Your £12 will go towards supporting:

• Health support and advice for young people
• One-to-one personal guidance and support
• Life skills training for independent living which we call ‘Passport to Independence’
• Group sessions with the opportunity for self-expression
• Encouragement back into education, training or employment

89% of the young people living with us, move on positively.

The true cost of a room and the additional ‘More than a Room’ support service which we offer to residents in YMCA DownsLink Group accommodation, is more than £12 a month.

However, by having a community of committed supporters giving to us monthly, we will be able to plan better and do more to change the lives of vulnerable young people in Surrey and Sussex.

£12 is an amount we feel that our supporters might be able to afford and is based on the basic additional monthly cost of providing essential support services for each young person living in our accommodation and which we call ‘More than a Room’.

At YMCA DownsLink Group, our aim is to give young people, the confidence, skills, and support to move on to independent living and out of the trap of homelessness. (Read our young peoples' stories)

Yes. By sponsoring a room you're helping young people who are living in our accommodation (read some here). Some young people choose to share their stories, but we only share stories of those who are comfortable with it and have given us their express permission. Many of our young people decide to share their life stories to help us generate more support for the charity. They also feel that by sharing their story they can reach more young people who may be going through similar situations and need to know how to find help.

In some cases, we may need to protect identities by using models and changing names. But all their stories are true. We don’t exaggerate their situations, we think their stories are powerful enough. No other details have been altered.

This depends on each individual. On average they stay with us for around two years. Some young people come to us when they are only 16. As young people grow in confidence, life skills, and maturity, they’re encouraged to move on to ‘transitional’ housing, with less support. Finally, when ready, they’re offered the chance of an independent flat, until they are ready to move on to complete independence. On average 89% of the young people living with us, move on successfully to independence. This then frees up space for another young person to start the journey to a better future.

The reason monthly donations are so valuable to us is that allows us to plan our services, based on a set income. However, all donations make a difference. We understand that not everyone is able to donate on a monthly basis therefore we also have the option to make a one-off donation.

Thank you for your kind support.

YMCA DownsLink Group also runs many early intervention projects which support young people before they get to the point of homelessness (read more). Our family practitioners, for example, work with families to help mend fractured relationships enabling young people to continue to live at home.  Projects like YMCA WiSE, support young people who are at risk of exploitation and which can lead to homelessness. Our support reaches 10,000 young people and their families every year.

It is our mission to continue to expand our accommodation provision so that many more young people will have the opportunity to live safely within one of our accommodation projects, locally.

We work with many local companies and are always very grateful for their support. There are many ways a company can support our work, from naming us as their ‘Charity of the Year’ to joining one of our corporate support networks. If you would like to discuss an opportunity for corporate support, please email our Business Development Manager, Sam Hart at: [email protected]

Find out more about our corporate partnership options here.