After our first public AGM, I want to thank those that joined us on the day for making it such a success. And I want to give a special thank you to long term supporters Arco, for allowing us to use their board room and terrace for the event.
Hosting our AGM in this way was a significant moment for CatZero. Opportunities to bring together such a broad range of stakeholders in one room are rare, and it was a valuable chance to reflect openly on the work we are doing and the impact it is having across the Humber region. The continued support of those in attendance enables us to deliver life-changing programmes to the people and communities who need them most.
We were also pleased to introduce members of our Board, whose strategic guidance and commitment play a crucial role in shaping our direction and strengthening our long-term sustainability.
With transparency at the heart of our values, sharing our progress in this way felt not only right, but essential. I look forward to building on this foundation and sharing our achievements again next July.
A Year in Review
2024 was a year of change and impact for CatZero. I joined the charity midway through the year, with land-based delivery in full flow and the sailing calendar as busy as it has been. Delivering programmes in Hull, Goole and Grimsby, we supported 316 individuals across our employability, full families, veterans and seafood careers programmes.
68% of those on our employability programmes have entered a positive destination after their programme. Of those that have yet to progress, we know that almost all reported increased confidence, improved social connections, improved mental and physical health, so we know they are well equipped with the fundamentals they need to take the opportunities when they come their way.
Our Full Families programme helps families approaching crisis to tackle life’s challenges. In 2024 we helped 38 families across the region to achieve their goals, including increased school attendance and behaviour for children, improved health and wellbeing, financial resilience, improved housing conditions, employment and more. This programme is strengthened by our delivery of the Solihull Approach (supporting mental health and wellbeing in parents and children), providing this vital training to parents right when they need it.
The need is great, with 50% of our beneficiaries living in the top 10% most deprived wards in the country, increasing to 66% when you just look at those on our full families programme. The long-term impact of growing up in poverty is profound, and influences school attendance, attainment, future work opportunities, health, and social mobility.
None of this would be possible without our incredible team and our volunteers, who really live the CatZero values every day. The commitment of our volunteers is truly humbling, with a number of them clocking up over 1000 hours in 2024.
Voices from the Day
We were privileged to be joined at the AGM by two inspiring former participants, Chris and Libby, who generously shared their personal journeys with the audience.
Chris, who completed his programme with CatZero in 2010, spoke powerfully about how the experience helped shape his path. He is now thriving in a successful career with local employer KCOM and continues to be a proud advocate for the positive change CatZero can bring.
Libby, who first joined a programme in 2022, has since gone on to volunteer and has completed a further programme with the Environment Agency. Her story reflects the resilience, growth and community spirit we see every day across our work.
To accompany the event, we were proud to launch our new video, which captures the heart of CatZero’s mission and the journeys of the people we support. You can watch it now on YouTube: Watch the video.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, we remain as ambitious as ever and have plans to deliver more of our employability programmes across the Humber region. With NEET levels increasing nationally, and our model already proven to be successful, we see our employability programme as being a central part of the solution to the NEET challenge. Its unique blend of personal development, activities to improve health and wellbeing, and employability skills, all culminating in an 8 day sailing voyage, challenges participants in ways they haven’t experienced before, while our vastly experienced delivery team provide the support that helps them on their way. If we can establish regular provision on both banks of the Humber, we can ensure young people can access the programme when they need it, and the programme can be responsive to the local employment market, setting our participants up to succeed.
Similarly, our Full Families programmes, currently funded by the National Lottery, are facing contract-end in 2026. In order to continue to deliver results for families-in-need across the region, these programmes will require support from partners, including Local Authorities.
In order to fund this work, we have redefined our partnerships structure to enable more organisations to support us at a level they can. Corporate partners can now support our work via one of three tiers: they can join the all-new Spinnaker Club, a new scheme for purpose-driven organisations that wish to support beneficiaries within the Humber region, or via our well-established but newly named partnership levels, by becoming Mainsail Partners or Helm Partner.
The CatZero yacht remains central to our delivery and is a vital learning environment for our programme participants. It is more than just a vessel, it is a space where individuals build confidence, develop teamwork and resilience, and experience real personal growth. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of safety and operational excellence, ensuring the yacht continues to provide the best possible environment for all who step on board. Regular maintenance, rigorous safety checks, and investment in equipment mean we offer not only a unique experience, but also one that is professional, secure and truly transformational.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone that continues to support the work we do, be that funders and partners, staff and volunteers. As we heard from Chris and Libby at the AGM, it has such a profound on lives and is a catalyst for change.
To continue to have the impact we have had, we need to grow our partner base. For more information on how you can support our work, please get in touch with myself Adrian Tallon, CEO – [email protected] or Pete Tighe, Partnerships and Development Manager – [email protected].