Uniformed youth work received an unexpected and significant boost this month when Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced £10m in funding to help attract and train 2,700 new volunteers to provide an additional 400 youth groups.
The money will be targeted at 11 deprived areas, where it is intended to have the biggest impact – including four London boroughs, Birmingham and Manchester.
Although the surprise announcement has been welcomed, it comes against a background of widespread cuts to non-uniformed youth work, and questions are already being asked about whether sufficient volunteers can be recruited in the earmarked areas.
The Scout Association alone has a waiting list of 30,000 young people, but has struggled in recent years to attract volunteers to deal with demand, so a recruitment drive must be on the cards.
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