Training boost for voluntary sector youth workers

Funded by the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC), it will be run by the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) and forms part of the Young People's Workforce Reform Programme.

The programme will start in May and aims to provide a consistent level of skills for paid and voluntary staff across the sector.

NCVYS chief executive Susanne Rauprich said the scale of the programme means it will "be able to reach valuable members of the workforce who have had no access to training".

There will be 25,000 training places available across five different courses, focusing on learning and development, safeguarding, health and safety, promoting access to information, and equality and diversity.

The training will be run by third sector providers who will be paid £100 per learner. Up to 360 people will also be trained to run the courses to ensure the programme can continue beyond 2011.

NCVYS had originally proposed a voluntary accreditation scheme, which would reward youth workers with a qualification if they undertook training.

But under the CWDC programme, the training will only provide youth workers with credits that go towards Level 2 and 3 qualifications.

Doug Nicholls, national officer for community, youth workers and the not-for-profit sector at Unite, said any investment in developing the third sector should be praised. But he warned: "Don't expect to get bums on seats unless there is some reward for part-time workers and recognition of the value of this training in the current Joint Negotiating Committee system."