Opinion: A fond goodbye to the Wales Youth Agency

It was during International Youth Year 20 years ago that Wales sought its own voice for youth work and, to that end, the Wales Youth Work Partnership was established. And when the Ministerial Conferences on the Youth Service were set in motion in 1989, there were calls for even greater consolidation of that independence. As a result, the partnership, which consisted of representatives of the voluntary and statutory youth services, full-time youth workers and others, merged with the Council of Wales Voluntary Youth Services and the Wales Youth Forum into what in 1992 became the Wales Youth Agency.

The agency went through a number of distinct phases. At its start, it was not particularly well received, especially as it was a quango and had to spend the first couple of years getting its own organisational house in order. It came of age, however, during a very bleak period for the youth service in Wales, and led a campaign to defend youth work and the service under the banner of "Building the Future". After the Labour Party returned to government in 1997, even greater faith was placed in youth work in Wales and the role of the agency in supporting it. Significant additional resources were provided for initiatives such as the youth work and schools partnership programme. Even during the early days of the National Assembly for Wales, the agency still held a strong position. Indeed, at the launch of Extending Entitlement, further substantial resources were announced, for the development of youth information services, supporting the voluntary sector and training youth workers.