SHINE 50, SHINE ON!

SHINE Children and Youth Services
2 days ago
5 min read

A Note from Our Executive Director

This year, SHINE turns 50 — a milestone that invites both celebration and reflection. We have meaningful moments and exciting events ahead, and we look forward to sharing more as plans take shape.

But before we move forward, we also want to pause and reflect. In this newsletter, we look back on key highlights and impact from 2025 — made possible by the dedication of our staff, partners, donors and communities.

Together, these moments continue to shape the path ahead and strengthen our belief in the potential of every child and young person.

Thank you for being part of the journey. SHINE 50, SHINE ON!

2025 Highlights

Empowering Students Through School Partnerships

Strong school partnerships remain at the heart of SHINE’s work with young people.

SHINE’s School Social Work team continues to deliver impactful programmes across 15 secondary and 4 primary schools through The Scaffold Programme, After School Engagement, and our Attached Youth Worker model. Using a whole-school systemic and community-school approach, we partner closely with schools to support students’ social, emotional, and educational outcomes, helping them find meaning and positive experiences in their school journey.

At the end of 2025, we celebrated these milestones at the annual Polaris School Social Work Award. Sixty students who demonstrated remarkable progress were recognized via a bursary award, alongside our valued school partners for their strong collaboration in uplifting children and youth. The event brought together more than 200 attendees in a meaningful celebration of growth and partnership.

Closing Literacy Gaps: The Reading Odyssey (RO) Impact

Building strong foundations in literacy is key to unlocking a child’s confidence and potential.

The RO programme continues to bridge literacy gaps by equipping children with strategies to read for meaning, knowledge, and understanding. In 2025, the initiative reached 279 children, at 21 sites, including new communities in Brickland, powered by the dedication of partners and over 200 community volunteers.

88% of assessed children showed improvement in word reading or comprehension, and demonstrated increased reading confidence.

Stories of transformation of children who start with greater odds have been inspiring to volunteers and staff: Mani (P3) overcame communication barriers through structured support, and cognitive games, jumping four levels in word recognition (P1 to P5). Similarly, through Guided Reading, Mandy (P2) advanced from a pre-nursery to K2-level passages, transforming frustration to sense of achievement.

If you know of groups who may benefit, please contact our Educational Psychology Group at 8855 3570. We look forward to extending this support to more communities in need.

BRYEA – Expanding Youth’ Choices For Mental Health Support

Building Resilience through Youth-friendly, Evidence-informed Approaches (BRYEA) is a new 3-year youth mental health project funded by CapitaLand Hope Foundation. It houses 2 programs: “Just Fur Fun”, an Animal-Assisted Service with cats and ⁠“Walk With Me”, a journey-based peer support service for youths to befriend trained peer supporters, who are youth volunteers faced with similar challenges but had since overcome them. SHINE believes in youths having a choice to help-seeking with professionally facilitated sessions with cats and supervised peer supporting, when they may not be ready for other forms of mental health service.

For more information, visit the SHINE website or email us at wwm@shine.org.sg and/or jff@shine.org.sg.

Research

In 2025, SHINE strengthened its research and practice excellence through active participation in local and international platforms.

Elizabeth Chia presented at the Singapore Children's Society EvalFest and the Singapore Association of Social Workers Practice Research Seminar, sharing insights on fostering a culture of learning and findings from The Scaffold Project. She also contributed to panel discussions on sustaining impact beyond practice research. These platforms deepen our sector partnerships and sharpen evidence-informed approaches to better support children and youth.

Beyond Singapore, SHINE’s work was featured at the 1st Youth Mental Health Summit and at the CAMH Gold Coast Conference, where a presentation and poster highlighted our approaches to youth mental health practice and research integration. Our team also presented at the SSR Touch Conference for Walk With Me, further expanding regional engagement and knowledge exchange.

Youth Care Local Network

Collaboration remains essential in navigating complex youth and child protection journeys.

Youth Care Local Network (YCLN) sessions in the Northeast and West brought partners together to navigate complex youth and child protection journeys, insights from pre-delinquency to rehabilitation, as well as strategies in managing behavioural challenges in ADHD and autism. Our inaugural YCLN NE Appointment & Awards Ceremony, graced by Mr Goh Pei Ming, appointed 48 members and recognized a total of 31 stakeholders, organisations and youth award recipients. These milestones strengthened collaboration and collective commitment to supporting youths-at-risk.

Youth COP Social Impact Guarantee (SIG) Launch

SHINE marked a significant milestone with the launch of the Social Impact Guarantee (SIG) for Youth COP, which is the second SIG in Singapore and globally. Graced by SPS Eric Chua, the initiative was made possible through partnerships with Do Good International Foundation (Outcomes Funder), Changi Foundation (Guarantor) and Tri-Sector Associates (Technical Advisor), with ecosystem support from raiSE Singapore, National Council of Social Service and Community Foundation of Singapore. The SIG strengthens sustainable, outcomes-based support for youths, reinforcing cross-sector commitment to long-term impact.

Parenting Learning Circle – Quarterly Learning Group

Back in December, a team of us gathered for reflective conversations on how our own family rules shape our practice, and explored Internalized Other Interviewing to deepen understanding of clients’ relational patterns.

We also launched our new Parenting Resource Curation Platform — a carefully curated collection of tools and session guides to better support parents in our work. More on this in the near future!

SHINE Charity Golf 2025: Driving Hope Together

SHINE Charity Golf 2025 brought together 144 golfers for a meaningful day on the greens in support of children and youth. The event rallied long-time supporters alongside new partners, strengthening relationships across SHINE’s corporate community. Through generous sponsorships, flights, and donations, the fundraiser raised over $300,000, directly supporting SHINE’s programmes and services. Beyond fundraising, the event also created valuable touchpoints for partners to deepen their commitment to sustained, long-term impact for children and families.

Partner with SHINE to create lasting impact. For queries: partnership@shine.org.sg

MUS.ZA Charity Fundraiser: Sparkling for Youth

In 2025, MUS.ZA founder Ms Esther Ho and her community rallied behind SHINE’s ResiL!ence youth mental health services through a series of creative fundraisers, including jewellery adoptions, photoshoots and flower workshops. Their collective efforts culminated in a Charity Gala Dinner at Raffles Hotel, where supporters gathered to celebrate the community’s generosity and commitment to youth mental well-being. The campaign raised an inspiring $370,000, strengthening SHINE’s ability to provide counselling-informed support to youths navigating emotional and mental health challenges. The partnership reflects the power of purpose-driven giving and collective action.

Partner with SHINE to support youth mental wellness. For queries: partnership@shine.org.sg

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exciting events and activities as we celebrate SHINE 50

and continue to support our children and youth.

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