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In order to ensure supervision of the helpline throughout its opening hours, we're continuing to expand the Service Provision team. So we'd like to say hello to part-time Helpline Officers Rosie Mimler and Freya Comerford, who both have experience of volunteering on the helpline already. Freya will be working the first half of the week and Rosie the second half.

Lloyds TSB Scotland have made Get Connected a grant of £34,041 over three years. This will fund our support of 6,500 young people contacting the helpline from Scotland during this period. We'd like to thank Lloyds TSB for this vital core funding. 

"Who would you turn to for help...?"

Get Connected has been selected by the Media Trust to have a short fundraising film made. We're really excited to be benefitting from the skills of an experienced film maker and look forward to sharing the film with you on our website at the end of this summer.

Nic, 12, contacted us by webchat

[Nic] Umm.. I'm not sure but I think my mum is treating us wrong. She hits me and my brother and doesn't feed us all the time. I don't know whether it counts as abuse.

[Get Connected] That must be tough for you, you've done really well to contact us. Nobody has the right to make you feel uncomfortable. We can find someone to help you, whatever is going on. Have you told anyone else, like a teacher or a relative?

[Nic] No. My mum's a teacher at my school so she'd find out.

Nic wrote that her mum had been treating them like this for two years, and Nic had started harming herself out of anxiety. She was worried about her brother, who was two years younger than her. First of all, she wanted to find out whether her mum's treatment of them was abusive, and then think about getting someone to intervene.

Get Connected's Helpline Worker sent her the link to www.there4me.com, where Nic could find out what constituted abuse and what she could do about her situation. Nic hadn't heard of this service and said she'd visit it straight away.

[Nic] I haven't hurt myself since yesterday. But I think I might do it again, and I wish I could stop.

[Get Connected] You've been really brave Nic. Do you want me to look for somewhere you can get help to stop hurting yourself? 

Nic said she did. We gave her the email address of the Bristol Crisis Service for Women, who offer a national service to women and girls, particularly those concerned about self-harm. 

[Nic] Thanks so much for listening, and finding me help. It feels much better to have told you. x 

News from the helpline

First of all, a warm welcome to our new Head of Helpline, Matt Williams. Matt started on Wednesday, so we won't ask him too many questions yet, but he's given us a few words on why he decided Get Connected was the place for him - read on to find out.

Get Connected's award-winning webchat service is in more demand than ever, with approximately four times as many young people webchatting in the first quarter of 2008-09 than the first quarter of 2007-08. 

With the launch of our 2008-2011 Strategic Plan, the Service Provision team are now working towards challenging objectives on response rates and volunteer recruitment, which will enable us to help more young people in the coming three years. The instalment of new email software Kana Response in September should improve our rate of response to young people's emails.

 

News from Marketing

The Marketing Department has just expanded into the new area of regional representation. Kathryn will be promoting the helpline in Leeds, and Julia will be doing the same in Manchester. They've already started making links with youth services in their areas, and will be available to visit schools and youth groups to explain our service. If you work in Leeds or Manchester and know a group of young people who would like to hear from Get Connected, email or and say hello!

nobodysperfectlogo

We're also running our biggest campaign for years, Nobody's Perfect. It's a short film project giving young people the chance to make films about some of the main issues they contact us about - housing; relationships; emotions; self-harm; sexuality; and bullying. There will be a red carpet screening of the resulting six films at the Odeon on London's Shaftesbury Avenue in October, combined with Get Connected's AGM. If you'd like to know more about the campaign or know young people who'd like to participate, contact us.

News from fundraising

Despite a change in staff at the Fundraising Department, fundraising successes have continued. We'd like to say farewell to Kirstin, formerly Head of Fundraising, and congratulations to Lindsay, who has been promoted to this post. And welcome to Alex Parsons, our new Fundraiser!

5k runners before run
Some of Get Connected's runners before running the London 5K.
 
Support from volunteers and friends of Get Connected has been outstanding recently. Hats off to
  • Ben, who cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats with two friends to raise money for us
  • all the volunteers who ran the London 5K or the London or manchester 10K for us
  • and to Kathy and Jason who went to the extreme of jumping out of a plane in aid of the helpline.
These lovely people raised a total of £9,300 - huge thanks everyone!

We're also delighted to have our partnership with Merrill Lynch extended till the end of the year, and to have been selected as Vitesse Media's Charity of the Year. Vitesse's support will be especially helpful in extending our popular webchat service. We'll keep you informed of how these relationships make a difference to Get Connected.  

The next few months should be as busy as their predecessors, so if you're hoping to get involved in fundraising for Get Connected, look no further:

Get Comedy will be coming to the Comedy Store, London on October 13th. This will be the third instalment of a popular GC fundraiser, and we'll send you details of the line-up as soon as we have them. 

The Royal Parks Half Marathon takes place on October 12th. Get Connected has places available for this scenic tour of the city's most beautiful parks, so if you're thinking about getting active for charity and the Marathon itself feels a bit daunting, why not pace yourself and try 13 miles first? Contact us to register.

Regular runner/trekker/supporter Ryan, from The Carphone Warehouse, will be adding climbing to his CV in September. He's scaling Kilimanjaro, and if you want to show your support you can sponsor him here. 

Recycle your old mobile. Phone recycling has already raised £37,500 this year for Get Connected! Just hand yours in at a CPW store, or contact us to request an envelope - then all you have to do is put it in the postbox.