Outside the Box Hard copies have been distributed Material can be downloaded for free from www.wearev.com
Outside the Box is a toolkit aimed at workers to help them run sessions with young people. The hope is that it will generate ideas that volunteering charity v's new youth-facing funding stream, vcashpoint, might fund.
About 1,000 copies have already been distributed to a range of organisations in advance of the funding round going live.
There are posters, mind-map wallcharts, giant Post-it notes, positive and negative image flash cards, ink blot cards, a colour cube to use as a dice, a "flingit", plus suggestions for how facilitators can use these devices to generate lateral thinking and help young people develop their ideas.
So will it work? Well, it's probably good to be told how to get the best out of a flip chart mind-map, that it's important to keep the energy levels up and be reminded to use a variety of techniques to generate fresh thinking. But none of these techniques will be new to most workers.
Having all the kit in one box could be helpful, but there is a danger that some will follow too slavishly and stifle the very creativity v is hoping to generate. It is hard to see groups of young people using these materials on their own.
And it is yet to be seen how different the vcashpoint scheme will be compared with The Prince's Trust "Big Boost", local YouthBanks and the Youth Opportunity Fund - money available in every local authority area.
Importantly, though, there are big bucks to be had here, so we'll all be doing young people a huge disservice if applications aren't energetically encouraged - especially from groups that are too often disenfranchised.
You've got to be quick though - the closing date for the first round is 24 April. The actual application forms are available from 26 March.
Reviewed by Dave Phillips, senior development officer - youth action, The National Youth Agency.
