The National Youth Agency - eYPU Issue 224, 01 October 2008

eYPU Issue 224, 01 October 2008

1 Oct 2008
This issue includes details of a government scheme designed to keep young people safe online and a child poverty map compiled by the Campaign to End Child Poverty.

Positive activities

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has announced that 296 local authorities have expressed an interest in claiming their share of a £50 million fund being made available to offer free swimming to under-16s. The initiative will run from 2009 to 2011 and is part of a £140 million government investment in the sport that also includes free swimming for those aged over 60 and capital for local authorities to upgrade pools.

Also of interest...

Volunteering

Vinspired has launched a new ‘Favours’ campaign. The campaign is designed to transform the face of volunteering among 16-25s, whilst making it accessible and a natural lifestyle choice. When asked if they like the idea of volunteering, 66 per cent of young people say the term is off-putting. However, 80 per cent of them say they have done someone a favour outside their family or friends. Vinspired’s aim is to show young people that volunteering is as easy and accessible as doing someone a favour, by using language that young people can relate to.

Internet safety

The government has announced the launch of a scheme designed to keep children and young people safe online. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety will bring together over 100 organisations from both the public and private sectors to develop a national strategy on safety on the internet and deliver the recommendations from the recent report by Dr Tanya Byron, ‘Safer Children in a Digital World’. It will include the introduction of a voluntary code of practice and offer advice to parents about security controls.

Social exclusion

A report by the Campaign to End Child Poverty has claimed that millions of children in the UK are living in, or on the brink of, poverty. The report says 5.5 million children are in families that are classed as 'struggling' - 98 per cent of children in some areas. The organisation has also released a child poverty map for each region in Britain. The figures show that 174 constituencies in Britain have 50 per cent or more children living in poverty.

Mental health

A report from the charity Young Minds and the Children's Commissioner, Al Aynsley-Green, has claimed that children and young people with mental health problems are still being treated on adult psychiatric wards in defiance of a government promise to halt the practice. The report, entitled ‘Out of the Shadows?’, says that mental health services for children and young people are so stretched that 72 per cent of in-patient referrals are turned away, forcing young people to travel long distances or, more commonly, to be sent to adult wards.

Social issues

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published three papers from its Social Evils debate on the theme of 'a decline in values'. Anthony Browne argues that discussing the problem and its causes is the first step towards making things better; Baroness Julia Neuberger argues that we can change society for the better by deliberately rebuilding trust; and Professor AC Grayling argues that it is the responsibility of each of us to confront such difficulties.

Participation

The Department for Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation on time off entitlements for people taking on civic duties. It is one of a series of consultations following on from the Communities in Control White Paper (July 2008). The closing date for responses is 19 December 2008.

Information technology

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has announced a £300 million investment to ensure that children from jobless and low income families receive a free computer and free broadband access as part of plans to close the digital divide amongst young people.

Crime

John Drew has been appointed as Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. He will take up his post on 1 January 2009. His current role is Director of Housing and Community Services at the London Borough of Redbridge.