I wrote at the start of last year’s Review, that the need for organisations like ours to demonstrate the impact and value for money of what we do has never been more important.
Read the Catch22 Social Impact Review (2024)
I’m proud to say that we are making great strides in this respect; our Evidence and Insight team is now fully embedded across the organisation, and we are getting better at demonstrating how all of our models and approaches are delivering incredible outcomes for our service users.
We are also gaining traction with policymakers. Catch22’s Public Service Reform agenda is deeply embedded in our history and is central to our mission moving forward. It remains a key areas of focus; taking the learning from our frontline delivery and the experience of practitioners and the people we work with, to drive meaningful policy change has to be at the heart of any public service agenda. There are examples in this Review of how we’re starting to see this cut through with politicians, in particular the renewed focus on tackling youth violence and reforming Job Centre Plus.
But above all, Catch22 is delivery organisation. High quality delivery is at the heart of what we do. You’ll read in this Review that in the last year, many of our service and programmes have won awards, been recognised and accredited as industry-leading and have been rated highly by regulators. This is testament to the hard work of Catch22 colleagues and partners, alongside our constant desire to improve. I hope after reading this Review you feel inspired and enthused about what we do. None of this would be possible without our excellent colleagues and our broad network of partners. Thank you to you all.
– Naomi Hulston, Chief Executive of Catch22
Welcome to Catch22’s latest Social Impact Review – a showcase of both the breadth and depth of our activity over the last 12 months.
We have supported hundreds of young people who are victims of exploitation, helping them get their lives back on track. We’ve helped thousands of ex-offenders rebuild their networks and regain control of their finances. We’ve raised awareness amongst Newham residents about the importance of health screening, and we’ve given hundreds of people furthest from the job market secure sustainable employment.
We have strengthened our network of local authority leaving care teams to improve outcomes of care experienced young people, enhancing this with an expanded employability programme in the North West solely focussed on care leavers. Our schools and colleges continue to flourish, with all our provision now being rated ‘good’ by our regulators. And we are continuing to support innovation – with our Good Tech Ventures programme opening up opportunities for new business support for effective delivery of public services.
While the success stories of the people we’ve supported are remarkable, it is sobering to realise just how badly the services we, and others working in similar spaces, are needed.
In particular, there appears no let up in the numbers of young people affected by violence. Indeed this year, we welcomed the charity Redthread into the Catch22 family through a merger. Redthread do brilliant work, supporting young victims of violence in hospital settings – including Emergency Departments and Major Trauma Centres. While mergers are never straightforward, we’re grateful to the Redthread Board, leadership and staff who have been so proactive in wanting the merger to work in order to ensure the future of Redthread services. With their areas of delivery complementing the work already done by Catch22 in the sphere of child exploitation, we’re looking forward to building on and delivering even more impactful work in this space.
I hope you enjoy reading this review as much as I did. Thank you to all the colleagues who make Catch22 the compassionate, collaborative, empowering and curious organisation that is it. I look forward to seeing what the next year has in store.
– Terry Duddy, Chair of Catch22
The year in numbers
Young People, Families and Communities
- 12,544 people supported
- Over 1,400 people supported through free legal, debt, housing, and social welfare advice, allowing them to access a total of £2.1 million.
- 98% of people supported left feeling safer
- 95% left feeling they can enjoy life more
- 91% of people left with a positive outcome
Education
- Our schools who underwent an OFSTED inspection this year all achieved a ‘good’ rating
- 84% of our 113 school leavers, transitioned to a positive destination
- 97% of students achieved their Mathematics qualification.
