The year to 31 March 2006 has been one of continuing development for Kingston Friends Mediation (KFM) and one in which accommodation, funding and organisational issues have been prominent.
In May 2005 agreement was reached with the Samaritans to move the KFM offices onto the top floor of their building at 12 St. Andrews Road, Surbiton. The office was re-decorated in June and with some new office equipment purchased with the support of a Bridge House Trust grant, we moved in during early July.
The Homelessness Mediation Pilot Project with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK) continued to be the main focus of work during the year, and with a careful approach to case management and an agreed reduction in our Co-ordinator’s hours on this project, it continued through until December 2005 by which time the funding had been fully utilised. Initially set to conclude around July 2004 it is a credit to all concerned that the project ran for the benefit of homeless teenagers for another seventeen months at no extra cost by which time some 121 referrals had been received and 88 cases successfully completed.
The success of the original project was undoubtedly a factor in RBK agreeing to fund a case by case mediation service to cover the final quarter of 2005/06 whilst at the same time discussions continued around a one year funding proposal for 2006/07. I am delighted to report that an agreement was reached in May 2006 which effectively extends the original mediation pilot to cover another 55 mediation referrals for the year to 31 March 2007.
During the year two additional major bids for funding were developed and submitted. In September a two year Homelessness Innovation Bid was submitted to what was then the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now known as Department for Communities and Local Government). Over 340 bids were received from across the country with 20 times the available funding of £2m being sought. Although not successful the high quality of our bid was acknowledged. We put in a bid for Strategic funding to RBK, which was not successful but success was achieved though in an application to RBK for general support funding of some £2,500.
It was another year of wide-ranging delivery of the various training courses we offer with mediation awareness training, peer mediation training and BPP Law School student training extending across several agencies and authorities in London and peer mediation in schools developing not just in Guildford but out to Weybridge as well. The mediation awareness week held in November also saw KFM actively promoting the benefits of mediation to courts across Central London, Clerkenwell and Kingston.
With the uncertainty over long term funding and following financial advice, we took action to reduce our financial commitments and hence the employment contract for the Co-ordinator role was ended in February 2006. Notwithstanding this our Co-ordinator has, from April 2006, been able to offer us her services on a consultancy basis. We are extremely grateful to her for her support through a difficult time and her enthusiasm and energy is invaluable to KFM.
Much has been done this year and thanks go to all the volunteers, mediators, friends, staff and committee members who have put in their time and effort to ensure that KFM continues to play an active role in seeking to reduce and manage conflict by means of family, peer, neighbour or workplace mediation. Thank you to everyone.
We note that this year, 2006, is 25 years on from the original launch of Kingston Friends Workshop Group, KFWG. KFWG became Kingston Friends Mediation. Many of the ideas about preventing and responding to bullying that were developed and promoted by KFWG have become widely accepted in schools, and the mediation models of KFWG are still in use. We recognise with thanks the initiative of the founders.
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