Before the Bell Tower was initiated, there had been a number of government funded youth centres in the city, which were forced to close due to the cutbacks to the statutory youth services. This left a huge gap in generic after school youth provision in Chichester. After extensive reasearch carried out in local schools during 2013, the Bell Tower was launched in order to meet this need.

The project is an independent charity funded entirely by local grant giving trusts and individual donors. It is also supported in other ways by various organisations and local churches, including Immanuel Church, Revelation Family Church, St Pancras, Swanfield Chapel, the University of Chichester and the Chichester Cathedral.

We support local young people from all ethnic, social and cultural backgrounds, reflecting the demographic for our local area. While attending the Drop-in . . .

• Young people with learning or behavioural difficulties can find a place where they are encouraged, supported and trusted with responsibility in a safe environment.
• Those who are facing an unstable and challenging home life can relax in a consistent, peaceful environment, where a listening ear is always available and their well being is protected.
• Individuals facing increasing pressures in forming relationships with their peers can speak freely and honestly with people who care in a non judgemental safe environment.

Since launching, we have endeavoured to extend the impact of our work. To find out more, feel free to read up on some of last year’s key statistics and headlines which can be found by scrolling down.

– Sam Harding
Project Coordinator

The Bell Tower Youth Drop-In Centre opened in late 2014 and continues to succeed in achieving the original purpose of providing a safe place in the city for local young people, while continuing to grow and develop in a number of new areas. One of the main objectives of the first two years of operation has been to make the project sustainable for the years to come. We have now achieved this greater stability through successful fundraising, community support and new partnerships and look to extend the impact and accessibility of the service we provide.

Each young person we encounter have their own specific needs and challenges. Our commitment is to recognize each individual, make a connection with them and be there to support them, be it through long term relationship building and encouragement, or working to directly shape them through engagement in our more focused initiatives.

Our relationship with local schools has been crucial in allowing us to create an effective support system for young people. Over the last year we have continued to work with secondary schools.

Our work capacity has increased over the last year, meaning this year we have been able to launch “Lunch Club” – a bi-weekly drop-in service to the Chichester High School, to engage with young people at lunch times. Lunch Club allows us to strengthen relationship’s with teachers and pupils, as well as meet new school children who may not have heard of our work. Providing a more consistent presence in school also allows teachers to refer certain young people to us who may be struggling relationally in school and in need of further support.

Following a successful pilot period at the Chichester High School, we are aiming to attend other local schools on a weekly basis by the end of 2017.

In May 2016, the Right Worshipful Mayor of Chichester, Councilor Peter Budge, chose the Bell Tower Drop-in and the Chichester Boys Club to be “The Mayor’s Charities of the Year” for his second term in office. This has resulted in a number of fundraising and promotional events being held under the care and support of the Mayor and his staff. Being the Mayor’s charity has helped us boost the profile of the Bell Tower and awareness in the city, while raising considerable funds for the project. These events have included street collections, charity auctions and themed receptions with the Mayor. During the two-year term of being Mayor’s Charity we were able to raise a significantly large part of our annual operating costs and are so grateful to Peter and his team for this valuable support.

This funding stream is not anticipated to be available to the Bell Tower Drop-in moving forwards, and so must be replaced by new sources of funding.

In October 2016 we launched a new initiative called the Young Leaders Program, an eight month long accredited course, where young people who regularly attend the Drop-In can apply join the volunteer team for one day each week, taking on a number of day-to-day responsibilities within the Bell Tower.

After a successful first year with five completing the programme, we are now well into year two with nine young leaders on board. Each day of the week now has different young leaders assigned to help run the session. The young leaders are scored out of 15 for each session, broken down in a number of areas including punctuality, use of clean and positive language and being a positive influence on those around them. They can then earn prizes and awards at the end of each term for a cumulative score of 80% or above. All of our young leaders earned awards upon completion of the first term!

The Young Leaders Program has been designed to develop young people in the areas of self-esteem, reliability, capability and social and leadership skills in order to create lasting change in their lives. We currently have individuals in very different situations on the programme, including a small number not currently attending school, which gives them an outlet to focus themselves on, as well as taking on new responsibilities.

We are extremely grateful to Dexam Kitchen Supply Ltd for funding through the Sussex Community Foundation to upgrade our ageing heating system to a renewable energy source. The Bell Tower now has an air source heat pump air conditioning unit, which heats the Drop-in five times more effectively, while using a fraction of the electricity previously needed!

The Bell Tower is able to function each year due to the generosity of individuals in the community, local churches, the University of Chichester, and grant making trusts.  Fundraising is an ongoing task, crucial to our long-term sustainability, and with new initiatives and increasing capacity, funding targets for the coming year have also increased.

The Bell Tower now costs approximately £22,000 per year to run.

Due to the fact that the Bell Tower has been successful in achieving long-term sustainability since launching in 2014, we now look to the future to develop new and exciting ideas and initiatives in an attempt to make a greater lasting impact in the lives of individual young people.

Thanks to the support from our local partnerships, including the Chichester Cathedral, University of Chichester and a number of local churches, the Bell Tower is now far more than just a growing project with an increasing number of young people attending. It has become a community hub where young people with real needs find care and support in an understanding supportive environment. The young person with learning and behavioral difficulties finds a place where they are encouraged and trusted with responsibilities in a safe environment on the Young Leaders Programme and can learn and develop skills in their own way. The individual facing an unstable and challenging home life can relax in a consistent, peaceful environment, where a listening ear is always available and their well being is protected. The young people facing increasing cultural pressures in relationships can speak freely and honestly with people who care in a non-judgmental, safe environment.