Building Futures:Safer, Smarter Families

The environment

Yes — although the project was not an environmental project, it did help the environment in small but meaningful ways by encouraging safer, healthier and more balanced use of digital technology. Our project helped the environment by encouraging young people and families to think more intentionally about their use of digital devices, screen time and online habits. While Building Futures: Safer, Smarter Families was primarily focused on digital safety, wellbeing and relationships, it also opened up wider conversations about balance, responsibility and the impact of constant digital use. Through the student sessions, family learning events and practical resources, we encouraged young people and trusted adults to reflect on when technology is helpful, when it becomes overwhelming, and how families can create healthier routines around devices. This included conversations around screen time, phone settings, downtime, digital boundaries and making space for offline connection, rest, learning and family time. By helping families use devices more consciously, the project indirectly supported more sustainable habits. Encouraging young people to take breaks from screens, reduce unnecessary scrolling, switch off at healthier times and use digital tools with purpose can all contribute to lower energy use and a more mindful approach to technology. The project also reduced the need for repeated printed materials by creating digital resources that families, staff and trusted adults can continue to use beyond the project. These included a digital family toolkit, app walkthroughs, screen time and privacy support documents, staff guidance, conversation starters, a home digital agreement and a positive online toolkit. These resources can be shared again without needing to continually reprint new materials. The project also promoted local delivery, taking place within a local Enfield school and delivered by local community partners. This helped reduce unnecessary travel and kept the learning rooted in the community. Overall, while the environment was not the main focus of the project, Building Futures: Safer, Smarter Families helped promote more mindful technology use, encouraged healthier screen habits, used digital resources for lasting impact, and supported local delivery in a way that reduced waste and strengthened community-based learning. The impact report confirms the project included screen time and privacy support, a digital family toolkit, staff guidance, app walkthroughs, conversation starters, a home digital agreement and other resources designed for ongoing use.

The local economy

Yes — the project helped the local economy mainly through local partnership working, skills development, employability, school engagement and strengthening families so young people are better supported to learn, thrive and progress. Our project helped the local economy by investing in young people, families, trusted adults and local community organisations. Building Futures: Safer, Smarter Families was delivered locally at St Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls by Curate Your Genius Academy and Exodus Youth Worx UK, keeping funding, delivery and impact rooted in the Enfield community. The project supported the local economy by helping young people build the knowledge, confidence and decision-making skills they need for education, future employment and adult life. Through assemblies, six interactive classroom sessions and reflection activities, students explored real-life issues such as online pressure, group chats, privacy, consent, boundaries, communication, emotional wellbeing and help-seeking. These are important life and employability skills, as young people need confidence, resilience, digital awareness and safe online behaviour to succeed in school, training, work and future opportunities. The project also created paid delivery opportunities for local organisations and practitioners, while involving youth facilitators who gained valuable experience in communication, mentoring, leadership and group work. This helped develop local talent and created pathways into volunteering, youth work, education, community leadership and future employment. By supporting parents, carers, teachers and trusted adults, the project also helped strengthen the wider community around young people. When families feel more confident managing digital safety, screen time, online risks and communication, this can reduce conflict, improve wellbeing and help young people stay more focused and engaged in education. Better supported young people are more likely to attend school, participate positively, build aspirations and contribute to their local community. We also produced resources that can continue to be used beyond the project, including 300 printed student workbooks, a family toolkit, staff guidance, app walkthroughs, screen time and privacy support, conversation starters, a home digital agreement and a positive online toolkit. These resources extend the value of the funding and mean the learning can continue without needing to start again from scratch. Overall, the project helped the local economy by strengthening local organisations, supporting education, developing young people’s transferable skills, increasing family confidence and helping create safer, more informed young people who are better equipped for future learning, employment and community life. The impact report confirms the project was delivered locally at St Anne’s by Curate Your Genius Academy and Exodus Youth Worx UK, reaching over 170 young people directly, over 570 through wider learning opportunities, and producing workbooks, toolkits and guidance for ongoing use.

