It's hard to believe, but in 2007, Llamau will be celebrating its 21st birthday year. Throughout that time, Llamau has strived for improvement and this constant internal challenge produces results for our young people and women that Llamau's staff should be extremely proud of.

We were thrilled this year to see Llamau nationally recognised, by being named winner of the Children & Youth category of the national Charity Awards 2006. The Charity Awards recognise and celebrate excellence in the leadership and management of charities, highlighting good practice across the sector, drawing attention to the talent and expertise in the voluntary sector across the UK. The awards are decided by a panel of highly respected judges with a wealth of experience in charities and management, who look for examples of excellence which will inspire others and from which other organisations can learn. This year we were also awarded the Shelter Cymru Val Feld Women & Homelessness award, recognising our work with homeless women across South Wales. We were delighted to receive these accolades to our work, and whilst no one in Llamau works to get praised, it does mean the brilliant work and the dedication of staff gets recognised.

No organisation can achieve success without working productively and extremely closely with our partner agencies. Llamau is totally committed to partnership working. In this year's review I am going to let some of the feedback from our stakeholders speak for itself.

 

The five most repeated words to descrive Llamau were INNOVATIVE, PRO-ACTIVE, COMMITTED, PROFESSIONAL, and PERSON CENTRED.

 

Llamau's dedication and commitment to the young people and women we work with has meant that a staggering 90% of our service users achieved positive outcomes this year, an improvement of 15% over the last three years. 64% of service users with an offending background managed to reduce or cease their offending behaviour as a direct result of support received from Llamau. 48% of service users who highlighted alcohol as a support need reduced or abstained from alcohol use as a direct result of the support they received from Llamau. 38% of service users who highlighted drug use as a support need reduced or abstained from drug use as a direct result of Llamau's support. 74% of service users with varying degrees of mental health issues are now more able to manage their mental health as a direct result of support received from Llamau, and 79% of service users with a degree of learning difficulties or disablities were able to access local support agencies as a direct result of the support they received from Llamau.

Across Llamau, an average of 93% of service users said they now felt more confident about themselves, thanks to the support from Llamau. And what fantastic things have been achieved by our service users this year. In addition to the positive progress they are all making with support from Llamau, 2 of our young people were awarded NIACE Adult Learner awards, and one was named the Young Adult Learner Partnership UK Learner of the Year. Well done to you all, for your own personal achievements this year.

 

No annual review would be complete without heartfelt thanks to our staff. A more dedicated, hardworking and fantastic team could not be found. It is this that keeps the Llamau culture and ethos alive. A culture which puts our service users first, people who face the most difficult issues and circumstances imaginable but whose inner strength and ability shine through with the right support, empowerment and encouragement. My thanks also go to Llamau's Chair, Tamsin Stirling, and the entire board. Their support and involvement really makes a difference, the time, experience and support they give is unpaid and all too often unsung.

 

Thank you all.

Frances Beecher

Chief Executive