The challenges for young people, particularly those at risk of exclusion, have never been greater and across the country cuts in public expenditure have disproportionately impacted on young people’s services when, ironically, this is when they are needed most.
Like most in our sector, 2011 was a year of change and challenge, but for us in the NYA in the second part of the year, it was also a period of consolidation and now growth.
Reflecting on why we are in this position, we have concluded that it was the introduction of our new business model in 2009 and our early, but very painful, decision to make significant reductions in staffing and costs that have helped us. It also means we can now really focus on promoting the value of youth workers rather than worrying about our own survival.
Looking back at our achievements, I am particularly proud of our LGA Routes to Success programme. It has put us right at the heart of the change agenda in local government, with a real opportunity to work directly with councils to ensure quality youth work is, wherever possible, at the core of the transformations local politicians are seeking.
Our work with O2 and Barclays, also described in more detail on these pages, have shown how, by working closely with the corporate sector, we can really add value to innovative youth programmes and we intend to expand this area next year.
Securing an NCS pilot through our O2 relationship was a real bonus and our chance to embed the youth work approach and indeed youth work students into the programme. It is also providing our local delivery partners with much needed additional income and profile.
And now we are working internationally with Eurodesk and Youth in Action at the centre of a strategy to take parts of our offer globally.
I must mention our work with Catalyst, which among many things is providing a mechanism to bring NYA and NCVYS closer together. This can only be a good thing for the sector as the divide between statutory and voluntary service delivery becomes narrower. I also have great hopes that our joint activity around workforce, along with our own exploration of the Institute for Youth Work and ongoing Education and Training Standards function, will secure youth workers and youth work skills development within a complex and changing world.
NYA is gearing up to be a new force, building on the legacy we have, but also bringing new ideas and thinking to policy and practice. We know now more than ever that young people need youth workers – we need to persuade others this is the case.
Through this Special Focus feature, we wanted to share key achievements of 2011 and aspirations for the coming year from a selection of major programmes of work we are delivering. For further details on our full range of work, visit www.nya.org.uk.
More councils to receive support in 2012
The National Youth Agency as part of its Routes to Success programme of work with the Local Government Association is planning to continue providing local authorities with help and support in 2012.
During 2011, the NYA worked with 25 local authorities, supporting them in reconfiguring their services for young people. On average, each council received an average of eight days free consultancy, funded by the Local Government Association.
The National Youth Agency aims to work with a further 50 local authorities during 2012, subject to budgetary agreement with the Local Government Association, to help them to identify their key issues and areas for improvement as they adapt their services.
Susan Quinn, National Youth Agency national programme manager for the Routes to Success programme, said: "Participating authorities have been assigned a highly experienced NYA associate to work with them on a broad range of themes, from reconfiguring services, workforce, quality and value for money.
"These are challenging times for youth services and the National Youth Agency and Local Government Association are committed to ensuring the best outcomes for young people through working with local authorities to ensure appropriate and quality youth provision."
In addition to providing tailored support, the National Youth Agency has also been piloting a peer-to-peer quality assurance framework with four local authorities, which aims to reflect the complexities of the emerging structures and changing landscape within youth service provision.
By the end of March, the NYA is hoping to have fully developed, piloted and evaluated the framework, processes and support materials before rolling it out nationally.
For further details on the Routes to Success programme, visit: www.nya.org.uk/routes-to-success.
Think Big has big plans for 2012
Young people around the UK have been embracing O2’s Think Big programme, with almost 1,500 projects approved in 2011 – each receiving £300 and support to develop a project to benefit their local community.
A further 57 individuals and groups of young people were provided with £2,500 to bring their Think Bigger projects to fruition.
To make this happen, the National Youth Agency worked with 63 youth partners and co-ordinated in excess of 1,200 O2 volunteers to ensure more young people had the opportunity to engage with the programme and were supported to make their projects a reality.
Amanda Fearn, National Youth Agency national programme manager for Think Big, comments: "These numbers are impressive and everyone is pleased with the level of participation and engagement, but Think Big is not about the statistics. We have had some fantastic success stories emerge this year, four of which were made into short films that have run in cinemas nationally to highlight young people’s valuable work within communities, to help dispel negative myths around young people and promote the opportunity of Think Big to other young people.
"This year the programme aims to support a further 1,000 Think Big and 100 Think Bigger projects to ensure that young people have the best experience possible through the programme and do something great in their community that will increase their skills and confidence to support them into positive futures."
For further information on Think Big, visit: www.o2thinkbig.co.uk.
National roll out for innovative Barclays peer education project
More than 2,000 young people are to be trained as Barclays Money Skills "champions" in 2012, as the innovative peer education project is rolled out across the country.
Barclays Money Skills "champions" has been designed to build the financial knowledge and capability of up to 5,000 young people and equip them with the skills to share this information with their peer group.
A successful pilot for the project ran during autumn 2011 that directly involved eight youth organisations and 160 young people. These first "champions" are now sharing their knowledge and skills with their peer group to improve financial skills and confidence among young people in their local area.
To deliver the three-year project, Barclays is working with the National Youth Agency and a consortium of five leading youth and information charities – Citizens Advice, Rathbone UK, UK Youth, Youth Net and Youth Access.
Simon Hargrave, National Youth Agency national programme manager for the Barclays Money Skills "champions" project, says: "The pilot was a real success and we are delighted with the feedback we have received from our newly trained ‘champions’ and peer education support workers, who we have been equipping to work with young people in their youth organisation to become ‘champions’.
"2012 is set to be an exciting year for the project as we start to see the impact our first ‘champions’ have on the young people they train and as we up-skill even more young people to become financially confident peer educators."
The National Youth Agency and its consortium partners are seeking local schemes to get involved with the project. To find out more, visit www.barclaysmoneyskills.com or email simonh@nya.org.uk.
Application support a hit for Youth in Action
More than 1,000 young people and youth organisations engaged with the National Youth Agency to gain support and advice with Youth in Action applications in 2011, resulting in a 15 per cent increase in successful projects approved.
The NYA will be running a number of events and providing email and telephone support to anyone applying to run a Youth in Action project in 2012.
The deadlines for applications are 1 February, 1 May and 1 October 2012, and the European Union is keen to receive applications for projects that are focused on sport, youth unemployment, poverty and marginalisation or global environment, or initiatives that encourage and develop creativity and
entrepreneurship in young people.
For further information on Youth in Action, visit www.britishcouncil.org/youthinaction.
National Youth Agency to provide NCS opportunities in Kent and Warrington
Young people in Kent and Warrington will have the opportunity to engage with National Citizen Service (NCS) in 2012 through the National Youth Agency, in partnership with O2 Think Big and two local delivery partners.
NYA has partnered with Connexions Kent and Medway and Warrington’s Participation Through Sport to provide a total of 800 16-year-olds with places on the second NCS pilot scheme.
NCS aims to promote a more cohesive, responsible and engaged society by bringing young people from different backgrounds together to make a difference in their communities. It is a voluntary programme for 16-year-olds that focuses on their personal and social development, which includes challenging activities, from away-from-home residential experiences to a self-designed social action project.
Young people engaging with the six week programme through the NYA and their partner organisations will be delivering social action projects in their areas to benefit their local communities, supported by O2’s Think Big programme.
For more information on NCS, visit www.directgov.uk/nationalcitizenservice and for further details on O2's Think Big, visit www.o2thinkbig.co.uk.
