For many, it provides a valuable opportunity to develop interests, learnskills, face new challenges and meet people they wouldn't normally comeinto contact with. Volunteering has also been shown to reduceanti-social behaviour as it can offer an opportunity to empathise withothers and experience what it feels like to make a difference.
Recent years have seen many initiatives aim at opening up prospects forvolunteering opportunities: the Youth Matters green paper; the RussellCommission's (now known as "v") recommendations; and the Every ChildMatters agenda. The Government is investing more than 150m todevelop a framework for youth action and engagement to increase youthvolunteering and civic service.
At a time of increased concern about young people's behaviour andresponsibility, there are excellent examples of how involving youngpeople in their school community can help. The Mentoring and BefriendingFoundation is developing a peer-to-peer mentoring scheme, providingadvice to participating schools.
Register Now to Continue Reading
Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's Included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Email newsletter providing advice and guidance across the sector
Already have an account? Sign in here
