VES Team End of Week Update | Beyond the ACH Spotlight
Dear wonderful VES team,
Hope you are well! We are well into the rhythm of the term now, and it’s been brilliant to have a real sense of progress this week - with the four mornings filling up, new team members stepping up, and the ACH continuing to level up (hope you like the new whiteboards!). Thank you for all you continue to put in!
Spotlight this week: Beyond the Hub Mornings
I wanted to shine a light this week on some of the things happening beyond our usual VES hub mornings.
1) Hotel classes restarting
This week Chris restarted our weekly English classes in asylum accommodation - in Crystal Palace (photo below) and at Brigstock House. These sessions are a simple but powerful way of taking VES right to where people are - welcoming, teaching, and signposting in the lobbies of the hotels. Chris - thank you so much for your commitment and care in this work - we’re very grateful for you!
2) First ACH Youth Support Drop-InOn Tuesday afternoon we also ran our very first after school ACH Youth Support Drop-In with Adil from Bluetouch (photo below). This is a new weekly, term-time provision for secondary-school-aged young people in the asylum system - a safe, friendly place to get: homework support; English language help and some gentle “next steps” advice around education and life in the UK It was a good start, and we’re excited to keep building this steadily over the coming weeks on Tuesday afternoons. Huge thanks to Adil for getting this off the ground with us.
These two initiatives are a helpful reminder that VES is more than just what happens between 9am and 1pm at the ACH. Both the need and the vision are bigger than the ACH classes… wouldn’t it be amazing if the asylum process actually became a positive chapter in people’s lives?!
VES Dashboard (week at a glance)
• 22 classes delivered across 4 days (plus 3 creche sessions)
• 250 student sessions enabled
• 68 volunteer sessions given
• Weekly participation number: 346
• +76% increase on the same week last year
Dates reminder
• February half-term: 16–20 February (no classes)
• Last session of term: Thursday 26 March (Easter Party)
Hope you have a great weekend, and I look forward to seeing most of you next week!
Much love,
Andy Brims
Safeguarding reminder - If in doubt, shout. The easiest way to raise a concern is via the safeguarding form here: https://croydonvineyard.org.uk/safeguarding