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The New Futures Project review of 2025 - January to June
- ciaran583
- Jan 6
- 11 min read
Updated: Jan 19
It has been another exceptionally busy 12 months for the New Futures Project.
Then again, it's the same story every year.
We came into 2025 on a high, having just received confirmation from the National Lottery that it had agreed to award us £614,000 from its Reaching Communities Fund.
This money is supporting our work with two marginalised groups – women involved in sex work and young people aged 18 to 25 who are at risk of sexual exploitation.
Our director Della Kagure Brown wrote to the members of the Reaching Communities England board, to thank them for their support.
She told them: “I have been involved with the organisation for 24 years and during that time have been privileged to see it develop from a small project to the independent charity it is today.
"It has been the most rewarding role I could imagine, but it has also been 24 years of struggling to source and apply for funding.
"The grant you have awarded means that our client work is secure, and gives us the time and resources to develop our plans to increase the charity’s earned income.
"There is a lot of hard work ahead but you have given us the opportunity to make our small local charity sustainable well into the future. I cannot thank you enough.
"The services we provide are so much in demand, now more than ever and thanks to your grant, generations of women in our community will get the support they need to change their lives.”
READ MORE: The New Futures Project Christmas Appeal: Help us support the most vulnerable women we know
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Incidentally, the Office of National Statistics released the latest domestic violence statistics around the same time.
This report made for typically grim reading, revealing an epidemic of violence which had affected more than two million people over the age of 16 - overwhelmingly women, obviously - across the previous year.
Della said: "These statistics are further evidence of the terrible scale and impact of domestic violence.
"Unfortunately, while these figures are horrendous, they are no surprise to the New Futures Project and other people who work in this field.
“The women we talk to every day are living in absolute terror. As a society we need to address this.
"We must continue to support those women but also start to talk about how attitudes can be changed.”
We have offered counselling training externally validated and accredited by the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body, (CPCAB), since November 2023.
We continue to develop as a provider of high quality training and we are very proud of our tutors and our students.
We like to offer them every opportunity to tell their own stories. Speaking in early-February, Joanne Carvell, offered this glowing assessment of our level two course.
Joanne told us: “The course was recommended to me by a friend who is a year ahead of me.
"She was so enthusiastic about what she’d been doing and knew that it would be of interest to me.
"I started researching it for myself, and I looked at many places that taught the course. I needed it to fit in with my current working life and wanted it to be local.
“New Futures is also a charity rather than a school, so I thought I might experience the reality of being in that type of environment and learn a little about the centre itself.
“I love the fact that we use actual therapy rooms for skills practice that are used by the centre during the day.
READ MORE: 'Our outreach workers change lives' - help us build our team to carry out this vital work
“Working within the safety of the group environment does help. We all support each other throughout our learning experiences and getting to know each of my groups has been special.
“I’m not sure where it will take me. I’m taking one step at a time, but currently I don’t want the journey to end.
“It’s helped me personally with my relationships, having more self-awareness has had a very positive impact on me.
“I wouldn’t change my journey, it’s been enlightening, and I would recommend it to everyone whether they intend to go into the profession or not."
We are determined to make these courses as accessible as we can.
While these qualifications can help people forge new careers for themselves, the hours our students need to put in may not always suit everyone.
So, in order to help those whose time might be restricted, we launched a weekend fast-track version of our Level 2 Counselling Skills course.
The traditional course runs over 30 weeks – but the fast-track is complete in three months.
We are exploring the possibility of offering the fast-track course again in 2026.
Occasionally, we like to make our voice heard on the issues which affect the women we support here.
In February, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood - now Home Secretary - said she was determined to cut the number of women sent needlessly to prison.
This was music to our ears.
Over the years, we have visited many women and custody and come away convinced they did not belong there.
In response to Ms Mahmood's commitment, we said: "While we recognise some women’s offences are so serious they merit custodial sentences for public protection, the clear majority of women we've seen locked up over the years did not need or deserve to be treated this way.
"Furthermore, we do not believe taking these women away from support services - including those we can provide - is good for them.