Justice
- 11,729 prison leavers supported through our Commissioned Rehabilitative Services, with 97% rating their experience as ‘good’ or better
- 45,160 victims supported, with 99% reporting improved health and wellbeing
- 97% of participants in our Gang Awareness Training rated it ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’
- 87% of participants in our gangs and violence reduction service reported a positive change in attitude post-support
Employability
- 4243 people engaged on our programmes
- 2190 completed one of our 4-week employability courses
- 1073 people supported into paid employment and 308 into Further Education
- 90% of people feel more motivated to enter the job market after working with us
Skills
- 417 college students on roll
- 219 students went onto positive destinations
- 97% of our current students would recommend us to a friend
- 7516 NCS open-to-all experiences delivered across West Midlands and Greater Manchester
Our People
- 79% of staff feel proud and valued working at Catch22
- 87% say they have a good place to work
- 75% say Catch22 supports their wellbeing
JANUARY
New Path to Progress tool launches, capturing impact of employability support
Recognising the rise in people facing challenges with their mental health and wellbeing, we’ve developed our employability programmes to not only help people secure jobs, but also boost confidence, motivation and improve mental health and wellbeing. Our in-house tool, Path to Progress, sees participants assess their progress across several key areas – and the results are striking:
- 43% said they had the skills and experience to confidently enter the job market before working with us, compared to 70% after
- 47% said they had the ability to identify appropriate jobs before working with us, compared to 80% after
- 69% said they were motivated to enter the job market before working with us, compared to 90% after
- 37% said they were confident they’d be successful in a job interview before working with us, compared to 71% after.
- Only 17% said they were facing challenges with their mental health and wellbeing after working with us – compared to 20% before.
Catch22 students contribute to vaping policy debate
Catch22 is committed to our Public Service Reform agenda; taking the insights from our delivery and the experience of our service users to drive policy change.
Students from our Links Media College created an anti-vaping campaign in partnership with Newham Council and Change, Grow, Live, which they presented MPs Lyn Brown and Stephen Timms. The key calls from the campaign – including noting the impact on mental health of vaping – were woven into Lyn’s speech as part of the debate on the Tobacco and Vaping Bill in Parliament. Students were also invited to Parliament to see the debate in action.
Breaking down barriers for young men accessing mental health support
The Hive is Catch22’s Camden-based mental health drop-in service, providing a wealth of support for young people in the Borough in a youth hub setting. According to a recent report, latest figures for prevalence of mental health disorders in Camden for 17–19-year-olds was 23% – an estimated 2110 young people.
This month at the Hive we launched the Link Up Project, which aimed to increase the number of young men accessing the service.
The project has achieved remarkable success, contributing to a 320% increase in the number of men accessing The Hive’s services. Over 150 young men aged 16 to 24 have participated in the Link Up project, engaging in 75 group work sessions focused on critical topics such as masculinity, identity, and healthy relationships.
FEBRUARY
Range of support for ex-offenders gains royal seal of approval
Our Patron, Princess Anne, visited Community Links this month, to hear the range of support services for people leaving prison that we deliver from the Hub.
Catch22 delivers Community Rehabilitative Services across London, London, West Mercia, Avon and Somerset, Dorset, Thames Valley, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Devon and Cornwall, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire
HRH spoke to colleagues from our Personal Wellbeing, Finance Benefit and Debt and Dependency and Recovery services about how our interventions are changing lives and heard from service users about the challenges they face.
Care experienced young people drive policy change
Giving young people a voice in shaping policy development was high on the agenda again this month, as our Young People Benchmarking Forum member, Reece, spoke at the All Party Parliamentary Group for care experienced children and young people. Reece brought the views of 56 care experienced young people and really drove the conversation around the need for clarity around where the responsibility for corporate parenting lies and the need for public bodies to be held accountable.
Reece’s contribution was informed by our annual ‘In Their Own Words’, which saw 290 people, including Department for Education officials, hear from our young care experienced members on their key priorities for action.
Catch22 supports care experienced young people across our services, from providing direct support through Lighthouse, our employability programmes CLIC (supported by Barclays) and Career Hive (supported by John Lewis), to supporting Local Authorities through the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum and ensuring our schools, colleges and emotional wellbeing services have dedicated care experience pathways.
MARCH
Partnering for Social Impact
Working with partners is at the heart of our approach to delivering impactful programmes and services. Whether it’s about social impact, social value or philanthropy, we’ve got a strong track record of working with corporate partners to deliver impactful programmes.
This month, we brought together more than 60 guests from business, the third sector and the public sector in an action-packed afternoon at Microsoft’s Regent Street Store, exploring how partnerships can deliver meaningful social change and how that change can be measured effectively.
