We caught up with Sophie Burton, a RISE graduate intern enjoying her free trial of JCI Sheffield, to get her feedback on our "Audience with SAFE@LAST" event...

Since joining JCI this year as part of the RISE Internship scheme, I've heard SAFE@LAST mentioned alongside the 2014 challenge to raise £1,007 and volunteer 1,007 hours for the charity. This JCI event was an opportunity to learn more about the charity and how to get involved with promoting their work through volunteering.

We kicked off this session by going around the group and each saying something that we knew about SAFE@LAST, I remembered that the charity worked with children that were at risk of running away, but I didn't really know much more than this!

Katie from SAFE@LAST was presenting An Audience with SAFE@LAST, she's part of the education and prevention team. She goes into schools to tell young people about the dangers of running away, and where they can turn if they need help. Year 6 students visit a purpose built centre ‘Crucial Crew' to run through real life safety scenarios. At secondary school, Year 7 students get assemblies from SAFE@LAST. Katie has received positive feedback about these assemblies from young people; SAFE@LAST "tell it like it is". Years 7, 8 and 9 students also get workshops, which are really interactive. We got to try one of the interactive quizzes about SAFE@LAST (a Qwizdom quiz), where you buzz in your answers on a handset - this game-show-style is really popular in schools (as well as at JCI!)

What left the biggest impression on me was how many ways SAFE@LAST can support young people at risk of running away. They provide a helpline (0800 335 SAFE) that young people can call at any time on any day of the year, a MisPer scheme (Missing Young People's service) where young people are assigned project workers in Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. Katie told us that 95% of young people referred to SAFE@LAST through this project engage, as SAFE@LAST is not associated with South Yorkshire Police or Social Services.

SAFE@LAST also run a Detached Street Work Project and more recently, the charity has developed a support service for families with young people at risk of running away and SAFE@LAST also have the only refuge in the whole of the UK for young people (16 and under). They provide a preventative education programme to most of the schools in South Yorkshire, delivered by Katie. SAFE@LAST will also offer support after 16 years old too, and keep in touch with the young people they have worked with - some of whom come back to volunteer to support the charity like SAFE@LAST supported them. That's not all, SAFE@LAST also run a boutique in Rotherham - Charity Chicks - and are moving on to create a Young Persons Trustee Board, made up of some ex-runaways.

It was such an interesting evening, I learned so much about SAFE@LAST! If you want to hear how SAFE@LAST has changed some young people's lives, check out their video, telling young peoples' stories. Get involved with the JCI 2014 challenge and volunteer at a stall in the summer, promoting SAFE@LAST to Sheffield.

For more details on getting involved with SAFE@LAST or any of JCI Sheffield's community projects please contact our Deputy President, Mark Smith.