18 Years Strengthening Our Community: Electric Storm Youth’s Local Impact

Laying the Foundations For the Future – Who We Are and Why We Matter

For 18 years, Electric Storm Youth (ESY) has been an unwavering fixture in the lives of young people across Lancing, Sompting and Adur. Our charitable purpose is vital, to support, inspire and equip young people aged 10–18 to thrive emotionally and socially. The core of our mission is to promote the wellbeing, development, and life opportunities of young people. We achieve this by offering safe spaces, trusted relationships and positive activities that build confidence, resilience and a deep sense of belonging. Our work is rooted in the recognition that modern adolescence can be challenging. We provide a consistent, welcoming presence for young people facing disadvantage, isolation or personal obstacles. This includes those with poor mental health, high anxiety and caring responsibilities for family members. Our ultimate aim is to reduce social exclusion and ensure every young person feels seen and valued.

A Year of Growth and Strategic Trajectory The past year has been one of significant achievement and growth for ESY, cementing our trajectory as a leading youth support provider in our local area. A key development has been the appointment of our new CEO. This leadership change signals an important phase for the charity, focused on building community partnerships and positioning ESY to deliver commissioned services. We are actively working to embed our successful programme models into wider local authority and school networks, ensuring support reaches young people who need it most. We shape our youth work to be responsive to emerging needs. This is driven by the voices of the young people themselves through our Youth Forum, ensuring our services remain relevant and impactful. Digital Compass is a new programme designed with young people to build a healthier relationship with social media and digital life. We see how online pressure, the growing reach of AI and constant scrolling affects confidence and wellbeing and this programme provides tools and space to build confidence and control.

The Range of Support We Offer ESY’s approach is holistic, achieved through a mix of community youth work, school partnerships, multi-agency and targeted support programmes.

● Specialist Mental Health Support: We offer confidential one-to-one counselling and wellbeing sessions, addressing issues like anxiety, stress and low self-esteem. This intervention is crucial for emotional stability.

● Young Carers Programme: This valued service provides confidential and dedicated support for young people who shoulder huge responsibilities at home. These sessions focus on confidence-building and give them time away from their caring duties.

● Open-Access Youth Sessions: Our after-school sessions provide safe, informal environments where young people can socialise, access resources and establish trusted relationships with our youth team.

● Mobile Street Outreach: Our team is visible in the community using our mobile provision van and bikes. This detached work provides a necessary, non-judgemental contact point.

● School Holiday Programme: We organise accessible trips and activities that offer new experiences increasing physical activity, creating social interaction and reducing isolation during long breaks.

● The ESY Charity Shop: Our retail space provides sustainable pre-loved goods and acts as a community hub. Crucially, the income directly funds our essential youth work.

Impact and Transformation – Voices from our Community

The true measure of ESY’s success lies in the transformation we see every day. Our work is guided by our motto: Supporting young people now, laying foundations for the future.

We know our consistent presence makes a difference,

Our parents say: “My daughter loves coming to the Electric Art sessions. Thank you and the team so much for what you are offering to our local children. It makes a difference!”

“We are very proud of her, also everything that she is doing with you guys is really helping with her confidence so thank you so much for that!”

Our young people say: “I love the different groups of people I get to connect with. I love that I have a different group of people to hang out with. We talk about different stuff and everyone is so friendly.”

“I wouldn’t have got through school without ESY”

Looking Ahead As we move forward, our commitment remains absolute, empowering young people to make positive choices, discover their potential and feel seen and valued. Local organisations can support our work in lots of genuinely useful ways. That might be through staff volunteering or sharing specialist skills. Some organisations choose to work with us more closely, collaborating on specific initiatives or naming us as their Charity of the Year. What matters most is that these partnerships create shared value: they strengthen our community while giving employees a meaningful way to get involved in something bigger than their day-to-day. After 18 years, Electric Storm Youth remains the reliable lifeline young people need.