Guest speakers included Claire Dove CBE, Crown Representative VCSE at the Cabinet Office, Charles Eales from Microsoft UK, Catch22 Chair Terry Duddy and our colleagues from partners Salesforce, Shell UK, Deloitte and National Grid participated in our discussion panels and led workshops. The highlight was a superb panel of our programme participants, who spoke about the positive impact our programmes and services have had on their lives.
Throughout the year, Catch22 colleagues took part in a number of social impact and social value panels and discussions, including the launch of the Institute of Social Value. We’ve been about to share our experience and insight into the link between social business, social impact and social value.
Chief Social Worker praises our ‘inspiring’ children’s home
Isabelle Trowler, the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, visited Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust’s Treehouse children’s home this month.
Speaking to staff and children, she praised the home as ‘inspiring’ – and heard from colleagues about the reforms needed in the children’s social care sector.
We are excited about our future plans with Lighthouse, with home two in development and home three planned to follow, we are broadening our experience and insight, while addressing system-wide issues such as talent attraction and management.
Pioneering Traphouse resource brings County Lines risks to life
Catch22 delivers the National County Lines Support and Rescue Service, supporting hundred of children and young people a year who fall victim to criminal exploitation. Developed by our Greater Manchester County Lines team, in partnership with Programme Challenger and the Greater Manchester Fire brigade, Traphouse is an educational resource to create awareness about exploitation and the dangers of county lines. The team uses a real life street building to recreate a trap house and paint a true picture of county line exploitation.
The team has presented the scenario to over 600 children from local schools and it’s been nominated for ‘Project of the Year’ by the fire brigade.
APRIL
Awards success for Catch22 Employability
Catch22’s employability hub won Partner of the Year and Innovator of the Year (with Salesforce) for our Digital Leap Programme at this year’s Movement to Work awards.
We’re also delighted that our partnership with Salesforce was extended this year. Our new 2 year programme – The Digital Skills Academy- will work predominately with schools and colleges to support young people facing disadvantage and those unable to attend mainstream education, equipping them with digital skills for work.
More than 60,000 people in the UK are currently in AI-related roles, with many more AI focused jobs extending across various other industries. Through the Digital Skills Academy, we’re making sure those at risk of falling behind with AI skills are well equipped for the future job market.
Huge uptake in colleagues choosing flexible working
Employee experience is incredibly important at Catch22, which is why we’re committed to promoting flexible working wherever possible.
We currently have 151 different working patterns across the business, with nearly a third of our workforce choosing to work less than full time.
MAY
Colleague achievements celebrated at #CelebratingourPeople Awards and InspirEd
Our annual InspirEd conference saw more than 500 staff take part in a combination of online and in-person workshops and sessions, sharing learning and collaborating across programmes and services.
- 99% of colleagues enjoyed the event to some extent, with 82% enjoying it “a lot”.
- Colleagues commented on the passion and knowledge of their colleagues, and the way that the events enabled them to connect with each other
The week culminated in our Staff Awards where colleagues across the organisation were recognised for their incredible work positively changing the lives of others.
A huge thank you to our partners Barclays who hosted us in their 30th floor events space in Canary Wharf!
Mayor of Greater Manchester and HRH Princess Anne visit Greater Manchester Victims’ service
We’re growing our portfolio of services to support victims of crime, which includes a service in London for Young Londoners, as well as our Leicestershire and Hertfordshire services.
In Great Manchester, our victims service works closely with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to ensure support is available across a wide range of crime types, and that the most vulnerable victims are identified and receive an enhanced service.
During her visit, HRH The Princess Royal met with stakeholders from GMCA and GMP, including the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. GMCA and GMP shared their expertise, demonstrating the importance of collaboration and a close working partnership in delivering a holistic victim support service that meets the needs of all those across Greater Manchester.
Using the insights from our service delivery, we worked to influence the Victims and Prisoners Bill (not Act), to strengthen its focus on the importance of the voice of victims and their care.
JUNE
New Family friendly policies prove popular
This month, we introduced significant changes to our family arrangements, offering more favourable pay provisions and making the arrangements more extensive and inclusive.
