Delivering in action - learning from the projects

Delivering your organisational approach

Derwentside

The perceptions of others about disability meant that people were over-protective of those with disabilities and that they often tried to exclude them on those grounds.

Gateshead

A joint steering group should take ownership of the project and facilitate decision-making by the partners. Training is essential for those delivering the project on the ground. Encouraging people to take responsibility for their part in the project can encourage buy-in and save time. For example, a taxi driver in County Durham arranged his own CRB check to facilitate transport from some of the more rural parts of the County.

Lancashire County Council

Structured policies including volunteer/tutor agreements, volunteer guidelines, volunteer development plans and assessment charts, defined boundaries and led to better communication with partners.

West Sussex

Employing young as training consultants gave them permission to pass on their skills and knowledge and made them feel valued. Investing in young people brought benefits for the authority as well as the young people themselves.

Wirral

Creating appropriate materials to aid delivery of the project, the council invested in ongoing development and training. Liverpool provided rewards for young people contributing to the project. Transport was essential to successful delivery of the project. Wirral stressed the importance of keeping those not directly involved in the project informed. They also used agreements with partners/services, as well as with young people to ensure their ongoing commitment and recognised the value of contributions made by all parties.

They aimed to be honest about what was possible while still being aspirational. They recognised that the process itself as well as the outcomes, should have value.

Delivering opportunities for young people

Derwentside

The council adapted and organised an OCN volunteering training course (at levels 1 & 2) for differently-abled young people and those who do not have English as a first language. To enable young people to become engaged in this training, they highlight the need for skilled workers to build confidence and to keep the young people engaged and recommend the use of appropriate participation tools/techniques.

Gateshead

Early identification of whether or not support workers have the skills and the capacity to undertake the work is crucial to successful project delivery. Employ accredited learning programmes such as ASDAN to develop projects. Ensure that activities are fun, of a good quality and carried out in young people friendly venues.

Lancashire

Understanding the needs of often chaotic lifestyles of the young people and ensuring entitlement to jobseekers allowance helped to build trust between volunteers and workers. A dedicated, skilled key worker was essential to building and maintaining relationships

Lewisham

Lewisham used civic venues for meetings. When the young people met with service heads, they felt they were heard. The service heads benefited from hearing real examples. Lewisham underlined the importance of skilled youth workers who can understand issues as well as become political operators.

Norfolk

Social networking sites were successful in developing and delivering projects. The use of the masks to hide identity, in some situations, offered the opportunity to use simulation/role play to gather evidence.

Wakefield

Support workers do not necessarily have the skills or the capacity needed to progress a project and external support was invaluable

West Sussex

Used a focus group of young people, involving young people in participatory budgeting and the production of a film, The Real Tracy Beaker. They provided ‘translations’ of official documents and processes for young people, whilst understanding the difficulties of corporate parenting. Identifying that the support of foster carers is crucial to the success of the project, the council recognised maintaining good communications with young people is vital.

Wirral

To encourage young people to get involved, Wirral used youth workers in contact with a range of organisations. Wirral used Personal Development Plans for young people to ascertain and monitor what they wanted to achieve from their participation. They recognise the need for dedicated, understanding, skilled youth workers who can inspire and sustain the interest of young people as part of the process.

Read more about each council’s experiences in the story behind the practice >>