Founder’s Statement - Ron Overton
Transitions UK as a charity began formally in October 2014. However, the vision and desire for such a charity began considerably earlier.
I have worked with young people for most of my life and became more and more aware of the “transition gap” between children’s and adult services and the highly negative impact of poorly co-ordinated transition, especially on those most vulnerable. Sadly that is still a huge issue today.
In 1999, I was working as Director of a small learning disability charity called ReActivity, based in NE London. We were providing excellent short term holiday respite for young people with complex needs and hugely benefitting their (by and large) amazing parents. However my reflection was that much more needed to be done to help these young people change their lives and futures - Nice holidays and quality respite were not enough.
After a couple of years there I then went to work for InterAct, an inspirational charity based in Moulsham Mill in Chelmsford, where I became Learning Disability and Personnel Director and then Deputy CEO. As part of that role I was able to agree the launch and development of a Circles of Support project for young people with Learning Disabilities, which effectively expanded countywide in Essex and worked with a wide range of special and secondary schools.
I then worked for a few years as CEO of St Nicholas Hospice, in Suffolk, and learned to manage and develop a larger organisation and utilise my counselling background too. St Nicks was an adult hospice and my interest in supporting young people had to be out on ice for a while, although we achieved some great things together.
When I moved from St Nicks, it was to lead a youth charity called Reach Out Plus, run by St Albans Diocese. In addition to canal boats and a historic church centre used for youth weeks and weekends, we launched an adapted version of the Circles of Support Project as well as expanding our other services. It was very successful but the model needed a volunteer ratio of 4:1, which limited the provision and the numbers we could help.
When I then became Director of Rett UK (supporting young people – mainly females- with a rare neurological disorder, we again launched a youth support project with a focus on transition.
One increasing frustration was struggling to find a charity with the vision and drive to do something meaningful about the transition gap and with the willingness to add that to “what we do”. My judgement was that what we do and what needs to be done are not always the same thing!!
By now I had put a lot more thought and reflection into what I believed was needed to help young people with learning disabilities but also other vulnerable groups. I was happy to jump up and down and talk about it to anyone!
It was whilst I was on a charity Trek to Everest Base Camp (talk about inspirational) that I shared this (again!) with some of my fellow trekkers. Their challenge to me, was “Ron if it matters that much then you should do something about it!”. So that crystallized my determination to set up a charity specifically to use the models of support I believed (and believe still) are most effective and to do so at a national level.
I did some interim consultancy work to keep my family fed whilst getting bank accounts and constitution together with some initial seed corn funding and then in 2014 decided the time was right to get the charity off the ground.
The name was easy Transitions UK – to support effective transition for vulnerable young people and to do so with an ambition of national provision.
I found some wonderful founding Trustees to support me as Chair and we had our first Board Meeting in October 2014. It was a challenge personally in terms of time and finance. Our first year’s income was £6,000 and I nonetheless soon had to bite the bullet and go full-time, even though there wasn’t anything like the cash to pay me to do so. That resource and input then gave us impetus and we began to attract further funding and support and we launched our first project in Charles Walker, in partnership with a special school in Luton, working with young people from many different schools and across Luton and surrounding areas.
By now the model had been developed using a PATH personal development plan based on Jack Pierpoints work, a relational circles model to develop social engagement and a volunteer based mentoring programme to offer both economy and a diverse skills offering, as well as the person-centred support that is most powerful. Those essentials still lie at the heart of TUK provision and have been adapted very effectively to offer support for young people leaving care (Attain), those at risk of offending (Aspire) or with mental health issues (Affirm) as well as learning disabilities (Achieve).
A key focus for us has always been young people with mild to moderate levels of need. All young people need support, some need more support than others. Young people with highly complex needs are often a strong focus for support by local authorities and many funders. Those with moderate needs have huge potential to benefit and to move forward in life with just a little of the right support, but often don’t receive it. Without that support their lives and futures are fundamentally damaged. That’s both short-sighted and tragic.
From a single project in Luton, initially led by the amazing Jennifer Moore, the charity has grown to providing support for hundreds of young people across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, North London, Birmingham and Leicester. The ambition is 7,000 per annum by or before 2030, deploying over 10,000 volunteer mentors. Surviving and learning from Lockdown added more virtual provision and a hybrid offering tailored to our different need groups and individual young people. That also still has a lot more to offer in terms of reach and effectiveness.
As I leave Transitions UK in 2022, I do so with a very real sense of satisfaction with what we have achieved and a clear conviction about the importance and further potential – both in the UK and beyond. At 67 years of age, I now want to stop working 60-70 hours per week, but to use my skills and experience to help other ambitious, resource hungry charities to move to their next level. I have loads of energy, vision and drive! I am especially keen to work with those charities supporting vulnerable young people and to continue to leave a legacy of good work.
Ron is available to provide support and advice for ambitious charities via his consultancy, Implement UK, on [email protected] and 07939 510922