RCT working with young people and families

The Rochdale Connections Trust (RCT) was established in 1988 as a community based charity that works with young people with the aim of putting their lives back on track by offering practical and emotional support.

It was originally started by Rochdale Youth Magistrates who noticed that many young people appearing before the Court did not have a school to attend. This often led to exclusion from society in general and a loss of self esteem and self worth on the part of the young person.

One of their main aims is connect young people with adults who can help them return to education and training.

Kathy Thomas who is Chief Executive of RCT said the work they do has a big impact on the lives of young people. “We want to steer young people away from crime, we take some of them to prison for a day and show that the lifestyle inside prison isn’t great.

“Getting an insight into what it’s like in prison can push them towards education and we have seen huge differences in the work ethic of some.

“We are currently working with thirty young people and have given them all a mentor. These are people that are volunteers and hopefully someone the young people can trust.”

The young people are often young offenders, excluded from school, experimenting with drugs and alcohol or experiencing family relationship problems. The RCT believe their job is to help include rather than exclude these young people.

They also run a family support programme. This can involve families working with the RCT for up to 12 months. The objective is to tackle the barriers to employment and to give the family members the skills which will move them into employment. They will undertake one-to-one work with the Family Support Co-ordinator.

Kathy: “Working with families will hopefully stop children going into care. We also run Anger Management courses and offer help and advice to women who are at risk of domestic abuse.”