No tomorrow for Tomorrow’s People

Employability organisation Tomorrow’s People – who’s slogan was Making Life Work – has gone into adminstration. Tomorrow’s People, a registered charity, had a base in North Edinburgh Arts and the company’s failure has resulted in the loss of two local jobs and an uncertain future for young people who were being supported into employment, training or further education.

The staff were given no warning of financial problems and news of the closure came as a total shock.

The company issued a statement on their website on Thursday:

As of 8th March 2018 Tomorrow’s People Trust Limited entered into administration. Lane Bednash of CMB Partners was appointed administrator and has taken over the running of the charity from the Board and from the Executive Team.

All enquiries should therefore now be directed to either James Money or Adam Boyle at CMB Partners on 020 7377 4370 or tpt@cmbukltd.co.uk.

We are truly sorry to be closing our doors and send our heartfelt best wishes for the future to all the fantastic staff, volunteers and most importantly the young people and adults we have worked with over the last 30 years.

Just three short months ago, Tomorrow’s People Chief Executive Martin Brookes reflected on an exciting year with ‘much for everyone to be proud of’.

He told staff: “We have redesigned our service delivery model to help us reach more of the young people most in need. This is part of our ambitious strategy to launch 22 Youth Hubs by 2022 – providing we can secure the funding we need (my italics).

“Official figures tell us employment is at the highest level since 1975 but we know there are almost a quarter of a million young people not in employment, education or training who are not receiving effective help. These are the young people we’re trying to reach.

 

“It’s an exciting time to join the team at Tomorrow’s People, as it scales up its delivery and develops new funding models to reach more young people in need than ever before. I look forward to being part of such a dynamic organisation and to support the charity on this journey.”

“To ensure the continued success of our new Youth Hub model, and to diversify its income, Tomorrow’s People has been developing a new funding structure: City Social Partnerships (CSPs). CSPs are a pioneering new way of supporting local communities, bringing the public and private sector together to create long-term solutions. This is truly innovative and I can’t wait to share more with you on this in the New Year.

“I’d like to end by saying how very proud I am of our team. Change can be challenging across any organisation but the team has been patient, understanding and their passion for our cause has not wavered. Importantly, everyone is behind the changes and our frontline team is already exceeding expectations. And expect to hear much more from us in 2018.

Tomorrow’s People has operated in Scotland throughout its 30 year history, where it focused particularly on supporting  young people. The charity claims to have helped over 16,000 young folk into sustainable employment.

Tomorrow’s People delivered has delivered a service in North Edinburgh for around eight years. The organisation also worked in Craigmillar until closing that service in 2016.

Last summer Tomorrow’s People changed the emphasis of their service, moving from their in-depth ‘Work It Out’ 13 week programme for 16 -24 year olds not in education, employment or training to a truncated six week ‘Engage Programme.’ The change to the ‘service delivery model’ was not universally popular with staff or clients, who felt that more time was needed to build relationships and deliver a successful programme.

Tomorrow’s People course participants took part in a range of activities and projects, all designed to boost confidence and build and develop skills. These included

– Working on a community challenge, creating a memorial garden at St Paul’s Church, Muirhouse