Participation News, May 2008

4 Jun 2008
New guidance on the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds has been published.

Policy

The government’s community empowerment, housing and economic regeneration Bill includes proposals to empower ‘communities and individuals by involving them in the design and delivery of local public services and other measures designed to promote local democracy and larger numbers of active citizens, possibly including giving individuals a right of response from their local authority to local petitions’.

The DCSF has published a revised Every Child Matters outcomes framework, linking outcomes to: the Children’s Plan 2020 goals; national Public Service Agreements and national indicators; and DCSF departmental goals.

The government has published final statutory guidance for promoting the youth offer, based on section 6 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. The guidance covers how to establish the local offer, address the barriers to participation and measure progress.

The government has launched a consultation on a draft Participatory Budgeting Strategy. The strategy lays out how the Government intends to support local authorities in undertaking participatory budgeting exercises. It establishes a clear link to Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds and the commitment for young people to have more influence over budgets for youth activities. The deadline for responses is 10 June 2008.

Practice

Youth Work Week 2008. ‘Promoting young people’s voice and influence’ will be the theme of youth work week this year taking place on 1–7 November 2008. If you have any ideas or plans for the week that you would like to share, email Tim Burke at The NYA.

New guidance on the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds has been published, replacing previous guidance issued in March 2006. It sets out the policy context and aims, strategic management and monitoring arrangements for the funds, local authority funding allocations and includes monitoring templates.

It also suggests that local authorities use the Hear by Right standards to review their young people engagement strategies.

In a pilot event, 300 young people from the UK Youth Parliament took part in a series of debates in the House of Lords on 2 May to determine their national campaign themes for 2008-09. The issues decided upon were public transport concession cards, recycling and tuition fees.

The BUZZ OFF campaign, a national campaign spearheaded by young people and supported by The NYA, 11 Million, Liberty and Groundwork, is calling for an end to the use of all ultra-sonic dispersal devices, of which there are estimated to be 3,500 across the country. The call is echoed by the European Youth Forum which is calling on EU Member States to ban the Mosquito device.

The new screening system for people who work with children and vulnerable adults will begin in October 2009 and cost £64 per person, the Independent Safeguarding Authority has announced. Applicants will only have to pay once and will not need new clearance when changing jobs or places of work. For volunteers and the organisations employing them, the process will be free.

The views of young people (under 19 years old) on outdoor play are being sought by a new government national consultation on play. An interactive website has been launched as part of the consultation to collect children’s (aged 8-13) views on play and play areas. Young people have until 18 August 2008 to respond and more information about both the website and the consultation is available.

The Sex Education Forum has launched an online survey to find out what young people aged 16-19 think should be included in sex and relationships education (SRE). The results will influence the government’s current review of SRE. The survey will be online until 10 June 2008.

The government is consulting on proposals to extend the British Crime Survey to include surveys of under-16s experiences of crime. The deadline to respond is 8 August 2008.

ECOTECH is running a blog for young people to comment on the issues they face as they try to move on into their own home. It is research being carried out on behalf of the JRF and is designed to inform potential future research and/or develop new schemes and initiatives. The blog runs from May to September 2008.

Research

The Young Researcher Network has given out research grant awards worth up to £3,000. The 15 network partners will receive funding, research training, and support in capacity building for young researchers. All the groups are undertaking young people-led research projects, the results of which will be available from October 2008. For more information about the network contact Darren Sharpe, Tel: 0116 2427464

Funding and Awards

The government has launched myplace – a £190 million funding programme over 2008-10 to support the development of youth facilities which are driven by the active participation of young people. The programme, channeled through the Big Lottery Fund, offers grants of between £1-5 million.

The Big Lottery Fund’s Young People's Fund 2 grant programme offers grants of between £10,000 and £500,000 to voluntary and community sector organisations to support activities and services. It funds projects that are young people led and help to achieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes. The closing date for applications is 16 October 2008.

vcashpoint is offering young people aged 16-25 grants of up to £2,500 to set up their own volunteering projects in their communities. The projects must benefit their local communities and create at least three new opportunities for other young people to volunteer. The closing date for applications is 18 July 2008 and the project must finish within 6 months of the date it started.

CSV’s Action Earth campaign aims to encourage people to take part in practical conservation projects and improve the quality of life for themselves, their communities and future generations. Grants of up to £50 are available to support projects. Last year’s campaign supported over 1,000 projects, covering activities such as tree planting, building bird boxes and cleaning up beaches. Completed projects can also enter for an award and win a cash prize of £300 or £100. The project runs until the end of July 2008.

