Impact
Pod started in 2013 with Pod Youth Club. The charity has evolved to become central to the support for individuals, families, and the wider community. The charity has an excellent reputation and has expanded significantly in the last 10 years, but has not lost sight of the importance of collaboration with the people who come to the projects.
A consultation with the Pod community in 2023 led to a new and improved system for measuring the impact and importance of Pod on the people the charity supports. Here are the words they used to express their experience of Pod – after they helped us to design the survey in the first place! The team are revisiting the survey with attendees in the projects bi-annually and will begin to report on the results in the near future.
The Pod creates a safe haven for Children, Young People and Adults, opportunities for fun, friendship and community involvement – a sense of belonging.
The charities success is largely due to our talented team of trained and experienced Project workers who inspire, guide and support the POd community, encouraging them to try new things and take healthy risks.
The team are a source of advice and support for the whole family and other professionals.
When people are taking part in some of the Pod activities, families benefit from valuable respite. Carers can meet other parents and carers who face similar challenges and have the opportunity to build a network of support and understanding that helps ease the difficulties they often face.
The people who take part in activities and their parent carers are equally passionate about The Pod and the difference it makes to their lives.
“I have been attending JAMM for several years now. This has given me a local and manageable safe space to be with other parents who truly understand and appreciate the ups and downs of life with a (magnificent!) child with additional needs. Facilitated by Becky, it is a warm, unpressured environment. I always feel better for having gone along, and that I am not alone. It has meant a huge amount to share the joy, frustrations, pride and anxiety of life, and I have benefitted from the experience and solidarity of the other parents who may experience something similar themselves, either with regards to their child or the systems supposed to support them.”
“The Pod is simply amazing, they offer my daughter an opportunity to make friends, have friends and have fun. She feels like she belongs and so many links have come from being part of the Pod, going to the theatre, dancing the night away at the discos and meeting friends in town. She has a life I thought she would never have, happiness, laughs and friends, thank you to the Pod!!!”
“Pod has made me feel less anxious when meeting new people. If it was not for Pod, I would be stuck for things to do and would have nobody to talk to about my worries. I can see who I want to see and I’m not criticised by others, thank you Pod!”