So imagine my delight when these same officers, workers and young people showed equal enthusiasm for taking part in the Government's new Youth Challenge Competition (YCC). And this at a time when pressure is already building to spend the year-one YOF allocation by the end of March. In local authorities from Gloucestershire to Gateshead, people are working round the clock for the YCC to showcase the ideas, plans and work of young people involved as decision-makers and project leaders in the YOF and YCF. Every day more authorities sign up to take part.
We, who are promoting the scheme, are doing our best to support you with resources as well as funding. Support materials, including a competition pack and a communications toolkit, are available for download on the web site www.direct.gov.uk/actionsspeaklouder. We've rebranded the competition as "Actions speak louder ...", drawing inspiration from the young people who've turned their ideas into reality.
Think back to the Transforming Youth Work Management Training Programme of 2001-02. A demand for a national campaign for youth work, as has happened for teachers, was a recurring theme. Young People Now itself has championed a campaign to promote positive images of young people. "Actions speak louder ..." provides the best opportunity in recent years to combine these two themes.
We really have something to shout about, so let's make the most of the national stage that the "Actions speak louder ..." competition gives us.
We want more young people to hear about the funds and decide to get involved in 2007-08. And we want more adults in local communities to recognise just how fantastic their young people can be. By working together, we can make that difference.
- Sarah Hargreaves, project team leader at The National Youth Agency, is the project manager for the "Actions speak louder ..." competition. She can be contacted at sarah.hargreaves@nya.org.uk.
