Centre for Youth Impact to take on 'national leadership' role

Youth minister Rob Wilson said the role is part of plans for the "next phase" of the Centre for Youth Impact, which will see it become a central point of information and a forum for discussing impact measurement of practice in the youth sector.

It will also offer an online source of impact measurement resources for youth sector organisations, and provide an insight into how young people can play an active role in measuring the impact of the services that they take part in.

The announcement of future plans for the Centre for Youth Impact comes two months after Wilson said government is committed to supporting the centre, which was launched in September 2014, following its pilot phase.

“The centre is becoming the leading voice for the importance of evidence and impact in work with young people – this is strengthened by it being sector-led and valued by the sector,” Wilson said.

Bethia McNeil, director of the Centre for Youth Impact, said: “We’re very pleased that the Centre for Youth Impact can build on the pilot phase and progress our collective understanding of evidence and impact in youth work and services for young people.

“In the pilot phase, early adopters and their networks took ownership of the space that the centre created for conversation and collaboration – we want to continue this,” she said.

“Alongside, we will test out new thinking and practice in how we understand the difference we make as a sector, and learn from it.”

Speaking in August, Wilson said future funding for the centre will be confirmed in the autumn Spending Review. But he said he hoped it could support itself in coming years.

“I’m keen to ensure there’s a long-term future for it, but also that it becomes self-sustaining over a period,” he told CYP Now.

“If it is valuable to the sector – and I think it will be extremely valuable over time – then it’s importantly that the sector helps to fund it."