"It certainly does not meaningfully serve the public interest."
Funding is always a difficult business, for us and everyone else in the charity sector.
In response, we have consciously stepped up our efforts to secure the support of businesses across the city and county.
In the summer of 2023, we contacted 180 of the largest employers in the area to invite them to back our life-changing work in any way they could think of.
That appeal continued to bear fruit throughout 2024 and 2025.
One company, Myonex, filled 20 big boxes with everyday essentials for some of the most socially excluded women we know of, including those who are homeless or vulnerably housed.
They delivered the first 10 boxes at the end of 2023, holding back a further 10 boxes. We collected them in February and made sure they went to those who need them most.
Matt Grace of Myonex said: “It was an easy decision for us to choose to support the New Futures Project, a charity doing vital work to support vulnerable women in a multitude of ways.”
Again, turning to our students. Eva Zeegers was on the second year of an MSc in counselling at Bangor University, in Wales when she came to us under our student counselling placement programme.
She wrote in March: “The New Futures Project cares a lot about people, which is sadly not always a given within the caring sector.
“Within the organisation I feel valued as a whole, rather than perceived as ‘just a trainee’, which I very much appreciate.
“I am already miles away from the counsellor that I was when I first started placement one year ago, and it is exciting to see where it will take me.
“When reflecting with clients on the counselling experience it becomes clear how transformative counselling can be.
“Placement has also helped to bridge the gap between the theory I have learned in university, and real-life practice. This has helped me understand the course content better.
READ MORE: 'Counselling should be accessible to anyone who needs it' - talk to us if you're struggling
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“I am happy with the support I have received from all ends, from my placements, university, clinical supervisor, and personal therapist.
“I feel that from all ends I am receiving all the tools I need to thrive and learn as a trainee counsellor.”
Another first for the project saw a team of six runners representing us in the Leicester 10k on Sunday, March 2 – raising more than £1,600.
We weren't sure how it would go, but we were delighted and could hardly be more grateful to the six members of our team - Ben Tobin, Nick Roth, Sophie Holyoak, Matt Brown, Rene and Jemma.
Helen Sharp, fundraising, marketing and PR manager at the project, told them: "Your dedication and support mean the world to us and to the cause we are all passionate about.
"Every step you took helped raise vital funds, and together, we've made a significant impact.
"We are incredibly grateful for your enthusiasm, generosity, and commitment to making a difference.
"Thank you for running for a cause that truly matters."
By April, our attempts to win the support of the area’s businesses were rewarded again.
First, members of staff at law firm Howes Percival donated a stack of clothing, toiletries and other everyday essentials.
Helen Sharp, fundraising, events and PR manager at the project, said: "Howes Percival is a well-known local legal firm who do great things for the community.
"We are lucky to have had the pleasure of being introduced through our friends in The Rotary and are blown away with the donations we have been gifted.
"We truly value our growing number of community friends, and are keen to continue to work together for a long time.
Then, one of Leicester's coolest fashion stores raised approximately £1,000 for us by taking part in a colourful 1980s-themed fun-run.
The team at AllSaints, in the Highcross centre, set out to 'run, hop, skip or jump' a 10km course through the city’s Victoria Park on Easter Sunday, April 20 - and we were there to support them all the way.
The retailer works with Shelter to combat homelessness and is partnered with the Kaleidoscope Trust to fight for the rights of LGBTIQA+ people.
The company is also known for its support for initiatives to tackle fashion industry waste, the global scourge of human trafficking and the growing mental health crisis in the UK.
They told us they had been training in preparation for their event and had picked up pledges of sponsorship from family and friends.
They exceeded their fundraising target of £500, which AllSaints matched once the event was complete.
READ MORE: Survey finds one in 8 women were victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking last year
Speaking ahead of the event, our Helen said: "We are absolutely delighted the team at AllSaints has chosen to support us in this way and we'll be there on the day to support them too.
"The money they raise from this brilliant effort will do so much for the women we work with here."
An All Saints spokesperson said: "At AllSaints, we believe our energy, passion and diverse experiences can help make a real, positive difference in our local communities.
