TRACKS Sheffield mid-year impact report 2026: S5 Expansion, Strategic Partnerships, and Fundraising Performance
- TRACKS Sheffield
- Jul 2
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 8
The first half of 2026 has been one of the busiest periods in TRACKS Sheffield's history. We have grown our team, taken our work into a new part of the city, secured new funding partnerships, and reached more young people than ever before. This report sets out what we have done, what we have raised, and where we are heading.
TL;DR: TRACKS Sheffield has grown its team, launched a new satellite session in S5, and formalised a partnership with Save the Children UK in the first half of 2026. Fundraising across Big Give, Zeffy, and private donations totalled over £19,700, supported by three new grant funders. Digital reach expanded significantly, with a 100,000-view Instagram reel and targeted website SEO improvements supporting donation conversion.
Growing Our Team
Last month, Teah Lewis formally took on the Operations Manager role at TRACKS Sheffield. Teah brings over five years of experience in the charity sector, including work with music organisations, independent events production, and programmes supporting young people back into education and employment. Her appointment directly addresses the administrative load that has grown alongside our expanding music school sessions and dual-curriculum academic delivery. We now have the capacity to manage the volume of alternative provision referrals coming into South Yorkshire without operational bottlenecks.
S5 Satellite Session
We have launched a new music session and event series in the S5 postcode. This extends our reach to young people in an area with limited access to music participation and cultural activity. Demand for specialist intervention across Sheffield continues to rise, driven by increased exclusion referrals and a growing number of young people outside formal education. Expansion into S5 is our direct response to that pressure.
Save the Children Partnership
TRACKS Sheffield has formalised a partnership with Save the Children UK. This aligns our alternative provision delivery model with national child welfare standards and strengthens our position with referring schools, local authorities, and funders.
Fundraising and Financial Performance
Mid-year fundraising ran across multiple channels:
Big Give: £7,500 in matched funding, covering educational resources, studio equipment, and student provisions.
Zeffy: £2,245 raised through direct public and corporate donations via our Zeffy fundraising page.
Private donations: An additional £10,000 secured in private contributions.
Grant funding: We have secured support from This Is Us, North East Local Area Committee, and Youth Grants. These awards are funding our S5 work, expanding capacity, and reinstating TRACKS Tuesday Youth Club.
Live Events
We performed and presented at Sheffield Music Trail, Migration Matters, and Higher Field Festival this year, reaching new audiences and creating performance opportunities for our young people.
Social Media Reach
Our social channels saw consistent growth across the first half of the year, including 100,000 views and 54,000 new accounts reached with a single reel on TRACKS Instagram, directly supporting traffic into our donation pages and raising awareness of the S5 launch.
Follow TRACKS Sheffield on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to help us reach more young people across Sheffield.
Website and SEO
We worked with Maciek Klimowicz of A Wine Line, a Sheffield-based specialist in search engine optimisation (SEO), to improve the performance of our website. The work included a technical audit, fixes to how our pages appear in search results, and a redesigned donations landing page, making it easier for visitors to find us and support our efforts.
We are grateful to everyone who has donated, referred students, attended events, or shared our work this year. If you want to support what we do next, you can donate directly through our Zeffy page or get in touch to find out about partnership and referral routes.
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