Children & Young People Now has launched its 2008 Children & Young People’s Services Awards. They include an ‘active citizens’ category, for projects or initiatives through which young people have made a difference in their communities or to other young people, through volunteering, campaigning, lobbying or participation in decision making. The judges will particularly look for entries where children and young people have taken the lead in planning and organising the work as well as delivering it. The closing date for entries is 11 July 2008.

Channel 4 FourDocs and Mediabox are running a competition for disadvantaged 13 to 19 year olds to write, direct and produce their own short documentaries. Ten films will be made, of which at least one will get a broadcast slot on Channel 4. The closing date is 16 June 2008, and films must be made during August 2008.

Reel Change is offering young people in London the opportunity to have a say in youth provision. Young people will attend free media courses and workshops and will come together over the next six months to produce, promote and exhibit a cutting edge documentary made entirely by young people. It is open to young people aged 13-19. Registration for enrolment is open now.

Shoot Nations 2008, a free global youth photography competition, gives young people the opportunity to express their opinions through visual communication. This year’s theme is young people in a changing climate. It is open to anyone aged 11–24 from anywhere in the world. The closing date is 31 July 2008.

As part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008, supported by The NYA, a Europe-wide ‘Cultures on my street’ photo competition has been launched. It invites EU residents to capture the images that they think best represent intercultural dialogue. The closing date is 30 June 2008.

The Diana Award recognises and celebrates the contribution made by young people aged 12-18 to the lives of their friends, families, schools and communities. Award holders are encouraged to continue with their work and are able to benefit from training and networking opportunities to help them realise their full potential. The deadline for nominations is 20 June 2008.

Resources

The spring/summer 2008 issue of youthaction magazine - celebrating young people taking action in their community - is now out. This issue is packed with examples of how young people’s action benefits both the community and the individuals taking part. Email Rita Kotecha to request your free copy - bulk copies are available to organisations that are able to distribute direct to young people or for those running volunteer recruitment fairs.

The NYA has launched its newly updated website http://www.graphicmail.co.uk/sendlink.asp?HitID=0&StID=4478&SID=6&EmID=2652199&Link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ueWEub3JnLnVrLw%3D%3D. The new site improves access to content and offers information on youth policy, innovative programmes, participation, evidence and research, news analysis and a huge range of data on young people and youth work. The site also includes new interactive features such as video clips, photo-streams, online event booking and feedback forms.

The NYA has published findings from the Annual Audit for 2006-07. The Audit collects information on expenditure, workforce and outcomes from local authority youth services.

The Children’s Commissioner for England has launched a new interactive website to gather the views and opinions of children and young people across the country. Themed rooms, linked to 11 MILLION’s work programme, will allow young people to share their experiences on specific areas such as asylum, the use of the Mosquito, being happy and healthy, and the organisation’s major project, ‘Guns, gangs and knives’, as well having the chance to raise other important issues.

The British Youth Council has launched its new website. The site offers a range of new features, including videos, message walls and an online map of all local youth councils in the UK.

The DCSF has published revised guidance on encouraging young people to get involved in their school. Working Together: Listening to the voices of children and young people provides best practice from schools and local authorities and advice on the principles and practice in involving students in decisions which affect them. It highlights the role that young people’s forums, consultation processes and peer mentoring can play.

Involve has published a new publication, Everybody needs good neighbours which explores the relationship between public participation and community cohesion. It is funded by the National Empowerment Partnership and can be ordered from publications@involve.org.uk or downloaded for free.

A Have your say manual on the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life (Book + CD) is now available. Targeted at youth organisations and young people wanting to participate, it covers the importance of the European Charter and what to do with it.

CLG has produced an information pack to help local groups to organise and facilitate discussions on the topic of empowerment. The pack contains suggestions for the format of the meeting, advice for facilitators and organisers and detailed information about key empowerment issues.

The Byron report into children’s online safety calls for the creation of a new UK Council for Child Internet Safety, established by and reporting to the Prime Minister, and including representation from industry, children’s charities and children and young people.

The Improvement and Development Agency has published a number of Local Area Agreement practice examples looking at improving outcomes for children and young people, including ‘involving young people in service assessment’.

A European Network for Participatory Democracy has been launched in France. More information.

Events, Jobs and Training

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