"We put that belief into action through the AllSaints Community Fund, which reflects the values at the heart of our brand and brings together our people, customers and the planet."
Early in May, we had a lovely surprise - a parcel full of everyday essentials for the women we support.
An anonymous donor had filled the box with soaps, shampoos and creams and posted it us.
Avril Lewis, our crisis support manager, said: "These items will be lovely treats for the girls.
"They have to prioritise and many of them could not afford to buy these things for themselves."
Out of the blue gestures of support always raise the women’s spirits. They make us happy too, because we get to hand them out.
READ MORE: 'I found my own strength and healing here' - social work student Stephina loved being at New Futures
We spoke out again in June when Rape Crisis England and Wales revealed its centres across the country were being forced to cut services because of the twin pressures of decades of 'chronic and acute' under-funding and rising operating costs.
The charity said its 38 centres, which received 41,000 referrals last year, are also reducing staffing levels because of the deteriorating financial climate.
In response, we said: "We are horrified to hear that Rape Crisis centres are being forced to cut services.
"We know from the referrals we receive that incidents of sexual violence and domestic abuse are increasing.
"Therefore services like Rape Crisis require additional funding not ‘maintenance’ funding or, even worse, reduced funding.
"Misogyny is on the rise. At what point does this crisis become a crisis worthy of national attention and increased funding for services working with victims of rape and abuse?".
For its part, the government is working toward its pledge of halving violence against women and girls within a decade.
The women and young people we support here at the New Futures Project deserve the very best, including the food and drink we serve them.
So, we were exceptionally proud to announce that hygiene inspectors had once again awarded us a level 5 Food Standards Agency certificate - the best ranking you can get.
Again, speaking out on an issue which could impact on the women, we addressed the city council's latest effort to tackle antisocial behaviour.
The public spaces protection order, (PSPO) allows officials to issue £100 on-the-spot fines, rising to £1,000 if prosecution leads to a conviction.
Our office is in the affected area, so we spoke to the women to explain the new restrictions and the consequences of breaching them. We hope this helped the women steer clear of trouble.
In June, we were delighted to accept an invitation from local radio station Soar Sound to talk about our work.
Della and Helen told our story – from our early days supporting women involved in sex work to our status as a provider of counselling and practical support to an ever-growing number of clients.
Della said: "We're always glad to talk to the media about the work we do and the people we support.
"We were able to give the station's listeners an insight into the difficulties faced by so many of the women and young people we see here."
Turning again to our students, Stephina Phiri, completed her social work degree at De Montfort University this year, having spent 100 days on placement with us.
After completing her time here, Stephina said: "I had my own experience of abuse and trauma and the biggest surprise for me was that I found my own strength and healing through the work I did here.
"Also, seeing the strength of the women I met here reinforced my passion for social work - this is the right career for me.
"It's been such a rewarding experience overall. I told my personal tutor at university that I could not imagine anywhere better for my placement.
"There's nothing I love more than empowering and validating women and young people, and helping them realise they are not defined by anyone but themselves.
"They are amazing, strong and resilient people. Sometimes they just need someone to sit down with them who says to them 'I am listening, I hear you'.
"Even if they only come in for a chat, a cup of tea or a shower, so many of the women brighten up immediately.
“The staff at New Futures, particularly Abi, Carl, Avril and Manisha, were wonderful. If they thought I was struggling they would tell me to take as much time as I needed.
"The other students are amazing, a real team. If someone is feeling overwhelmed, you'll hear one of the others say 'Do you need help? I'll take over while you have a break'.
“I’m working toward my professional qualification, but I am still a woman who is still healing. The New Futures Project has been a big part of that.
“People need to know about the New Futures Project and the incredible work it does. It has become my other home and I will miss it when I leave.”
The New Futures Project offers a comprehensive welfare and counselling service for women and young people dealing with sexual abuse or exploitation, domestic violence, trafficking, poverty and debt, substance use or mental ill-health.
Call us on 0116 251 0803 or send us a message at: info@new-futures.org.uk
You can find us at 71 London Road, Leicester, LE2 0PE.
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