About Us
Safe New Futures helps people facing mental health barriers to rebuild confidence, overcome setbacks, and return to education, training or work.
We are a transformative charity that has been serving the community for over 20 years. Originating as Southampton Action for Employment, our mission has always been to address poverty and unemployment in the most deprived areas of Southampton. Our primary focus is on young people and the long-term unemployed in Hampshire, Surrey and the Isle of Wight.
Our unique programmes combine group cognitive behavioural therapy (GCBT) with vocational training and pre-employment support. This holistic approach helps individuals struggling with mental health issues to improve their confidence, reduce depression/anxiety, and transition into education, employment, or training opportunities.
Our commitment to the community is evident in our collaborations with local statutory and voluntary providers, including the DWP and Seetec Pluss. We also pride ourselves on our youth programmes, which have seen a 50% success rate in transitioning NEET participants into employment post-course.
Our programmes have helped thousands of people take control of their lives and many have since moved into education, training or work.
Our Values
The values of Safe New Futures lead us to see every person as a valuable human being with incredible worth and an ability to contribute to the community in which they live. Therefore, we are very much a people organisation. We exist entirely for the benefit of our candidates and as such we have qualities, characteristics, and shared values which we expect to see in our staff and volunteers when interacting with our candidates. These values are set out below.
Authentic: Openness, integrity, and honesty are embedded into all we do. Our work is evidence-based, responsive to need and adaptive to change. We listen and seek to understand and serve accordingly.
Believe in people: Respect for everyone we work with, developing true partnerships with beneficiaries, referral organisations, funders, and the wider community, celebrating everyone’s value and worth.
Committed to excellence: We are committed to quality, striving to be the best we can and give the best to the people we work with, serving above and beyond expectations.
- Genuinely care about people, their life issues and future.
- Be open and real with people; being able to share personal and relevant examples from your own life.
- Handle health, behavioural and emotional needs appropriately and with acceptance and care. (either individually or with a group).
- Facilitate changed thinking and beliefs leading to transformed lives.
- Effectively listen with no agenda to understand people’s issues.
“SNF is an effective and trustworthy organisation which has provided employment support services to the hardest-to-reach communities for years. Their approach in the New Futures programme has been academically and externally validated and they have run the service for Southampton and other local areas. I would strongly support this charity with its motivational and CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-based) approach. SNF’s New Futures programmes give something different and provide immense support to people furthest from the labour market.“
Kathryn Rankin, Commisioner and City Deal Programme Manager with Southampton City Council
See how our programme has encouraged positive change in a previous graduate: