Delivering opportunities for young people – the ‘what’ and ‘why’

The features of delivering volunteering opportunities for young people include:

Optimising use of resources for individual volunteering activities

What action you can take

• Encourage work to be young person led with paid key workers.
• Ensure that young people are heard.
• Quick wins can keep up morale but beware of being tokenistic.
• Consider a peer mentoring process to support young volunteers.
• Residentials can help to keep young people engaged.
• Involve young people in ‘translating’ official documents so that other young people can understand them.

Arguing the case for delivering

Individual assessment of young people’s needs, including issues of confidentiality

What action you can take

• Be aware of (often) chaotic lifestyles of young people.
• Use participation tools/techniques.
• Ensure the appropriate training is provided for young people, including accredited training, where appropriate.
• Be aware of difficulties of corporate parenting.
• Set up agreement/contract/personal development plan with young people to ascertain what they want to achieve and to agree aims.
• Ensure that expenses, including travel, are covered.
• Consider specific needs of young volunteers and associated costs.
• Consider use of incentives.
• Provide facilities/develop skills for young people to capture their experiences.

Arguing the case for delivering

In accordance with the Russell Report, young people should not lose out financially by volunteering. Support should include practical resources especially the provision of transport or help with travel expenses. (Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

Identification of the needs of those working with young people and tailoring responses

What action you can take

• There should be an understanding of youth culture.
• Key workers should be skilled youth workers as well as being political operators.
• Key workers should maintain communication with young volunteers, hosts and other professionals.
• Workers should be clear about roles, expectations and responsibilities.
• Workers should create a safe but challenging environment.
• Be aware that workers can become de-motivated. Acknowledge the issues they face, meet them, listen to them and provide guidance where necessary.

Arguing the case for delivering

Adults can be very circumspect about involving young people properly. To do it properly, the worker needs talent and skill. When you find it happening it is because there are magic people who can make it happen – sometimes without any resources at all although it is obviously more effective if the right kind of climate exists.” (Stakeholder in a national partner organisation quoted in Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

Regarding support workers, one young volunteer said “If I’ve got stuck they will help or listen….convince you to keep calm.” Another young person with physical disabilities said they “Make me feel the same as everyone else and I know I’ve got someone I can confide in”. (Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

Ensure that language used engages young people

What action you can take

• Use appropriate language for young people.
• Present information in understandable ‘bit sized chunks’.
• Need to build the confidence of young volunteers.
• Keep young people informed.

Arguing the case for delivering

Staff in all services, not just those who are participation workers or youth workers, need to develop skills in informal approaches, understand the potential of a range of innovative methods, and learn to support young people who find volunteering of engagement daunting. (Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

Deliver in line with activity plans and make adjustments as necessary.

What action you can take

• Get young people on board, consult them, listen to them, sustain their interest.
• Need to provide fun, quality, useful activities for young people.
• Young people should make the decisions about the direction of the project, where possible.

Arguing the case for delivering

Some schemes start well but fail to plan for creating the feedback loop to young people and follow up by service managers. There is an important symbolism about feedback – it confirms to the young people involved that their views are taken seriously and to other young people that change can be achieved. (Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

Check that needs are met through delivery mechanisms and feed this into reporting requirements as necessary

What action you can take

• Build a review process into the project
• Make time to review progress and learning at through consideration of personal development plans or by other means.

Arguing the case for delivering

As has been noted in other studies, for these young people, the supportive and trusting relationship with the workers was critical together with the recognition of small steps of progress or ‘soft outcomes’ (Hoggarth and Smith, 2004), (Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

Gathering monitoring information and fulfilling any reporting requirements, ensuring that young people are kept informed of purpose and progress

What action you can take

• Keep everyone informed of progress.
• Value the contribution of all parties.
• Capture the results of your work, think innovatively about how this is done and include film, web-sites, etc.

Arguing the case for delivering

“….if they (young volunteers) had received no feedback and action towards change was not forthcoming, then they would have been disappointed, would not have continued and the information gained would be lost.” (Young Person’s Development Worker, in a Primary Care Trust, quoted in Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

Explore exit strategies, continuation or progression for each young person

What action you can take

• Hold an exit interview with each young volunteer.
• Look at links into new/existing statutory/voluntary provision

Arguing the case for delivering

“I have been able to gain other skills for example I have taken part in a youth participation course and peer mentoring course. This is helping my CV and myself in the future…..” (Young person quoted in Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

The benefits gained by young people can be considerable. These are felt especially in confidence and self-esteem, and the acquisition of skills for self-efficacy and for the labour market. (Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

A number of young people have taken up full-time or part-time paid positions on participation teams or youth work teams. A number of others have gone on to college or university, with some retaining a part-time role. A number had taken up youth work apprenticeships. (Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

“I do this as it’s a good stepping stone for me and will help me get a better career. Plus it’s fun and flexible.” (Young volunteer quoted in Doers and Shapers, DMU, 2009)

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