For Youth's Sake

These are challenging times for young people and those who work with them. Almost one million young people are not in employment, education or training and the continuing economic crisis is placing strain on all aspects of family life.

But just as demand for support for young people grows, some of the services set up to help them are  coming under threat.

Cuts in public spending are forcing local authorities and charities to make tough decisions about the support they provide to young  people. And, sadly, as services for young people are afforded little protection under existing law, vital  initiatives from youth counselling  to youth clubs to detached youth projects find themselves at the front of the line for cuts.

That’s why CYP Now is launching the For Youth’s Sake campaign. The campaign aims to highlight the invaluable role young people’s services play in communities and raise awareness of how such services cannot be lost without consequence. It will show how services such as youth clubs are not places where young people just go to hang out, but are a vital point of entry for a range of support from sexual health to careers advice. They are the ultimate prevention and early intervention services that help to turn around young lives and save taxpayers money.

The campaign has three initial priorities.

The first calls on the government to set out its vision for young people, as we know little about how it intends to help young people achieve their full potential.

The second priority asks for young people to have a genuine say on a local and national level in shaping the services that affect them and calls for them to be given powers to decide where money is spent in their communities.

Third, we’re calling on employers to invest in the youth workforce to ensure young people are provided with the best possible support from properly trained staff and volunteers. We also want those who work with young people to feel valued for the vital role they play in their communities.

Get involved

CYP Now cannot do this alone. That’s why we are asking young people, parents, children’s and youth organisations and practitioners to sign our online pledge. We also want to hear your stories about how young people’s services are making a difference in your communities and how spending cuts are affecting youth organisations’ ability to provide support to children and young people.