NYA Update: Youth in Action

In 2011 the National Youth Agency (NYA) was contracted by the British Council to promote and support applications to the Youth in Action programme in England over a two-year period.

Youth in Action is the programme the European Union has set up for young people to inspire a sense of active European citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young Europeans, and to involve them in shaping the union’s future.

The programme was established in 2007 and will run until 2013. It provides young people aged between 13 and 30 with a variety of opportunities for non-formal and informal learning with a European or international dimension. Opportunities range from youth exchanges to supporting young people with running their own projects and volunteering overseas. All opportunities can be found on the British Council website.Youth in Action also provides funding to those working within the youth sector to develop skills, share and learn from other countries’ approaches and establish contacts to enhance their work.

During 2011, the NYA provided telephone support and ran a series of information events to promote the programme and improve the quality of applications. It also partnered with youth information charity YouthNet to profile the experiences of young people through blogs, articles and social media.

There was a five per cent increase in the number of applications received by British Council in 2011 and more than 300 successful projects were awarded funding – a significant increase since 2010.

This year the NYA will be continuing its partnership with YouthNet to profile the experiences of Youth in Action participants. The NYA will also be running a series of national events to promote the programme and provide application guidance.

This special focus feature details some of the changes that have been made to the programme to make it even easier to apply in 2012. It also introduces some of the participants whose involvement in Youth in Action has changed their lives for the better.

For further information on Youth in Action visit www.nya.org.uk/youth-in-action and www.britishcouncil.org/youthinaction

Youth in Action application made easy for 2012

The European Commission has simplified the process for applying for Youth in Action funding by reducing the number of application deadlines and introducing a new online application form.

This year the number of application deadlines has reduced from five to three:

• 1 February – for projects starting between 1 May and 31 October 2012
• 1 May – for projects starting between 1 August and 31 January 2013
• 1 October – for projects starting between 1 January and 30 June 2013

A new electronic application process has also been introduced, which is now compulsory for all applications, (except for EVS [Action 2] which remains a paper application process), and must be submitted in addition to the signed, hard-copy application forms by the deadline.

The European Commission’s annual priorities for Youth in Action in 2012 are:

• Tackle youth unemployment
• Address poverty and marginalisation
• Stimulate creativity and entrepreneurship
• Promote healthy lifestyles, social inclusion and active participation in society through sport
• Raise awareness of and mobilisation for global environmental challenges and climate change

The British Council will also award extra points to project applications that focus on:

• Entrepreneurship
• Sport
• Youth unemployment

For further details on how to apply, visit www.nya.org.uk/youth-in-action or www.britishcouncil.org/youthinaction.

NYA launches events to support applications

The National Youth Agency will be hosting a number of information and support events in 2012 to introduce new applicants to Youth in Action and provide help with the application process.
Current dates for the free events are:

• 28 March: Manchester
• 15th August: Peterborough

For further details or to book your free place, visit www.nya.org.uk/events.

Lots can be gained from doing a Youth in Action project and we are working with YouthNet to showcase the impact the programme has had on young people’s lives. Nic Scott presents just a selection of the great stories coming forward…

I became a dance teacher against the odds

Pheleba Johnson, 21: My whole life was about dance. I trained as a dance teacher and then began to train other teachers. This inspired me to get involved in other projects, and through various agencies I’d go to schools to teach dance workshops.

But this is where I sometimes hit a stumbling block. I received a caution when I was 16 for swearing at a policeman, which shows up on my CRB check. One primary school wouldn’t accept me – they wouldn’t even let me though the door. Others would make me stand in reception while they ran the necessary checks – this really crushed my confidence.

But dance is my life. So I came up with Positive Steps, a community project that not only teaches young people to dance, but also teaches life skills such as teamwork, communication, leadership, and creative skills. I had big plans for the project and needed extra cash, so applied for Youth in Action funding.

To apply for the Youth Initiative strand of Youth in Action you need a coach – someone who can show you how to fill in the forms. I approached a youth worker, Chris Rumble, who works at Ivolo.

Positive Steps started out as a talent show, but with the extra Youth in Action funding it became a much bigger project that reached many more young people. With the extra money I was able to bring on board music producer Shaun, who taught a group of lads about music and production.

Meanwhile, I took on everything else: teaching dance, working out the budget and co-ordinating the project. Chris was always there to support, but I was fully in control. We started the classes from May, with the final show in September. We managed to sell out the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham.

I enjoyed the organisation side of things, and this made me rethink my career options. I realised I had potential to go into events management, which is something I would never have considered before. I’ve applied for an internship at an event management company in Birmingham, which could change everything.

I’ll always be grateful to Youth in Action for helping me. It’s not only boosted the confidence I lost, but opened up a new career path.

As for Positive Steps, we’ve had an amazing response since that show. My classes have doubled in size, and other young people wanting to get involved have approached Shaun. So we’re now working towards another show at the end of February.

www.thesite.org/community/reallife/truestories/youthinactiondanceteacher

Southend YMCA makes an impact on its community

Southend YMCA’s Youth in Action project has not only supported young people in spanning the transition to adulthood, while educating them about equality worldwide, it has transformed the prospects of three young people who worked on it.

"We wanted to create a project that would inspire and help other young people, but as there are only 14 of us we wanted to find out if others shared the same concerns, so we sent out a survey to 155 young people in the area," says Sammy Lane, a 23-year-old volunteer.

"The results confirmed that not only were they concerned about the future, they also wanted the opportunity to be involved in making a difference."
The young people organised speakers from Amnesty, Save the Children and other organisations to inform them about equality on a global scale.

The eight young people then worked together on an equalities project, each taking an area of interest and researching facts and figures that they later compiled into a "pop-up" presentation for schools and a handbook of information and advice on leaving home.

Shauna Newth, 20, worked on the project and says it not only broadened her awareness of what’s going on in the world, but rebuilt the confidence she lost through unemployment.

It took the group a month to put the project together. They went to five schools, electing one person to present, while the others helped the young people with the quiz they developed.

"Going into schools and working in a group has given me the confidence I lost through unemployment," says Shauna.

For the handbook, everyone brought something valuable based on their own experiences and enlisted support from experts.

"We all came at it from different angles and discussed the issues we wanted to cover, I wrote about being homeless as I had been homeless and lived in the YMCA," says Sammy.

Once everyone finished their section, volunteer Sheila Lord, a second year university undergraduate, edited and compiled the material into a
booklet – giving her great experience for her CV.

"As I do creative writing I thought it would be helpful to get some real experience at copy editing," she says.

For Sammy, being part of a project from start to finish has given her new-found leadership skills.

"We all brought something to the project, based on our past experience, which made it real – and something to be proud of."

Read the full story at www.thesite.org.