Multiply – Kian’s Story

Why Voice is Important

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.  

Multiply – Kian’s Story

Blog Impact multiply news item



  The Impact Team have been busy at Better Connect recently, collecting stories across our programmes and hearing about how the support is truly changing peoples lives. This month, we had the pleasure of meeting Kian who had received support from CJ. CJ works for York Based CIC Coterminous and is a keyworker on the

Celebrating Go4it & The Impact of RISE

Blog Meet the Team Mental Health news item RISE



  At Better Connect, we want to celebrate our partners and the fantastic work they do across our programmes! Last week we had the pleasure of visiting the team at Go4It and spent the day with them learning more about their team, their stories and what they do. Scarborough based, Go4it are passionate about people

Community Fridges, Flexible Starts & Numeracy Support- How Blue Dolphin are Supporting Their Team Through Multiply

Blog Employer Engagement multiply news item Thriving at Work



  As part of the Multiply scheme, our Multiply partners are keen to engage with a range of businesses, big and small, to recalibrate how employers are thinking about recruitment, upskilling, and workplace support through a numerical lens. In line with this employee/employer focus, one of our partners, Autism Plus, have been dropping into workplaces

Inspiring Leaders – Jacky and Joe

Blog Careers Meet the Team news item RISE Thriving at Work



  Developing your leaders and managers in a way that supports your business is key to your success. Pro-Development work with managers and leaders to help them to develop their skills and confidence enabling them to become an inspiring and authentic leader. They offer a range of support, programmes, tools and techniques for people at

Apertures, City Maps & Budgeting- Up for Yorkshire on Jon’s Multiply Journey

Blog Mental Health multiply news item RISE



  Up for Yorkshire are one of our fantastic partners on the Multiply programme, and have been running a range of sessions across year 2 of provision to inspire numbers confidence and encourage participants to utilise their maths skills on the daily. From bushcraft to budgeting, to cooking, sewing, and photography geared sessions, the team are

Multiply’s Magic- Navigating Numbers With Coterminous

Blog LGBT+ multiply news item Wellbeing Resources



  A couple of weeks ago the Impact team paid a visit to York Travellers Trust. Light, bright and welcoming, the Trust is a cohesive community space for Gypsy and Traveller Communities, which doubles up as a foodbank, education centre, community-hub, and refuge for meaningful conversations. Coterminous, one of our fantastic partners on the Multiply

Report Launch! A Qualitative Evaluation of Better Connect’s Thriving at Work: Workplace Support

Blog Disability Mental Health news item Research & Reports Thriving at Work



  Last week, we launched our in-house Thriving at Work report, and as part of the round-up, today we’re excited to launch our evaluative report on the 121 Workplace Support strand of the programme – read it here. Led by Dr Jane Suter, Dr Annie Irvine, and former TAW Programme Manager, Emma Lyons, this report

The Impact of Thriving at Work – Connecting The Dots Between Diversity and Inclusion

Blog Disability Mental Health news item Research & Reports Thriving at Work



  In June 2023, we said goodbye to our Thriving at Work (TAW) programme, a partnership programme which spanned more than two years and supported over eight hundred individuals in their journeys towards workplace wellbeing. Our partnership vision centred on creating more robust policies and practices surrounding diversity and inclusion, offered via a series of

Better Connections – Peer Support Session 3

Blog Meet the Team Mental Health news item RISE Wellbeing Resources



        On an icy January morning, a group of RISE partners braved the weather to meet in Selby for our third peer support meeting. Following on from the first two events, which focused mainly on open discussions amongst the keyworkers and intervention partners, we wanted to do something a little different for

Meet Ben, York Mind RISE Keyworker

Blog Meet the Team Mental Health news item RISE Wellbeing Resources



  Over the last few months, the RISE partnership welcomed keyworker Ben to York Mind, and he’s been keen to properly introduce himself to the partnership following our peer support networks and the rise of more cross-partner collaborations.  With  a diverse skill set, Ben has tried on a fair few hats in his career (including

Reflections, Resolutions, and a Happy New Year from Better Connect!

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  Happy New Year from all of us here at Better Connect! Wondering what we’ve been up to over the last 365 days? With resolutions in full force, it’s only right that we share a few of our own after first recapping on some of our 2023 headliners, from programme closures to new launches, to

“If you find the courage to reach out to RISE I can only promise good things”- Michael’s journey on the RISE Project

Blog Mental Health news item RISE



Ever wondered what the RISE journey can look like for our participants across the programme? Today we’re sharing Michael’s experience of working with York Mind & Keyworker Ben, on everything from employability to mental health support.  Michael has come on leaps and bounds from his initial meeting with Ben, read his story in his own