Media: LifeLine

Partnering with others helps to create community
"At the age of 23 I quit full time youth work. I was burnt out and decided to pursue my degree training and get a job in business. "During the previous three years, along with a team of volunteers, I'd had great fun working with young people. In the course of developing them to be leaders, my creative skills had blossomed and we'd taken the young people on various local, national and international peer leadership programmes. However, fun as it was, I had become frustrated with my team and peers because (I felt) they didn’t do things as well as me. Frustration caused me to think that I was the solution. A very arrogant position which caused me to burn out and eventually quit. "Eventually I got a job in South Kensington which required lots of commuter time. "My mentor bought me the book “Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham. As I read, I started to see that my peers were not, in fact ‘useless’ but that they had different strengths to me. I realised that while there were certain skills I was strong in, there were other skills my peers would be strong in. The way to get the best out of them would be to allow each to function in their area of strength.

FaithAction’s community english programme secures new government funding
We're excited to announce that FaithAction, our network of over 2,500 faith-based organisations in the UK, has once again secured funding from the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government to deliver the Creative English programme at 55 hubs across the country. Since 2013, over 10,000 learners have benefited from the Creative English approach to learning. After just 10 weeks, 100% of Creative English learners say that their confidence to speak increases, 78% become confident to use English in functional day-to-day situations, while 88% of learners who leave their home less than once a week at the start of the…

20 years of finding solutions to local issues
As we approach our 20 year anniversary next year, we are inspired to reflect on the legacy that we have left thus far and to think about our trajectory for the next 20 years. How will our actions of today result in a positive impact in the future? By the end of this year alone we will have brought over £2.3m into the voluntary sector in our area. Over the past 19 it's been an astounding £54.5m. We can confidently say that we are an established, mature VCSE organisation, proficient at delivering contracts and running a business.

LifeLine Projects receives £147k from Young Londoners Fund
The Mayor of London created the £45m Young Londoners Fund in July 2018, to help children and young adults make the most of our amazing capital. The fund is supporting 72 community projects across the city, to help young people at risk of getting swept up in crime to fulfil their potential. LifeLine Community Projects is receiving £147,000 over three years. Our Standing TALL project (Thriving, Aspiring, Learning, Leading) will engage 540 young people at-risk of exclusion and involvement in criminal activity, and walk with and support them towards improved wellbeing, resilience and meaningful opportunities at school and in the…

Students SW!TCH Dagenham for Sierra Leone
A group of excited 16 year olds are fundraising for an adventure of a lifetime as they switch Dagenham for Freetown. - "We're raising £12,000 to put ourselves to the test and take what we've learnt to Sierra Leone this summer. We're going to support the work of a children's home and a farm. But this isn't about volunteering. We're going to learn a lot from the young people there who have been starting and growing social enterprises in extremely difficult circumstances."

Online donation platforms for charities, revisited
Back when we redesigned our website in 2016, we explored options for having a way for the public to donate to us online. There’s been a few changes since then, so we’ve updated our previous research, and expanded it to include a few more options! First, a little background: we’re a locally-focused charity, and while we don’t rely on donations to fulfill our vision, we DO use targeted fundraising campaigns from time to time. When researching, we originally focused on the three most popular options – JustGiving, Virgin Money Giving and BT’s MyDonate – but now we’ll also take a…

Change is afoot!
Hans Baird has announced his intention to step down as the Chief Executive Officer of LifeLine Projects at the end of this year. We really appreciate the contribution that Hans has made over his five year tenure, in particular the commercial expertise and skills he has brought to the LifeLine team. Hans is exchanging life in the UK for a whole new adventure in Nigeria. We wish him and his family all the very best and look forward to hearing from him from time to time as our relationship continues across the continents.

SW!TCH Expeditions rated GOOD by Ofsted
We are delighted to announce that following our recent Ofsted inspection, SW!TCH Expeditions, a LifeLine Alternative Provision, has been rated GOOD by Ofsted. Director of Young People's Services, Nathan Singleton said, I have always believed that the best place for the vast majority of young people to learn is in mainstream school. Where that is not possible, young people need high quality alternative provision (AP) that urges them forward. I am pleased that Ofsted have recognised that SW!TCH Expeditions achieves this. Over the last year we have taken a decision to simply do what is right for the students. I understand how…

17 years of working in East London: Why we do what we do
Seventeen ‘troubled’ sixteen year olds, eight tents, three Mentors and me...in Wales...in the middle of British summertime. It was cold and very, very wet. We made some progress and touched some lives, but I spent a lot of time dashing about, shouting instructions to avert disasters. Fast forward a year and I’d learned a lot. This time five young people, accompanied by three leaders and one minibus packed with basic camping equipment and quick-cook pasta set off for four days in the Brecon Beacons at the end of the summer term.

Keeping our feet dirty – a local charity with a national reach
When FaithAction, under the umbrella of LifeLine Projects, first started they did a survey of network members (now totalling 2400). One comment that was important to them was ‘we have never met the team in person, but we feel they speak for us.’ It’s very important to FaithAction to meet those who they represent, but more than that, it’s important that they can express their opinions: and that’s because they are similar, they do the same stuff in the same places - their feet are dirty - just as the feet of their members. For over 10 years now LifeLine Projects in Barking and Dagenham have been the umbrella organisation who host this national network. With a mission to support the work of faith and community organisations, FaithAction works directly with a number of Government departments, runs an All-Party Parliamentary Group (in parliament) with MPs and Peers and delivers services, support and contracts throughout the country.