Streetvibe Youth Inclusion Project

BASIC INFORMATION

Case study date: November 2006

Local authority in which project based: Leicester

Date started: 2000

End date if not ongoing: currently funded to March 2007

Type of organisation: Statutory youth service

Brief description, including aims and objectives:

Streetvibe Youth Inclusion Project is a key partner in delivering a youth strategy for Braunstone New Deal for Communities (NDC) regeneration programme in Leicester. It offers an integrated programme for young people aged 13 to 25, particularly those most at risk of social exclusion. It has three strands including a mobile youth bus/outreach facility, detached work and youth affairs. The youth affairs strand aims to involve young people in the regeneration of Braunstone estate through a involvement in a youth panel, youth forums and consultation events. The youth panel administers the Youth Action Fund, which provides local young people with small grants for activities and initiatives. A young people’s steering group helps run the project to ensure that its programme meets the needs of young people in Braunstone.

Collaboration:

Braunstone Community Association (BCA) is the lead organisation responsible for managing Streetvibe. Streetvibe’s main delivery partners are BCA, Leicester City Primary Care Trust (PCT), Leicester City Council Lifelong Learning and a range of local statutory, voluntary and community based organisations. Streetvibe also works closely with other BCA projects such as Education Learning Mentors and Reducing Youth Crime through Sports.

Funding:

In 2006-7, Streetvibe received £254,801 from Braunstone NDC. Other public funding comes from Leicester City PCT, Leicester City Council Life Long Learning, police and Community Safety – a total of 36,051 for 2006-07.

Staffing:

Streetvibe employs a full-time project manager, four detached workers (one full-time and three part-time) four part-time outreach workers and a part-time project administrator. Two part-time workers and other project workers support the youth forums and youth panels.

NATURE OF PROVISION

Which groups of young people does the project work with?

Streetvibe works with young people between the ages of 13 and 25 – particularly the most disadvantaged – on the Braunstone estate in Leicester. It engages around 150 young people a week through detached and outreach work. The youth panel involves 12 young people aged 13 to 25.

How was the need for the project identified?

The original NDC consultation and delivery document identified North Braunstone as a neighbourhood with high levels of crime and disorder and teenage pregnancy and low educational attainment. Consultation on BCA’s Youth Affairs Strategy and research carried out by De Montfort University (which recruited and trained young residents to seek children and young people’s views about Braunstone and how the NDC money should be spent) highlighted the need for young people to be at the heart of regeneration, including formal decision-making structures. Streetvibe was formed to coordinate youth provision within this framework.

How do young people become involved? What, if any, commitment do you ask for?

Streetvibe uses outreach and detached work to contact and build relationships with young people, and also promotes its work widely in the local community. Young people are then encouraged to become more actively involved through consultation events (‘Voice of Young People’ days) and the youth panel, with the key being making things fun and interesting. Nominations to the youth panel come from local agencies including schools, Turning Point Women’s Centre and NACRO. Streetvibe is currently liaising with other local groups to increase its membership and achieve wider representation. Panel members meet for two hours each week and are required to undertake training in preparation for their role.

What are the main approaches used and activities offered?

Streetvibe’s youth inclusion strategy has been developed to provide an opportunity for young people to become involved at different levels (in line with the ladder of participation), from attending a drop-in session and informal discussion with workers to improving services or provision for young people both locally and nationally. It uses a peer education approach enabling young people to pass on their skills to new generations of young people.

The youth affairs strand aims to engage young people in regeneration activity, promote equality, and provide training and support to help young people be more involved in decisions that affect their lives.

The youth panel allows young people’s views to be heard on developments in Braunstone, the city and throughout the country. They have representation on the Streetvibe steering group, BCA Board and feed into Leicester City Youth Council. One member sits on the UK Youth Parliament.

The Youth Action Fund, administered by the youth panel, makes grants of between £50 and £500 for activities which will benefit young people and the community, to young people (individuals or groups) aged 13 to 25 from the NDC area. Project staff provide training, covering areas such as management committee roles and responsibilities, stereotyping and gender issues, and residentials are organised to promote team building.

Funding rounds occur once every two months; new applications are invited during the first month with follow-up work and decisions made the next month. The BCA small grants committee signs off bids and ensures that the necessary legal requirements are met.

Quarterly ‘Voice of Young People’ events, facilitated by young people, encourage other young people to identify issues that affect them and plan appropriate action. Their views are fed back to the youth panel and are taken forward through the appropriate route.

In addition, mobile-based outreach work offers informal drop-in and more structured sessions around issues such as drug and alcohol awareness, sexual health, parenting, anti-social behaviour and help with CVs and homework. The programme is developed in consultation with a steering group of young people involved with the project. Detached youth workers offer young people support and advice in areas such as employment, training, personal development and the youth justice system. Late night sessions (8pm until midnight) target young people not taking part in other organised youth activities.

