Features

Recognising the NYA at 60

3 mins read Youth Work
Leigh Middleton, chief executive of the National Youth Agency, reflects on the youth organisation’s achievements since being founded in 1964 and the role it can play in shaping the future of youth work.
The creation of the Youth Service Information Centre (YSIC) in 1964 was the foundation for what would become known as the NYA. Picture: NYA archive
The creation of the Youth Service Information Centre (YSIC) in 1964 was the foundation for what would become known as the NYA. Picture: NYA archive

Only by learning about our past can we truly understand who we are, the struggles of our forebears and perhaps too, the DNA which characterises our own passion and purpose.

As we move closer to a new era for youth work, it seems fitting to reflect upon the history of youth work and the various incarnations of the National Youth Agency (NYA) itself, the roots of which go back some 60 years.

It wasn’t until 1921 that local authorities in England and Wales were given powers to establish “Juvenile Organising Committees” and not until 1939 that the Youth Service was first developed.

Since then, youth work has fallen in and out of favour with policymakers, while those leading the charge for youth work have grappled with providing a clear definition of this noble profession and evidencing where it makes a tangible difference.

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