The answer came in the form of Poole's local award for young people.
What makes local awards different from national accreditation schemes such as Youth Achievement Awards is that there isn't always a fixed time commitment or set of objectives that young people need to fulfil. Local awards are made on the strength of the youth worker's assessment of the young person's achievements. They are pitched at entry level and are the first steps towards more formal schemes.
Good practice
While carrying out research on local awards for the South West Regional Youth Work Unit, all the award schemes I looked at produce guidelines with criteria and case studies, to help youth workers assess whether someone is suitable for an award. In Somerset, youth workers are asked to discuss the nomination with a colleague and consider whether others would see it as a major achievement; Somerset and Poole have also offered training to youth workers.
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