rugby portobello

History

In July 2009 P3 and The Rugby Portobello Trust (RPT) merged.P3 (People, Potential, Possibilities), has projects in the Midlands and West and East London. It offers supported housing, mental health services, link worker schemes, outreach, alternative education for young people and a large range of youth focused services. It has established for more than 25 years. www.p3charity.com

This merger has already brought some exciting changes to RPT, but P3 is clear that RPT is a local charity for local people supported by the local community. All the funds raised by RPT support projects in North Kensington and an early benefit of the merger is that costs have been cut significantly and the service has already improved with P3 now providing a much greater level of back office support. This includes administration, payroll, accounts and staff training, refurbishment and maintenance of the hostels. The youth service has been expanded, now running six days per week and the newly refurbished Rugby House is already offering accommodation for more young people.

RPT’s Elizabeth Brooks and Amanda Cairns have been appointed trustees of P3 and sit on the board of the expanded organisation.For press release enquiries please contact Luka Miklavc on 01895 462026, Out of hours – 07984 147511, email – This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Rugby Portobello Trust (RPT) was formed in 2003, when three organisations serving the young people of North Kensington – one of the most deprived areas in the UK – merged together to provide more effective “joined up” support to their young clients at a critical time in their lives.

The Rugby Clubs is the oldest of these three partners, founded in 1884 by an Old Rugbeian, Arthur Walrond, to benefit the poor living in Notting Dale. It received the full support of Rugby School in 1889, when the Headmaster, Dr Percival, decided that the school should undertake some social work in a major city.

The Clubs' main premises have been in W11 at Walmer Road for most of the intervening time. Although The Rugby Clubs were initially for boys only, a girls' club was started in 1907. Subsequently, services were introduced for adult ex-members in recognition of their need.

The Portobello Trust was formed in 1986 as an affiliate of The Portobello Project: an important information and advice service for young people, supported by The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

This Trust was set up as a charity and undertook important new initiatives for young people, such as: training courses for employment and self-employment; drugs education in local schools; teenage pregnancy advice; and the development of a new approach to assisting young people who have been excluded from school.

The third partner was Portobello Houseshare, a development initiated by The Portobello Project and The Portobello Trust in response to the chronic shortage of affordable accommodation for homeless young people, and for young people coming out of care in the Borough. Offering a mixture of housing management, care and support, Houseshare started in 1992 with one house near Ladbroke Grove, providing bed spaces for 10 young people. Today, this has grown to 37 bed spaces in five houses. Houseshare also provides a “floating support service” to about 20 young people in Notting Hill Housing properties. Currently, Houseshare supports more than 60 young people.