These enhancements were made in direct response to employee feedback, recognising the importance of supporting our people to be present for the key moments that matter in their home lives.
- 10 colleagues have utilised the carers’ leave paid entitlement.
- We’re also starting to see people access the new fertility entitlements, highlighting the importance of this support.
Norfolk student bags prestigious sailing award
A student at our Include Norfolk secondary school won £1000 worth of sailing experiences, after being named his club’s Top Sailer of the month, three months, and six months, all at once! He completed a 7-day voyage with a group of other young people where he went from not knowing anything about boats to receiving his Competent Crew certificate.
For a young person who struggles with self-confidence and anxiety this was an incredible achievement.
Finance Benefit and Debt service shortlisted for sector award
Catch22’s Finance, Benefit and Debt services service was shortlisted for the prestigious Robin Corbett Awards, which celebrate organisations and programmes that support re-integration and rehabilitation for people leaving prison into the community.
Our Finance, Benefit and Debt provides support including:
- budgeting and managing money day-to-day,
- support requesting debt write-off,
- tackling digital poverty,
- gaining ID and birth certificates, and
- opening bank accounts.
JULY
Switching the narrative on online harms
As part of our Public Service Reform agenda, we’re committed to sharing the learnings from our programmes to inform practice and improve outcomes for the people we work with. Our highly successful Social Switch Project, funded by London Violence Reduction Unit, hosted its first Online Harms Forum this month. Featuring a talk by high profile online harms survivor Georgia Harrison, and discussions led by the MET police and The Breck Foundation, the event provide hugely popular.
The Social Switch project has so far:
- Delivered 900 training sessions for practitioners and caregivers
- Supported 350 participants annually through digital bootcamps in coding and marketing
- Launched a new initiative for care-experienced young people seeking NHS careers
GoodTech Ventures unveils promising new talent in latest accelerator cohort
Catch22 has a long history of support start-ups and new ventures who are looking to improve and accelerate more effective public service delivery. A further 10 ventures were selected this month for the second cohort to take part in the GoodTech Ventures Accelerator – an accelerator programme supporting impact-led start-ups. The programme is delivered by Catch22 in partnership with Social Tech Trust and Unity Ventures, with funding and support from Ufi VocTech Trust, Microsoft, and the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The new ventures include:
- Socialheads provides streamlined digital tools that allows social workers to engage with young people in their care.
- Voda is the LGBTQIA+ mental health app dedicated to providing culturally competent, affirming mental health support.
- Autsera builds smart gamified assessment and early interventional apps for neurodivergent children.
With central and local government increasingly looking to emerging technology to broaden their impact and reach in efficient ways, we are proud to be supporting founders and early stage ventures to develop their business and navigate the public service landscape, while also enhancing our own services where aligned.
AUGUST
Young people affected by violence a key priority as Redthread merges into Catch22
This month, Redthread – a charity delivering transformative youth work in hospitals and health settings – merged into Catch22. We’re confident that as a result of this partnership, we can achieve even greater impact for young people. Although we will work together as one organisation, Redthread will maintain its existing brand and identity with which medical professionals, stakeholders and service users have built so much familiarity and trust.
You can read more about Redthread in the ‘Focus on…’ section later in this Review.
Employability programmes achieve Matrix accreditation
This month our Employability Programmes were awarded the matrix Standard accreditation for their information, advice and guidance services. This prestigious accreditation recognises our commitment to providing high-quality support to individuals looking to improve their skills and find employment.
Community Links’ place-based support showcased
The value of place-based support was the topic for discussion when DWP Minister Stephen Timms, newly elected MP for West Ham and Beckton James Asser and GLA member Unmesh Desai, visited Community Links this month. They heard about the range of services delivered out of Community Links, including:
- The County Lines support and rescue team
- Housing, benefit, and debt advice services
- Health advice service
- Cultural programmes
- Links Media College
- Our unique justice pilot in Newham supporting people transitioning from youth to adult services
- Our employability and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) services, including our Refugee Employability Programme
SEPTEMBER
Tackling youth violence takes political centre stage
We took our Manifesto asks to policy makers at this year’s political party conferences – with an emphasis on youth policy and prevention.
As part of the Youth Zone, our roundtable event at the Labour Party Conference focussed on young people affected by violence – where the importance of youth voice and a joined-up approach across government departments was universally agreed. MPs Florence Eshalomi and Olivia Bailey attended, alongside London VRU Director Lib Peck and sector colleagues.
We also held a roundtable at the Conservative conference the following week, bringing together a number of Policy and Crime Commissioners to look at effective local commissioning of public services to tackle youth violence.
Expanding employability support for Care Leavers
It’s well publicised that people with experience of care experience often need a bit of extra support to get their feet on the job ladder. We’re proud to deliver Care Leavers into Careers (CLIC) – our employability programme for care experience young people which became firmly established in the Liverpool City Region, earning a place in the city’s Leaving Care Offer.
Building on the success of our pilot, we’ve secured a further three years of funding from Barclays, enabling expansion across the Northwest and beyond.
Experts by Experience: Justice Podcast
The insights of people with lived experience plays a key part in how we model and deliver our services and programmes.
Series 4 of our Catch22 Minutes podcast launched this month, with a series hearing from people who have been impacted by the Criminal Justice system. Inspiring interviews covered topics such as: Remaining Hopeful, Revolutionising Systems, Giving Back to Young You and Creative Outlets.
OCTOBER
Creative Careers at showcased at TikTok Creative Academy Bristol
This October, in partnership with Access Creative College Bristol, we brought together industry experts, engaging discussions, and hands-on experiences to inspire and equip the next generation of creatives.
Through our TikTok Creative Academy programme, over 1,000 young creatives have joined us across various UK locations, gaining valuable insights, tools, and connections to launch their creative careers.
Government officials visit The Hive
The Hive is Catch22’s free drop-in health and wellbeing service to support young people aged 16-24 who are connected to Camden. Officials from the Home Office, Department for Education and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, visited and spoke to colleagues about the benefits of The Hive’s holistic model and open access approach.
The visit highlighted how The Hive’s work is preventative, aligning with the government’s focus on investing in early intervention hubs through its Young Futures programme.
NOVEMBER
Third sector’s role in justice system spotlighted
We believe the third sector has a vital role to play in shaping the future of the criminal justice system; whether that’s within the custodial setting or within the community.
This year’s Catch22 justice conference brought together a diverse group of professionals to explore the crucial role of the third sector in transforming the Criminal Justice System (CJS). The event included music from InHouse Records UK, high profile keynote speakers and workshops on:
- Delivering social value through third-sector services
- Policy reform and advocacy
- The responsible use of AI in justice services
Building ethical partnerships
Providing holistic interventions for those in need
Include Suffolk School scoops Children and Young People Now Learning Award
Our Alternative Provision Suffolk primary school received the national award for its high quality learning, reflecting the continued success of our school, building on the momentum of our recent ‘Good’ Ofsted rating.
At the same awards, our County Lines Support and Rescue service was a finalist in the Safeguarding Award category, and The Hive in the Partnership Working category.
Our colleagues at Redthread were shortlisted for The Youth Work Award and The Children and Young People’s Charity Award.
DECEMBER
Energy Transition employability programme wins ERSA Skills to Work Award
Our employability programme that supports people facing barriers to work into jobs in the energy transition sector, is now award winning! Funded by Shell UK, and operating in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Norfolk, over the past 12 months, Energise has seen:
- 1,306 people complete the programme
- 379 secure employment with green employers
- 147 earn an accredited energy transition/green qualification
We’re expanding the programme in 2025, to include London and the South East and the East of England.
Strengthening Parent-Pupil relationships
Parent and Child Together (PACT) Christmas Sessions were held in the Wales school this month, allowing parents and children interact through meaningful activities while teachers are able to coach and support parents by modelling and encouraging. The child drives the activities, but the parents learn how to follow their lead and foster learning. The reciprocal learning provides parents and children a chance to become lifelong partners in education.
Focus on….Redthread
In August this year, Redthread merged with Catch22 to become part of our successful Young People, Families and Communities Hub.
