News

One of the 3 strategic goals of Better Connect is to Inspire Change. This involves promoting social inclusion as an essential part of creating vibrant, productive and prosperous communities.  

We aim to inspire change in 3 ways: 

  • Sharing participants stories – Through our projects, our partners have supported thousands of participants. We know that behind these big numbers, each person has their own individual story of how they have been supported to transform their lives. We are delighted that some of these people have chosen to share their stories with us. And now, we get to share those stories with you.  
  • Thinkpieces and blogs – Our staff and partners have a huge amount of knowledge on lots of issues regarding inclusion, diversity, wellbeing and employment. Some of this comes from their work and education and much of it comes from lived experience. We create and share blogs and thinkpieces written by our staff and partners to raise awareness and contribute positively to the conversation about these key issues.  
  • Representation – We are honoured to represent social inclusion issues and the voluntary and community sector in multiagency groups and policy formation. We do this by listening to our partners and participants and using our platforms to amplify their voices and perspectives. We connect policy makers with people on the ground to ensure that policies and funding have the greatest positive impact in communities.  
Former ATI Participant ‘Sign with Sarah-Jade’ wins New Business of The Year Award 2023!

Former ATI Participant ‘Sign with Sarah-Jade’ wins New Business of The Year Award 2023!

Action Towards Inclusion Blog news item RISE



  Today we’re celebrating Sarah-Jade, one of our former participants on ATI who has just gone on to win York Mix Radio’s New Business of The Year 2023 with her business ‘Sign with Sarah-Jade’! Sarah is a British Sign Language (BSL) teacher, who teaches a range of classes from babies to adults in York and

Better Connections- Wellbeing for Keyworkers

Better Connections- Wellbeing for Keyworkers

Blog Mental Health news item RISE Thriving at Work Wellbeing Resources



  This week, we’ve shared several posts covering the impact of our former Thriving at Work programme in honour of International Happiness at Work Week, and today, we’re spotlighting our keyworkers & partners as we begin to focus more heavily on supporting their happiness at work. After several discussions about keyworker challenges, the team came

Rise 2 Thrive – New Partnership Opportunity for North Yorkshire

Rise 2 Thrive – New Partnership Opportunity for North Yorkshire

Action Towards Inclusion news item RISE Thriving at Work



  It’s an exciting time as we start to see the People & Skills funding opportunities under UKSPF for Year 3 (April 2024-25), which will be released by various Local Authorities in the coming weeks! After the success of our RISE and Thriving at Work programmes, Better Connect are excited to announce we will be

Our Multiply Team Updates!

Our Multiply Team Updates!

Blog Internal Meet the Team multiply news item



  What have the team been up to? Our Multiply team have had an exciting few months managing Multiply and connecting with our wonderful partners. Formerly both part of our ATI team, Christine and Sophia have been keen to get stuck into a new venture and have a hand in making maths accessible. They’ve represented

Literacy Day- Our Team’s Favourite Books

Literacy Day- Our Team’s Favourite Books

Blog Internal Meet the Team multiply news item RISE Wellbeing Resources



  In a reading slump? In honour of International Literacy Day, today we’re sharing some of our favourite books with you from across the Better Connect Team! Literacy is an important part of life & learning globally. This year’s theme for Literacy Day is ‘Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable

International Overdose Awareness Day – Joe’s Story

International Overdose Awareness Day – Joe’s Story

Blog Internal Mental Health news item



        The 31st August 2023 is International Overdose Awareness Day. Today, we share a deeply personal story from one of our team at Better Connect. Joe sadly lost his sister due to a drug overdose last year and wants to share his story in hope that it raises awareness, educates and helps

ATI Participant Stories- Louise, Laura & Katrina

ATI Participant Stories- Louise, Laura & Katrina

Action Towards Inclusion Blog Mental Health news item RISE



  Following the publication of our recent Action Towards Inclusion (ATI) stats, today we’re celebrating three incredible women who took part in the project. Several months back, we had the opportunity to visit one of our partner organisations, Kyra Women’s Project, and speak to three women who were supported by them on ATI. Louise, Katrina

Celebrating ATI’s Accomplishments!

Celebrating ATI’s Accomplishments!

Action Towards Inclusion Blog news item



  Most of you will remember in April when we bid a final farewell to Action Towards Inclusion and planted (both literal and figurative) seeds for future projects. Since then, we’ve seen a few buds, launched RISE, Multiply has more or less entered year two of delivery, TAW has come to a close, and ATI’s

Balancing Policy, Process, and Parental Responsibilities- Starting Life as a Working Mum

Balancing Policy, Process, and Parental Responsibilities- Starting Life as a Working Mum

Blog Internal Meet the Team news item Wellbeing Resources



        Debs, our Operations Manager (and in-house organisation enthusiast), recently returned to work after having her son. She’s shared her experience with us, and some helpful insights along the way. It’s great to have you back Debs!  It’s a given that having a child completely turns your life upside down.  You know

“It’s easy to get into debt – but hard to get out” – Multiply Participant Stories

“It’s easy to get into debt – but hard to get out” – Multiply Participant Stories

Blog multiply news item



  A few weeks back, we had the pleasure of visiting Multiply keyworker CJ Allison and his participants Dan and David as they battled through some budgets, talked financial self-advocacy, and discussed self-employment tips and tricks. Multiply is the government’s new multi-million-pound programme to help transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of adults across

Celebrating International Youth Day!

Celebrating International Youth Day!

Blog news item RISE



    Saturday 12th August marks International Youth Day, and this year the theme is ‘Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World’. The United Nations define green skills as, ‘’knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society’’. The UN report that 40% of all jobs

New Role – Business Development Manager!

New Role – Business Development Manager!

Blog Internal news item



We are excited to announce that Emma is our new Business Development Manager at Better Connect! She will be working closely with the senior leadership team to find new funding and partnership programme opportunities that support organisations and people to thrive in their life and work. She will be working closely with existing and potential