by [email protected] | Jul 9, 2026 | Events, Intergenerational, Slough, Social Action, Volunteering, Youth Activities, Youth Work
We’re delighted to announce the return of our Afternoon Tea for the Slough 50+ Forum, lovingly prepared and hosted by our amazing young volunteers.
📅 Date: Wednesday 19th August 2026
🕜 Time: 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
📍 Location: 29 Church Street, Slough, SL1 1PL
After a hugely successful event last year, we’re thrilled to bring this special intergenerational gathering back for a third year. The event is all about connection, community, and conversation, bringing together older residents of Slough with the next generation of young people.
Our young volunteers will once again be at the heart of the day, planning the menu, preparing homemade treats, serving tea, and chatting with guests. It’s a chance for us to build a stronger sense of belonging across ages and backgrounds.
This event is part of our ongoing commitment to intergenerational solidarity and creating meaningful opportunities for young people to give back, lead with empathy, and gain new skills.
50+ Forum members are welcome to bring a guest.
Booking
There are three ways to book:
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Call: 01753 574 780
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Email: [email protected]
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Online Form: Click here to book
Booking is essential to help us prepare a warm and welcoming experience for everyone.
by [email protected] | Jul 9, 2026 | Football, Slough, Slough community
We are thrilled to announce that Slough Town Football Club has chosen Together As One as their official Charity Partner for the 2026/27 season!
At Together As One, bringing people together is everything we are about. We know that football has an unrivalled potential to break down barriers, unite diverse communities, and foster a shared sense of belonging. The incredible unifying power of the beautiful game aligns perfectly with our mission as a youth-led charity, connecting young people of all faiths and backgrounds through training, youth work, and creative projects.
Partnering with a major community pillar like Slough Town FC gives us a fantastic platform to amplify this work: empowering young people to drive positive social change and helping to build a stronger, safer, and more connected Slough.
Throughout the season, we will be working closely with the Rebels to create new opportunities for our young people and raise awareness of our community initiatives. This exciting collaboration will culminate in a dedicated Charity Matchday in the spring! To mark the occasion, the club will even be releasing a bespoke retro shirt with more details to be revealed in the New Year.
Our Chief Executive Officer, Rob Deeks, shared his excitement about the collaboration:
“Everyone at Together As One is delighted that Slough Town FC has chosen us as their Charity of the Season. While we have partnered with the Rebels in various ways in the past, this feels like a particularly exciting and dynamic chapter in the club’s history, and we are proud to be associated with it.
“We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone at the club for their incredible support. We look forward to working together in the coming months and introducing a new generation of supporters to the Rebels.”
Slough Town FC deeply shares our passion for inclusion and community cohesion. Slough Town Commercial Director, Steve Doyle, added:
“We are delighted to welcome Together As One as Slough Town Football Club’s official Charity Partner. As a community club, we recognise the important role we play both on and off the pitch, and partnering with an organisation that shares our values of inclusion, support and making a positive difference is something we’re incredibly proud of.
“This partnership is about much more than fundraising. It’s about working together to create opportunities, raise awareness and make a genuine impact within our local community. We’re excited to support the fantastic work Together As One does and look forward to releasing a new retro home shirt for our Charity Matchday.”
We are so grateful to everyone at Slough Town FC for their generosity and shared vision. We can’t wait to bring our young leaders, volunteers, and the wider community together at Arbour Park to celebrate the unifying power of football and cheer on the Rebels this season.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Charity Matchday and the retro shirt release in the New Year. Up the Rebels!
To find out more about Slough Town FC, view their fixtures, or grab tickets to an upcoming match, visit sloughtownfc.com.
by [email protected] | Jun 30, 2026 | Creativity, Heritage, Slough
In March, representatives from across Slough, including politics, business, sport, education and the creative sector, came together to submit the town’s application to become the UK’s first Town of Culture, a new national competition organised by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
On Thursday 2 July, the DCMS will be showcasing the bids from towns across the country by sharing a series of specially designed postcards on Instagram, Facebook and X. Each postcard has been created by one of the competing towns, including Slough.
