Celebrating Our First Year of Achievement, Opportunity and Impact
Jack Petchey Foundation Achievement Award Scheme – Bronze Level
Year One Impact Report
1. Executive Summary
Over the past year, New Arrivals Support CIC (NASCIC) has proudly participated in the Jack Petchey Foundation Achievement Award Scheme at Bronze level, recognising the achievements of young people and celebrating the dedication of those supporting them.
During our first year, NASCIC secured £1,900 in grant funding, recognised three exceptional young people through Achievement Awards and celebrated one outstanding youth leader through the Leader Award. The scheme supported 90 recorded participations across eight funded activities, including 44 through the Achievement Awards and 46 through the Leader Award creative wellbeing programme.
This investment enabled us to deliver three youth-led group experiences and five creative workshops, expanding opportunities for young people from refugee and displaced communities to develop confidence, build friendships, explore new interests and strengthen their sense of belonging. Most importantly, the scheme has given young people meaningful opportunities to be recognised for their contributions, influence activities within their youth projects and celebrate achievements that might otherwise go unnoticed.
2. Recognising Young People's Achievements
Throughout the year, three young people received Jack Petchey Achievement Awards, recognising their positive contributions to NASCIC's youth projects and their wider peer communities. Each award provided £300 towards an activity chosen by the winner, resulting in £900 of funding allocated to youth-led experiences. The winners chose three activities:
Aqua Action Aquapark
A group water-based adventure offering young people an opportunity to enjoy a recreational experience together, take on new challenges and strengthen friendships outside their regular youth project environment.
Bouldering and Climbing
An active group experience providing opportunities for physical challenge, problemsolving, perseverance and mutual encouragement.
Educational Trip to Cambridge
An opportunity for young people to explore a historic university city, encounter new educational and cultural environments and share a meaningful experience beyond their usual surroundings.
Across the three Achievement Award activities, 44 young people participated in experiences chosen by the award winners themselves. These opportunities show how individual recognition can create wider benefits for the youth community, encouraging participation, strengthening peer relationships, and providing access to recreational, physical, and educational experiences beyond regular youth sessions.
3. Celebrating Outstanding Youth Leadership
One of the most significant achievements of our first year was the recognition of Anna Kanivets, a dedicated NASCIC youth worker, through the Jack Petchey Leader Award. Anna subsequently secured a £1,000 Leader Award Grant to deliver Art Therapy for Well-Being, a creative programme supporting young people attending NASCIC's Ukrainian Youth Project.
The project delivered five structured creative workshops, recording 46 participant attendances across activities designed to support emotional wellbeing, confidence, self-expression and social connection. Together with the 44 participants reached through the Achievement Awards, this brought the scheme's total recorded participation to 90 across eight funded activities during our first year.
4. Social Impact and Outcomes
The first year of the scheme generated positive outcomes across five interconnected areas: confidence and self-expression, emotional wellbeing, social connection, skills development, and youth participation. These findings are informed by programme delivery records, activity participation and qualitative feedback collected from young people, particularly through the Leader Award creative wellbeing programme.
Outcome 1: Increased Confidence and Self-Expression
The scheme created opportunities for young people to feel recognised, valued and encouraged to explore their abilities. Through Anna's creative workshops, participants experimented with unfamiliar artistic techniques, developed original ideas and completed work that reflected their individuality.
Young people reported discovering creative abilities they had not previously recognised and gaining confidence in expressing their thoughts and feelings through art.
Outcome 2: Improved Emotional Wellbeing
Anna's project provided particularly valuable opportunities for relaxation, creative expression and positive emotional experiences. Participants described working with clay, mosaic and printing as calming and enjoyable, particularly following a stressful examination period. Feedback suggests that creative activities helped some participants manage stress, improve their mood and discover constructive ways to express emotions. These findings provide encouraging qualitative evidence of positive short-term wellbeing outcomes.
Outcome 3: Stronger Social Connections and Belonging
The eight funded activities provided opportunities for young people to connect with peers through shared experiences. The three Achievement Award activities brought young people together outside their regular youth sessions, while Anna's workshops created supportive environments for communication, collaboration and friendship. Participants specifically valued spending time with friends, meeting other young people and working creatively alongside peers. For young people affected by displacement and the challenges of settling into a new community, opportunities for positive social interaction are an important part of NASCIC's wider approach to inclusion and belonging.