How are young people involved in shaping the project?

Young people are involved in all aspects of the design, delivery and evaluation of provision through representation on the Streetvibe steering group. Members have opportunities to visit other NDC projects and feed into the strategic development of the project via the BCA Board. Consultation events, links with the youth panel and other forums provide a mandate for members to take views forward. Members have also been involved in identifying new funding to secure the future of the project after March 2007.

How does the project respond to the needs of different young people, particularly the most marginalised?

The project is designed to respond to needs identified by young people themselves. Detached work supports the most disadvantaged and marginalised young people.

OUTCOMES OF WORK

Does the project contribute to the five Every Child Matters outcomes for young people?

Outreach work is designed to enhance employment prospects, educational attainment, learning and skills of young people. Other work to reduce teenage pregnancies, risk taking and youth crime, together with opportunities to take action in the community, contributes to meeting all five ECM outcomes. This is reinforced through the youth inclusion training programme.

What skills and knowledge do young people gain through their involvement in the project?

The youth inclusion training programme provides personal and social development opportunities for all local young people. Those who take a more active role in the project are offered opportunities to develop skills in areas such as negotiation, decision-making and leadership and improve knowledge on issues such as equal opportunities and sexual health. Specific achievements by project members during 2006-07 include:

seven young people gaining OCN qualifications in community development;
25 recognised as ‘community champions’;
10 gaining Community Sports Leadership awards;
four gaining YMCA gym instructors City and Guilds qualifications;

Members also improved their educational attainment, with several securing university places.

How are young people's progress and achievements measured, recorded and accredited?

Training for steering group and youth panel members includes OCN accredited modules on management committees. Older, more experienced members are supported to undertake vocationally related qualifications for youth support worker roles or other career choices.

What has changed for other young people, organisations or the wider community as a result of the project?

Engaging young people and promoting positive attitudes has helped reduce youth crime and the fear of crime. Mori household surveys show that local people are more likely to feel part of the community (an increase of 12% over the past year against a national average of 0.2%), while the proportion experiencing crime has reduced by 7% (against 0.7% nationally).

Streetvibe’s work has also increased understanding between adults and young residents in Braunstone, as young people are seen to be more active in their local community.

The Youth Action Fund has supported a wide range of activities and resources for young people. One group which purchased DJ equipment now provides training and entertainment at Voice of Young People events.

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

How is the project evaluated?

Internal evaluation takes place through engaging young people in open discussions, team meetings, feedback from the youth panel and steering group, session feedback sheets completed by staff and young people. Staff, young people and partners take part in quarterly project reviews. BCA also provides quarterly reports to Government Office East Midlands.

What are the findings of any evaluations to date?

External evaluation in 2004 found the project had:

· a dedicated core team of high quality workers;

· excellent partnership working arrangements with good management support;

· successfully established itself as specialist provision, distinct from generic youth work, delivering programmes grounded in informal education, inclusion and community development principles.

What changes/developments have occurred as a result of evaluation?

The 2004 evaluation resulted in Streetvibe consolidating its separate strands to provide a more holistic approach to youth provision.

What has worked well and why?

Consolidating the work resulted in significant reduction in staff time, including project management. It also fostered greater ownership of the overarching vision for youth inclusion by staff and young people.

What has been difficult and why?

Ensuring that the project keeps its focus while not discouraging young people and staff from developing new ideas and taking on new challenges.

PARTNERSHIP AND STRATEGIC IMPACT

What does the project bring to partnership work?

The project leads on responding to issues raised by young people and developing the necessary mechanisms to effect change, drawing on the experience and expertise of both staff and young people.

Has this partnership resulted in greater collaboration between partners?

BCA has promoted a joined up approach to youth provision in line with Leicester City Council’s strategic plan, through joint training, development of a detached youth work strategy, and city council youth workers’ involvement in outreach provision.

Have you experienced any particular difficulties in partnership working?

Making sure partners commit the necessary financial resources to proposed work – dispelling the myth that NDC projects have unlimited funds at their disposal.

How do you disseminate the learning from the project?

Streetvibe provides feedback to the community using local media, and reports on development through formal mechanisms such as the BCA theme group, and local youth forums.

Has the learning from this work influenced wider strategies?

The project is currently using Hear by Right standards to assess its involvement of children and young people, and will be implementing recommendations in 2007.

After the youth panel raised concerns about the lack of provision for children aged between 8 and 13 on the estate, the city council has included this issue in its strategic plans.

What plans do you have to sustain/develop this work?

Several different funding bids have been agreed in principal and should be operational by 31 March 2007.

CONTACT

Brian Quinn
Project Manager
Streetvibe
45 Wellinger Way
Braunstone
Leicester LE3 1RG

Tel: 0116 223 2245
E-mail: Brian.quinn@braunstone.com