We would love your support in helping to raise the profile of Slough’s bid. If you would like to help, please share the social media assets below, tag @DCMS on X and @DCMSGovUK on Instagram, and use the hashtag #UKTownofCulture.
Every share, like and comment helps to spread the word and demonstrate the enthusiasm and pride that exists across our community.
If you are interested in seeing who else has entered the competition, the DCMS will also launch an interactive map of the UK on the day, highlighting all of the participating towns. Please check back here on Thursday for the link.
In the meantime, thank you for supporting Slough’s bid. With your help, we can take another step towards becoming the UK’s first Town of Culture.
A postcard from Slough – side one
A postcard from Slough – side two
by [email protected] | Jun 14, 2026 | Policy, Research, Strategy, young people support, Youth Activities, Youth Work
At Together As One (TAO), we strive to ensure our daily work on the ground is deeply informed by best practices and evolving research in youth support. We are very pleased to share a newly published academic paper co-authored by our own Romaan Khalil, alongside Dr. Sarah Bekaert from Oxford Brookes University.
This research offers a vital look at the youth “ecosystem” across the Thames Valley area, specifically within regions served by Hospital Navigators projects.
Making the Prevention Landscape Visible
Typically, youth services and provisions are evaluated on a narrow, case-by-case basis. What makes this paper so novel is its wide-lens approach. As the authors note:
“By rendering the prevention landscape legible, the study identifies where provision clusters, where it thins out, and which intervention models function as the core “spine” of community support available to receive step-down referrals.”
Through our first-hand involvement in contextual safeguarding and the Slough Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) meetings, we frequently witness a critical lack of specialist, targeted provisions. This paper directly addresses that gap, calling for a more robust “spine” of varied interventions to support vulnerable young people facing complex risks.
The Reality at Wexham Park Hospital
This academic finding mirrors exactly what our team experiences while supporting young people at Wexham Park Hospital.
The footprint of Wexham Park is vast, stretching across multiple local authorities and distinct neighborhoods. Because the hospital draws from such a wide catchment area, our Hospital Navigators see massive disparities in the level of community support available to a young person once they leave the hospital. In some areas, support services cluster beautifully; in others, the landscape completely thins out. This postcode lottery can make finding a safe, local space for a young person incredibly challenging.
The Power of “Onward Linkage”
A key focus of the research is how mentoring must adapt to these landscape challenges to ensure long-term success. The paper highlights Clutterbuck’s developmental mentoring model (2014), which explicitly positions “planned withdrawal” and “onward linkage” as critical phases of effective mentoring.
The goal of a great mentoring relationship isn’t to create dependency. Instead, these phases are designed to:
- Consolidate the progress a young person has made.
- Reduce dependency on a single mentor or project.
- Embed young people within sustainable, long-term networks of both universal and specialist provision.
How TAO Puts Theory into Practice
What we value most about this research is how it reflects the strengths of our own model at Together As One.
At TAO, we strive to ensure that the transition from crisis intervention to long-term community belonging is completely seamless. We work hard to be that reliable, diverse “spine” for young people in our area.
When young people are referred to us – whether through the Hospital Navigators project at Wexham Park or our Boost programme, with CAMHS – their journey doesn’t end when the crisis passes or formal mentoring stops. Instead, we provide an immediate, trusted pathway into our wider community provisions, such as Volunteer Night, Langley Youth Cafe and Girls Group.
We are grateful to Romaan and Dr. Bekaert for their dedication to this piece of work, which provides our sector with invaluable data to advocate for smarter, more connected, and more equitable youth services.
You can read the full paper and explore the findings here: Read the Paper on ScienceDirect
by [email protected] | Jun 10, 2026 | Health, Participation, Social Action, Young people's voices, youth empowerment, Youth Voice
Are you aged 16–20 and ready to make Slough a better, healthier place for young people? Slough Borough Council and Together As One are looking for local Youth Peer Researchers to lead real community research and directly shape local decision-making. No prior experience or qualifications are needed – this is a fully supported, paid, and flexible role designed to fit entirely around your studies, work, or family life. Apply by Monday 15th June 2026 to gain incredible skills, build your CV, and make sure young voices in Slough are truly heard!