Volunteering, jobs & education

Yes — the project increased education directly, and also created volunteering/skills-development opportunities through youth facilitation and trusted adult engagement. Our project increased education by giving young people, families, staff and trusted adults practical learning around digital safety, wellbeing, relationships and decision-making. Building Futures: Safer, Smarter Families was delivered within St Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls and reached over 170 young people directly through assemblies and classroom sessions, with wider learning opportunities reaching more than 570 young people. The project supported education by delivering a whole-cohort introductory assembly, six three-hour classroom sessions, a youth focus group, a wrap-up assembly, family learning sessions, staff guidance and a range of learning resources. Students explored real-life digital scenarios around group chats, online pressure, privacy, consent, boundaries, emotional wellbeing, help-seeking and positive online behaviour. This helped pupils develop knowledge and transferable life skills that support their learning, safety and confidence both inside and outside school. We also created resources that will continue to support education beyond the funded delivery period. These included 300 printed student workbooks, a digital family toolkit, a staff/teacher/mentor quick guide, app walkthroughs, screen time and privacy support documents, conversation starters, a home digital agreement and a positive online toolkit for families. These resources mean that teachers, mentors, parents and carers can continue reinforcing the learning after the project has ended. The project also supported volunteering and skills development by involving two youth facilitators in delivery. This gave young people the opportunity to take on a leadership role, support group discussions, contribute to delivery and develop confidence, communication, facilitation and mentoring skills. These are valuable transferable skills that can support future volunteering, employment, youth work, education and community leadership pathways. For parents, carers and trusted adults, the project increased confidence and knowledge through in-person and online learning sessions. These sessions helped adults better understand young people’s digital lives and gave them practical tools to support safer online behaviour at home and in school. In this way, the project strengthened education across the whole community — not just for students, but for families, staff and trusted adults too. Overall, the project increased education by creating meaningful learning opportunities, developing practical resources, supporting young people’s confidence and decision-making, and giving youth facilitators the chance to build skills that could support future volunteering, jobs and leadership opportunities. The impact report records the main delivery and resource outputs: six classroom sessions with 170 students, two trusted adult sessions, 300 printed workbooks, family and staff toolkits, app/privacy guidance, youth facilitators and the final impact report.

Arts, culture & heritage

Yes, it did — not in a traditional arts/performance way, but through creative learning, youth voice, identity, storytelling and culturally responsive family engagement. Our project supported arts, culture and heritage by using creativity, youth voice and lived experience to explore digital life in a way that felt relevant to young people and families from diverse backgrounds. Although Building Futures: Safer, Smarter Families was mainly a digital safety and wellbeing project, creativity was central to how it was delivered. Young people used workbooks, scenario cards, reflection tools, discussion activities and creative prompts to explore their online experiences, values, identity, friendships, pressure and decision-making. This helped them express thoughts and feelings that may not always come out through formal teaching or traditional safeguarding conversations. The project also gave young people space to share their own stories and perspectives. Their voices shaped the learning, with students reflecting on digital friendships, family expectations, online pressure, trust, sadness, belonging and how they want adults to understand them. In this way, the project captured part of young people’s current culture: the reality that online spaces are now woven into friendship, communication, humour, identity and emotional life. The programme also supported cultural understanding between generations. Many parents and trusted adults did not grow up with the same digital pressures as young people today, so the project helped bridge that gap. It encouraged families to talk about values, boundaries, trust and safety in a way that respected both young people’s experiences and parents’ concerns. As Exodus Youth Worx UK and Curate Your Genius Academy work with diverse communities, the project also recognised that family conversations, trust, technology use, privacy and communication can be shaped by culture, upbringing and lived experience. By creating safe spaces for young people, parents, carers and trusted adults to learn together, the project helped strengthen understanding across generations and communities. So while the project was not specifically an arts or heritage project, it did contribute to arts, culture and heritage through creative expression, storytelling, youth voice, family learning and intergenerational understanding. It helped young people explore who they are, how they connect, and how their digital lives form part of the culture they are growing up in today. The impact report shows that creative tools such as workbooks, conversation starters, home digital agreements, positive online toolkits and reflection resources were developed and used throughout the programme.

Activity, health and leisure

Our project promoted health, wellbeing and positive leisure by recognising that young people’s digital lives are now deeply connected to their emotional, social and mental health. Building Futures: Safer, Smarter Families created safe, supportive spaces where students could step away from simply “being online” and reflect on how digital friendships, group chats, social media, pressure, sleep, comparison, online conflict and constant availability can affect their wellbeing. Through assemblies, six interactive classroom sessions, creative workbook activities, discussion-based scenarios and reflection tools, young people were encouraged to think about healthier digital habits, boundaries, confidence, consent, help-seeking and positive decision-making. The sessions gave students time to pause, talk, listen, create and reflect, helping them understand that online safety is not just about avoiding danger, but about protecting their peace, relationships, self-worth and mental wellbeing. The project also supported families to create healthier home routines around technology. Our parent and trusted adult sessions included practical conversations about screen time, privacy settings, phone use, communication, trust and how to reduce conflict at home. We shared tools such as conversation starters, a home digital agreement, app walkthroughs and a positive online toolkit so families could continue these discussions beyond the project. Although the project was focused on digital safety, it strongly promoted health and leisure by helping young people and families explore balance: when being online is positive, creative and connecting, and when it becomes overwhelming, pressurised or unhealthy. It encouraged young people to make space for rest, real-life relationships, family connection, creativity, learning and safe leisure offline as well as online. The impact report shows that the programme reached over 170 young people directly, engaged parents, carers and trusted adults, and produced practical resources to help families become safer, stronger and more informed.