Students come from homes that do not have a history of sending
anyone to university. A significant risk is that a high number do not
complete their course of study. Around one in five students leave
during their first year. Other causes for non completion rates
include health, finances and family circumstances.
nationwide according to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2011.
The diagram below indicates the areas of the town where our
members are drawn from.
In Bolton, people's health is generally worse than most other parts
of the country. Ill health is often linked to being poor and there are
big differences between different parts of Bolton. Particular
problems are heart disease and stroke. Health issues that are linked
to people's behaviour; in Bolton this includes those caused by
alcohol, smoking and teenage pregnancies. Poorer areas are worst
affected. The number of children that die before their first birthday
is much higher in Bolton than in other similar parts of the country.
Levels of childhood obesity have improved. Fewer children entering
reception classes are obese yet by the end of year 6 the number of
young people classed as obese has almost doubled and represents
just under one in five children. Most young people in Bolton take
part in some form of sport or physical activity.
In the last few years crime has fallen in Bolton. There is more crime
in the poorer areas. Violent crime has risen recently but
performance is very good on other crimes such as robbery, burglary
and those involving vehicles. In general, a few criminals are
responsible for much crime. More ex offenders are in employment
this year and this reduces the risk of further offending.
At the Club, of our membership of children and young people aged
8 to 25, 89% are drawn from the five most deprived wards in the
Borough, which rank in the top 10% of most deprived wards
“Somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to”
In Summary, for young people, the outlook is mixed; Bolton’s
NEET figure is high compared to other areas and education results
are still worse for our children living in poorer areas. Although
fewer children entering reception classes are obese, the number
of young people at the end of Year 6 classed as obese has almost
doubled. With many services being reduced or even cut as a
result of difficult funding times, it is critical that the Club
continues to provide services for those children and young people
most vulnerable.
Bolton Lads & Girls Club
Financial Overview
Overview of Income Generation Strategy
Overview of expenditure budget
Income Source
2013/14
Budget
Expenditure
Grants & Trusts Team Including Local
Authority & Central Government
£2,285,000
Evening Youth Club, Outreach, Holiday
Care
£304,738
Sport
£ 230,614
Patrons
£ 160,000
Events, Challenges & Community
Fundraising
Projects inc Mentoring, Enterprise & NCS
£297,000
Members Contributions
£121,000
HR & Volunteer Recruitment & Training
External Facility Hire
Charity Shop & eBay
Other
£1,438,726
£96,137
Facilities
£278,674
Central Costs
£ 299,000
Fundraising Costs
£173,545
£ 93,000
£ 25,000
£47,000
Indirect Costs
Total Income
2013/14
Budget
£74,881
£3,028,000
Total Expenditure
Note - Some income will be for expenditure in future years
“Somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to”
£2,896,315
Bolton Lads & Girls Club
Governance & Structures
“Somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to”