Job Description: Youth Peer Researcher
- Job Title: Youth Peer Researcher
- Hourly Rate: £10.85 per hour (plus statutory holiday pay)
- Hours: 60 hours total, delivered flexibly over a 12-month contract
- Contract Duration: 12 months (Fixed-Term, starting June 2026)
- Locations: Slough Borough Council Offices and Together As One (Aik Saath) Office
- Application Deadline: Monday 15th June 2026
Job Purpose
Are you passionate about making Slough a better, healthier place for young people? Slough Borough Council and Together As One are looking for local young people (aged 16–20) to become Youth Peer Researchers.
In this role, you won’t just be asked for your opinion – you will be trained to lead the research itself. You will work as part of a team to explore the real barriers and opportunities young people face when trying to stay active in Slough. Your findings will directly shape a new framework to help the council listen to and value young voices in future local decision-making.
Key Responsibilities and Duties
Your work will move through four main stages over the 12-month project:
1. Training & Skill Development (Months 1–4)
- Attend a co-designed training needs assessment to map out your skills and what support you need.
- Actively participate in workshops covering “what research is”, research ethics, safeguarding, interviewing techniques, and creative project methods.
2. Hands-on Research Pilot (Months 5–9)
- Work with the project team to design research questions and youth-friendly project materials.
- Lead and facilitate comfortable, safe peer conversations and interviews with other young people in Slough about physical activity.
- Attend monthly mentoring sessions with project leads to share updates and stay supported.
3. Evaluation & Reflection (Months 9–11)
- Take part in reflective group sessions to review what worked well and what challenges you faced during the research.
- Help identify the key systems, payment setups, and safeguarding structures the council needs to put in place to work well with young people in the future.
4. Sharing the Learning (Month 12)
- Help co-create a practical Youth Involvement Framework and Toolkit.
- Present your insights, findings, and experiences at a final learning and celebration event for council leaders, community partners, and national funders.
Person Specification
We are looking for young people from under-represented communities in Slough (including young carers, those living in deprived areas, young people not in education/employment/training, or those with special educational needs).
You do not need any prior qualifications or research experience to apply. We will provide all the training and support you need.
Criteria Breakdown
| Criteria |
Essential (Must Have) |
Desirable (Great to Have) |
| Age & Location |
* Aged between 16 and 20 years old.
* Lives, studies, or holds strong roots in the borough of Slough. |
|
| Experience & Background |
* Identifies with or belongs to a community that is often under-represented or left out of local decision-making. |
* Personal experience or understanding of the challenges young people face staying active or healthy in Slough. |
| Skills & Attributes |
* Good communication skills (e.g., being a good listener, enjoying chatting with peers).
* Ability to work open-mindedly as part of a small team of 8 researchers.
* Reliable and committed to attending planned sessions. |
* Creative ideas on how to make activities fun, welcoming, and accessible for other young people. |
| Values & Motivations |
* A passion for social justice, community equity, and improving the local area for youth.
* Curiosity to learn new skills and try out public health research tools. |
* An interest in exploring future project placements or career pathways within community work or local government. |
Support and Safeguarding
- Mentorship: You will receive regular mentoring and side-by-side support from the council’s Research Practitioner and youth workers at Together As One.
- Flexibility: There are some key training dates but other hours can be scheduled around your school, college, work, or care responsibilities.
- Safe Spaces: Sessions will take place in accessible, trusted, and fully safeguarded community and council spaces.
How to Apply
To apply for this role, please submit the following two items:
- A copy of your CV
(Don’t worry if you don’t have much formal work experience yet! We want to see whatever you’ve been up to – whether that is school, volunteering, clubs, hobbies, or looking after family).
- A short cover letter
(This should explain why you would like this role, why you are interested in public health or community research, and what makes you excited about joining this project).
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 5pm, Monday 15th June 2026