Redthread is a multi award-winning charity with over 20 years experience of delivering pioneering youth work in hospitals and other health settings. Redthread currently works across 10 hospitals in London, and Birmingham with 11-25 year olds who are affected by grooming, sexual and criminal exploitation, violence, emotional and physical harm, mental health issues, domestic violence and modern slavery.
Redthread also trains NHS staff so they are able to identify and better support children and young people affected by violence in health settings.
Over the last year, Redthread has continued to raise the profile of its youth violence intervention work through policy and public affairs activity and media engagement. This includes:
- Jess Philips MP visited the Redthread Youth Violence Intervention Programme (YVIP) embedded at the Heartlands Hospital A&E in Birmingham.
- Channel 4 News put the spotlight on Redthread’s groundbreaking Young Women’s Service. Embedded in four London A&Es, it is one of the very few services that provides long-term and tailored support to match the needs of girls and young women affected by violence and exploitation.
- Keith Fraser, Chair of the Youth Justice Board, visited the Redthread service at St George’s Hospital in London.
- The Youth Justice policy team of the Ministry of Justice visited the Redthread service at University Hospital Lewisham in London.
- Having shadowed our embedded Redthread youth work team at St Mary’s Hospital in London, The Observer published an excellent article on the importance of trusted relationships and holistic support to help young victims of violence and exploitation find a positive way forward.
Focus on….GoodTech Ventures
At GoodTech Ventures, we’re helping founders and leaders of early-stage tech-for-good ventures scale-up their impact.
We believe that digital technologies can accelerate the shift towards a stronger society where everyone has a good place to live, a purpose and good people around them.
That’s why we’re building a community of innovators, changemakers, and mission-driven organisations to support impact-led tech ventures. We help ventures design, build, and scale transformative digital solutions that improve public services and create a more inclusive, resilient society.
From employment and training to social care and justice, we work alongside founders to embed tech where it matters most, solving big social challenges and shaping the future of public service delivery.
Highlights
- 3 accelerator programmes launched with 33 Tech-for-good ventures supported
- Community of over 900+ impact focused individuals (500% increase from Jan 2024)
- £83,000.00 in grants awarded to impact founders
- Supported diverse founders on our three cohorts: 63% Women-led ventures, 37% BAME-led ventures, 27% Disabled-led ventures.
- Socialheads to develop first pilot with Catch22’s ‘The Hive’
- aught by Humans collaborating with Catch22 to develop digital skills of the workforce
- Nominated for ‘Best New Community’ in the 2025 CMX Awards.
Catch22 subsidiaries
Jobs 22
In 2022, Catch22 and Australian provider of human services and skills, Angus Knight Group (AKG), created a joint venture called Jobs 22. In July 2021, Jobs 22 was successful in securing one of the major Government Restart contracts, supporting thousands of people into jobs in the post-Covid era.
In 2022 there was a ‘formal Change of Control’, which saw AKG become the primary shareholder of Jobs 22. Building on that, we have formally agreed with AKG that they will buy the remaining shares of Jobs 22 from Catch22. This decision has been taken mutually, linked to the strategic aspirations of both organisations and opportunities AKG sees for Jobs 22.
Whilst this development will mean the end of the formal joint venture, the relationship between AKG and Catch22 remains strong, with a strategic alliance set out in a formal MoU to continue working together.
Capacity
Capacity is a Community Interest Company, delivering public service design and innovation working with clients from across the Liverpool City Region and the North West.
Throughout last year, Capacity ran and completed 55 projects, working alongside 31 brilliant public and third sector clients. We spent thousands of hours supporting our partners to design effective services, listening to real people to inform local decision-making and launching our ventures.
They also invested time in understanding how we can harness our unique position to bring together people and organisations from across the Liverpool City Region and Cheshire to create the conditions for the fundamental changes our public services need.
Of the people partners they’ve worked with:
- 100% said they are able to increase their impact on people’s lives
- 80% said they are able to find space to be proactive
- 100% said they are better equipped to explore disruptive solutions
- 75% said they are better connected
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS
Thank you to all our commissioners, partners and Local Authorities. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to have the impact we do.