Outcome 4: Development of New Skills and Interests
Across the programme, young people gained access to experiences beyond their regular youth activities. The creative workshops supported the development of practical artistic skills, patience, concentration, experimentation and problem-solving. One participant reported that the fashion design workshop allowed them to explore a potential future career interest. The activities therefore contributed not only to immediate enjoyment but also to opportunities for personal development and exploration of future interests.
Outcome 5: Youth Voice, Participation and Recognition
A defining feature of the Achievement Award Scheme is the opportunity for young people to have their achievements recognised and influence how award funding is spent. During the first year, three winners selected activities for their peers, turning individual recognition into wider group benefits. This approach helped establish a positive culture of celebrating contribution, encouraging participation and recognising the importance of young people's ideas. The Leader Award also demonstrated NASCIC's commitment to recognising the youth workers whose dedication makes these opportunities possible.
5. Young People's Voices
Feedback collected through Anna's Art Therapy for Well-Being programme provides direct evidence of the experiences and benefits reported by participants.
“I discovered that I was much more creative than I thought. Working with clay and gelli printing made me feel calmer and happier, and helped me see how art can have a positive impact on my wellbeing.”
“For me, the workshops became a way to express myself and find my own voice.”
“I really enjoyed having a creative space to relax after a busy and stressful exam period.”
“I've been thinking about fashion design as a possible career, so this workshop gave me a chance to try it for myself.”
These reflections highlight the importance of offering activities that combine creativity, emotional wellbeing, social connection and opportunities for personal growth.
6. Financial Investment and Added Value
The full £1,900 allocation supported youth-led enrichment activities and the Leader Award creative wellbeing programme, including the additional coordination and delivery time required to implement these opportunities. Funding stream Awarded Three Achievement Awards (£300 each) £900 One Leader Award Grant £1,000 Total funding awarded £1,900 The Jack Petchey Foundation's investment enabled NASCIC to expand its offer beyond regular youth sessions, supporting activities chosen by young people and a dedicated programme developed through the Leader Award.
The financial contribution also provided an opportunity to recognise exceptional young people and youth leadership in a tangible and meaningful way. Importantly, the scheme combines financial investment with recognition, youth participation and opportunities for shared achievement.
7. Organisational Impact on NASCIC
Reaching 90 recorded participations through eight funded activities represents an important milestone in NASCIC's first year of participation in the scheme. The partnership has enabled us to expand our youth offer, introduce new enrichment opportunities and strengthen our approach to recognising individual achievement. Importantly, it has demonstrated how relatively modest grants can create meaningful experiences for a wider group of young people, while supporting youth leadership and participation within our organisation.
During our first year, the scheme has enabled us to:
• Establish a structured approach to recognising young people's achievements and positive contributions.
• Increase opportunities for young people to influence activities and experiences within our youth provision.
• Secure additional funding for enrichment, recreation and creative wellbeing activities.
• Recognise the commitment and contribution of our youth workers.
• Broaden our programme through activities that may otherwise have been difficult to fund.
The scheme has also helped us demonstrate the value of investing in young people's ideas and creating opportunities for them to experience success, recognition and belonging.
8. Learning and Future Development
Our first year has highlighted the value of combining recognition with practical opportunities for young people to develop their interests and confidence.
Going forward, NASCIC aims to build on this foundation by continuing to recognise young people's achievements, encouraging greater youth participation in activity planning and developing further opportunities for creative expression, educational enrichment and social connection. We also aim to strengthen our impact measurement by collecting more structured participant feedback, tracking individual engagement and documenting changes in confidence, wellbeing and sense of belonging over time.
This will help us better understand the longer-term difference the scheme makes to the young people and communities we support.
9. Conclusion
Our first year as part of the Jack Petchey Foundation Achievement Award Scheme has been an important milestone, demonstrating the value of recognising young people's achievements and investing in opportunities for their personal development.
Through £1,900 in grant funding, three Achievement Awards, one Leader Award and eight funded activities, we recorded 90 participations in experiences designed to promote creativity, confidence, social connection and personal growth. The scheme has enabled us to turn individual recognition into wider community benefit, supporting young people from refugee and displaced communities to explore new interests, develop skills and build positive relationships. Beyond the financial contribution, our first year has strengthened NASCIC's commitment to youth participation, recognition and inclusive opportunities.
It has also highlighted the importance of listening to young people and empowering them to influence the experiences available within their communities. We are grateful to the Jack Petchey Foundation for supporting our work and helping us create meaningful opportunities for young people to feel valued, included and empowered. Our first year has laid a strong foundation for continued achievement, youth participation and positive social impact.
