Jenny Dixon

I can’t believe I only have a few more days of my placement left – it’s gone so quickly.

Over the last week or so I’ve been finishing off a few tasks around the office and starting to handover the main projects I’ve been working on. Last Thursday I went along with Hilary (Chief Exec) and Angela (Finance Manager) to a meeting of all the consultants who work with Straight Talking to help the charity achieve its aims. Straight Talking works with a fundraiser, public affairs consultants, an HR advisor, a media manager and a graphic designer. They all bring exceptional skills and work extremely hard for the charity. The meeting was to plan how everyone is going to work together to make Straight Talking bigger and better over the coming years. Here we all are after the meeting (I’m last on the right.)

This week, Hilary has been interviewing for the much-needed Operations Manager post. It’s going to be a tough choice with lots of talented candidates to choose from.

Earlier today we all went to visit Straight Talking’s new office which is fantastic – I’m sure the modern feel is going to give the charity a boost and everyone is really looking forward to moving.

It seems that after lots of planning, Straight Talking’s plans to develop and grow are all coming together and the next few months are going to be very exciting. I’ll definitely be keeping in touch to see how they get on…

I’ve finally finished wading my way through the self-assessment of Straight Talking against PQASSO (Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations – you can see why they shorten it.)  PQASSO looks at everything from how managers plan the strategic direction of the charity to practical stuff like whether Health and Safety procedures are in place. It’s a very thorough tool (12 sections, 3 Levels per section, up to 8 indicators per Level,) so it has taken me a while to go through it and has resulted in a massive 57 page assessment document!  As that would be enough to send anyone to sleep, I’ve condensed this into an action plan which also includes development areas that were identified in the recent Investors in People assessment. I really hope it will be useful to help Straight Talking address some immediate and longer-term actions for improvement, and to work towards their aim to professionalise the organisation.

We’re also very excited about Straight Talking’s potential move to new offices which will have water-proof windows, fully working electrics and more space for everyone. If anyone based in the Kingston area wants to volunteer to help us move or decorate, or has any ideas on how we can get things like removal vans, carpets and a kitchen cheaply, please let me know!

It seems like all anyone is talking about this morning is the election results (or lack of.) We’re really pleased that so many of Straight Talking’s young parents are interested in the election, and a lot have voted for the first time.  In other news…

Last Friday, Angela and I represented Straight Talking at the Centre for Social Justice‘s seminar on family services. Straight Talking was highly commended at the Centre for Social Justice Awards in 2009, and so the charity gets invited to events like the seminar, which is great for keeping up with policy and research and meeting other charities. We heard from various charities who work with families doing some fantastic early intervention work with families facing breakdown and deprivation. It made me realise how many charities are out there trying to help children and families, and how important their work is.

I’ve also spent a day with Michaela, Straight Talking’s Local Scheme Co-ordinator for Hounslow. Michaela is based in the Teenage Pregnancy unit at Hounslow Council, which is great because it makes sure that Straight Talking’s Peer Education work in schools is fully integrated into other work to reduce teenage pregnancy and help teenage parents. Teenage pregnancy rates in Hounslow are high, so the Council really values Straight Talking’s work.

Otherwise, I’ve been working on the PQASSO quality assurance self-assessment and will soon be developing an action plan. I’ve also been looking into how we can get all our young parents CRB checked as cheaply as possible – if anyone has any ideas please let me know!  Finally I’ve also been looking at how Straight Talking can carry out a Social Return on Investment to measure the whole impact its work has, which will help attract more funding.

This afternoon I’m off to a local secondary school with some of the Peer Educators to observe another session – it’s my favourite bit of working here so really looking forward to it.

Great news in the office this week – Straight Talking has retained its Investors in People status! Staff and Trustees were put through rigorous interviews by the IIP inspector, looking at things like development opportunities available and the way that staff are managed. It’s a big achievement because helping young parents develop is one of the main objectives of the charity, so to have this recognised is excellent news.

An example of the fantastic work that Straight Talking does to support and develop the young parents who work here happened just last week. 16 young parents went on a self-esteem building residential trip to the Isle of Wight. The trip, facilitated by specialist councillors, was designed to help re-build self-esteem following domestic violence. Research done by Straight Talking has found that many of our young parents have experienced domestic violence, and helping them to move past this is very important. It was a pretty intense couple of days, but the young parents enjoyed it and found it useful. Here they are in the sunshine:

We’ve also had a visit from the Shadow Minister for Families, Maria Miller, who was in the area with local parliamentary candidate Helen Whately. Straight Talking aren’t party political, but use every opportunity to talk to policy makers about the issues surrounding teenage pregnancy and young parents, to try and change things for the better. A big problem that some of Straight Talking’s young parents spoke to Maria and Helen about is the current benefits system which disadvantages parents who choose to live together with their child rather than living apart. Straight Talking has produced a forward thinking policy report “Taking Responsibility for Young Lives” setting out actions needed to address high rates of teenage pregnancy and to support young parents. You can read it here:  http://www.straighttalking.org/takingresponsibility/index.html

Maria Miller was very impressed by Straight Talking’s approach, and promised to look at the policy report which we didn’t let her leave without!

Finally, Friday was my first experience of going into a school to watch one of the Peer Educators deliver a session. It was fantastic – I can’t believe how brave the Peer Educators are to stand up in front of a class of 14 year olds, I’d be terrified!  The session went really well – the pupils got stuck in to all the group activities and they obviously made them think about the realities of becoming a young parent, maybe for the first time.  Some of the comments I heard made me realise how naive some of the pupils are – I heard comments like “having a baby is good because you get lots of benefits” and “there’s nothing hard about having a baby.”  I’m looking forward to seeing how their opinions change as they go through the Straight Talking course…

I’ve just started my two-month placement with Straight Talking Peer Education, a charity that provides peer education in schools on the issues of teenage pregnancy and being a young parent, with the aim of reducing teenage pregnancy rates.

Straight Talking works by employing young parents and training them up so they can deliver peer education sessions in their local secondary schools, talking about the realities of becoming a parent at a young age.  Straight Talking starts from the basis that teenagers know how not to get pregnant, but not why not to get pregnant. The peer education sessions focus on the difficulties of becoming a young parent, such as missing out on education and a social life, struggling on a low income and the stresses of looking after a new baby. As you’d expect from the name, the peer educators tell it like it is, giving examples from their own experience of being a young parent.

Straight Talking’s success rates in reducing teenage pregnancy are amazing - rates in Kingston have reduced by 29% . Another fantastic benefit of the way that the charity works is that the peer educators employed by Straight Talking gain skills, confidence and support, as well as an income. The charity will provide references, advice and support to help the young parents get on – they see it as a stepping stone for them into education, employment or training.  Young parents that have come through Straight Taking have gone on to gain employment in areas such as youth work, community policing and teaching.

The more I find out about Straight Talking, the more I understand how important their work is. My next post is all about my first week…