Supporting youth education charity One-Eighty to improve the lives of young people

Matthew Barber, Police & Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, recently visited One-Eighty as part of his ongoing engagement with partners and funded organisations

On Friday (6/1), Matthew Barber visited youth education charity One-Eighty at their office in Oxford. The visit provided an opportunity for the Police & Crime Commissioner to find out how £5,000 of funding, awarded via the Community Fund, will support One-Eighty to provide additional one-to-one sessions with young people, parents and carers.

One-Eighty works with young people who are struggling to engage with school, helping them re-integrate back into education or back onto a positive journey with learning.  The support which is founded on psychology-focused techniques can include intensive one-to-one interventions, group work, projects, and training courses.

Following his visit, Matthew said: “It was a pleasure to meet with the team at One-Eighty, to find out how their work across Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire is supporting young people with their mental health and helping them re-engage with education.

“It was also great to meet some of the young people and hear directly how they are benefitting from the education support provided by One-Eighty.

“I wish One-Eighty all the best with their future work, and look forward to visiting more organisations in 2023 whose work is supporting my Police & Criminal Justice Plan for Thames Valley.”

Susie-Besant, CEO at One-Eighty, said: “The One-Eighty team thoroughly enjoyed their visit from Matthew Barber on Friday. It was an honour to invite a group of Mental Health Ambassadors from one of our partner schools, alongside our partnership supporters, to showcase our charity’s vital work and talk about the impact the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Community Fund has on enabling us to reach more young people in need of our services. We look forward to sharing more impact and outcomes as we continue to strive to turn more lives around.”

This visit was made as part of an ongoing programme of engagement work run by the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner, which will organise regular visits with the Police & Crime Commissioner, partners and funded organisations throughout 2023.