Check out our Impact Report 2023/24
We are so excited to release our latest Impact Report! It is hot off the press and packed full of personal stories, facts and figures, our new Theory of Change and of course the results of our latest Participatory Action Research! Excitingly, for the first time we also used artificial intelligence to support our research team. You can check out the highlights and our use of innovative technology below!
“Breadwinners brought out goodness I forgot I had in me, they gave me a shoulder to lean on, a friend to laugh with, support with my career, a community that is filled with love and absolute dedication to what they believe in. Breadwinners has changed my life in ways I’m still realising everyday.”
Key highlights from the Impact Report
Our Impact Report covers various aspects of our work and the significant achievements we have made over the past year. Here are some key highlights:
1. Our new Theory of Change: We’ve been busy developing a new Theory of Change to incorporate all aspects of our work. While the focus of our work remains our employability programmes, we believe that our new ‘building blocks’ - community building activities, youth voices, and safeguarding and crisis response - are essential to achieve our outcomes.
2. Some numbers: We are so proud of have supported 181 refugees and young people seeking asylum in the financial year 2023/24 across our three employability programmes, as well as our Participatory Action Research team and communications volunteers. This brings us to a whopping 500+ people who have been supported by Breadwinners since we began, many of whom have received work experience, training and mentoring.
3. Participatory Action Research (PAR): We once again conducted our annual participant-led research method with an even larger team of 16 young people and one volunteer mentor. This has enabled us to incorporate the knowledge and experience of our participants in the design and direction of the organisation, as well as providing a space for the research team to learn and develop new skills whilst gathering invaluable and unbiased feedback from the rest of our community.
4. Artificial Intelligence: For the first time ever we utilised AI to support our Participatory Action Research team. The Earlybird AI Chatbot allowed us to collect responses in different languages, at times that were more convenient and gave people longer to think. This increased the accessibility of our survey and encouraged engagement for those who preferred anonymised feedback.a sense of belonging is essential for young refugees. 23% of respondents answered our the participant designed survey via the AI chatbot and 81% gave good or excellent feedback on using it.
5. Community activities, youth voices, and safeguarding and crisis response: We have recognised that these three building blocks are fundamental to our work and programmes at Breadwinners. Building community is at the heart of what we do, and according to our PAR is what people like most about Breadwinners. Raising youth voices is also one of our core values. Our youth-led approach is reflected in our PAR, which guides our programme design and the strategy of the organisation, and young people also contribute to our social media and wider communications. We couldn’t run our programmes without safeguarding and crisis response - due to the wider context as well as the amount of young people we are working with, in the financial year 2023/24 we responded to 64 safeguarding concerns, more than ever before.
The stories are what it is all about
It is the lives and stories of the people we work with that are the heart of Breadwinners and are behind every statistic. Throughout our Impact Report we have featured stories of hope from the refugees and young people seeking asylum that make up our community.
Buba summed up his experience beautifully in the poem below, which was featured on social media by Choose Love!
Looking Ahead
While we celebrate our achievements, we remain acutely aware of the ongoing challenges. Our commitment to supporting young refugees is unwavering. The insights from this Impact Report and our PAR will guide our future strategies, ensuring that we continue to provide the most effective and compassionate support possible.
Thank you!
Thank you to every single one of our loyal customers, partners, funders and volunteers for enabling us to deliver our life-changing work and a special thank you to all our programme participants who inspire us every day!
Thank you to our PAR Researchers Ahmed, Alatyeb, Anas, Bahareh, Daniel, David, Didar, Edhah, Khadar, Mahad, Mahmoud, Mildred, Mishkat, Osman, Tjiuatjiua, Yousif and Yasmin for helping to create the questions, gather feedback from our community and improve our programmes!
To read the full Impact Report, please click here.