We currently have three strands to our fundraising priorities: Strand One: Routes Young People’s Advice and Information Centre, Dorchester, established 1997. The support offered by Routes to young people is unique to that area and was specifically designed to fill the gaps in provision for young people at risk. In the last year (2007-2008) 431 young people have benefited from the support that Routes provides. The support received, by the young people, is a three tier provision: initial assessment and crisis intervention, ongoing emotional and practical support and enabling a positive lifestyle e.g. onward progression to work placement, volunteering and/or university. Three of the young people Routes supported last year went onto university. In the last 4 months the statistics show that Routes has supported 271 young people, putting an ever increasing strain on the limited budget. • Cost per head £130.00 • A minimum of 20% of the young people accessing Routes have either physical or mental disability. • Annual running cost of the centre is £55,000 • We still need to raise £25,000 for 2008/09 Strand Two: Dorset Youth Association supports a network of 60 youth clubs and projects, which are run by volunteers. In order to maximise resources and offer the broadest possible service for the 55,000 young people within Dorset we work closely with communities and support a network of 190 volunteers throughout some of the most hard to reach areas of this rural county. We currently offer youth provision to 50% of the electoral wards in Dorset, working with 1,800 young people and offering training in Health and Safety, working with children and young people, First Aid, Risk Assessment, targeted training for individual projects and provide free Criminal Records Checks for voluntary youth groups. • Cost per head £19.00 • Annual running costs of this project are £35,000 • We still need to raise £20,000 for 2008/09 Strand Three: Research published in 2007 identified that there was no youth provision in 30% of the county wards in Dorset. In August 2007 the Association appointed a part time Participation Worker in the Purbeck District, who is working to address this imbalance. Since being in post, the Participation Worker has supported 1000 young people and 30 youth groups to design an Inclusive Communication Strategy and website to ensure all young people can have a voice and influence the services which are available in this rural area. • Cost per head £18.00 • Annual running cost of this project is £18,000 • We still need to raise £1,000 for 2008/09 and £18,000 for 2009/10