Streetwise

Charity Details
Full Name: Streetwise Young People’s Project
Field: Community Service
Founded: 1991
Headquarters: Newcastle, NE1 1UQ
Charity No: 1058360

History and Activities
Streetwise is an award-winning charity based in central Newcastle. It was established in 1991 to provide young people aged from 11 to 25 years with free and confidential advice, information and counselling relating to their physical and mental health and wellbeing. The charity operates from a three-story building in Blackfriars that has three counselling rooms, two clinical nurse rooms, three small group work rooms, a training room, and an open access drop-in reception area.

Streetwise provides four main services: (a) a drop-in service at which young people can receive information and advice relating to the issues confronting them; (b) mental health and emotional wellbeing counselling; (c) contraception and sexual health (CASH) guidance and provision; (d) support for detached youths in the most deprived areas of Newcastle. In 2016/17, Streetwise services supported 18,170 engagements with 7,038 young people, including 3,369 drop-ins, 1,679 counselling and assessment sessions, 3,962 visits to the CASH service, and 4,237 contacts during detached street work. The main presenting symptoms at counselling were anxiety, anger and depression, reflecting the difficulties faced by many young people in modern society. Since it began, Streetwise has helped in improving the lives of an estimated 300,000 people. This is a remarkable statistic that speaks well of a small charity providing a vital community service for vulnerable young people. It also bears testimony to its knowledge of real needs, purposefulness, efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. In October 2016, in its 25th anniversary year, the charity was voted national winner of the Advice and Guidance award by Children and Young People Now out of 500 entries.

The generosity of individuals, volunteers and donors, and charitable trusts and foundations has played an essential role in making all this possible. Of the charity’s total income of £650,000 in the accounting year 2016/17, fully two-thirds came from philanthropic sources.

Vital Statistics (year to 31/03/2017)

Website
https://www.streetwisenorth.org.uk/

References