News
e-youthaction no. 65, September 2010
06 September 2010
Volunteering
Interim findings from the first year of the v Talent Year has revealed that 93 per cent of young people, surveyed after completing their placements in June, said their confidence had increased as a result. v Talent Year is a national scheme developed by youth volunteering charity v to get young people aged 16 to 25 to volunteer full-time in local authority children's services and colleges, with a view to gaining a qualification at the end of a 44-week placement. The findings also indicate that 94 per cent came away from the scheme with a Level 2 qualification, while 26 per cent have since gained full-time employment and 48 per cent have returned to education.
Big Society
NCVO has created a web area 'The Big Society - the evidence base' to bring together key sources and materials, to inform the debate and thinking. It focuses on the five themes in the document Building the Big Society, which include ‘Encourage people to take an active role in their communities’ and ‘Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises’. Readers are encouraged to make contributions.
Participation
The National Youth Agency has launched the Hear by Right Award. The Award has been developed to help organisations that take the voice of young people seriously showcase their achievements and the contribution of the young people they work with. Organisations applying for the Award measure themselves against different indicators across each of the seven Hear by Right Standards, depending on which level they want to achieve. Find out more about Hear by Right and the new Award, or sign up for a half day Hear By Right Bitesized and Badgeable workshop.
NCVO has published ‘Using participatory mapping to explore participation in three communities’ it illustrates the history of participatory mapping as a versatile research tool, demonstrating its potential use in a variety of scenarios. Participatory mapping draws on local people’s knowledge, enabling participants to create visual and non-visual data to explore social problems, opportunities and questions.
Research
The Jack Petchey Foundation has published Listen Up! a survey of over 6,000 16-to-25-year-olds about their views on life and politics; their ambitions, role models, and concerns. The report reveals that, contrary to popular stereotyping, young people are engaged in politics, have a strong sense of social responsibility and are not interested in fame and fortune. Three-quarters (75 per cent) say they regularly volunteer or help other people. Other findings suggest that 45 per cent of young people believe that politicians do not genuinely care about them. When asked what they want the government to do for young people, 26 per cent said abolish tuition fees for university students and 16 per cent said create more apprenticeships and job opportunities. Over half (59 per cent) say they are misunderstood by adults.
A study by The Prince’s Trust has revealed that that young people from workless families are significantly more likely to struggle to find a job themselves, and feel far less confident about their future. The report, ‘Destined for the Dole?’ interviewed over 2,000 16-to-24-year-olds and found that 70 per cent have struggled to find a job, while nearly one in five (18 per cent) expect to end up on benefits because other people around them have. More than six out of ten (63 per cent) of those young people surveyed believe that having more volunteering opportunities in their local area would give them the skills they needed to find a job.
The Institute for Volunteering Research, the research arm of Volunteering England, has launched an Evidence Bank for volunteering research. The bank currently contains all of its own publicly available research produced since 1997, and will include research from other bodies later.
Grants
The National Youth Agency Young Researcher Network 2010/11 grant programme is still open for applications – potential applicants have just over three weeks left to get their proposal in. The grant programme is designed to enable organisations working with young people to undertake and complete a short research project, funded and supported by the Young Researcher Network. A total of eight grants are available – three grants of £3000 for local authorities and five grants of £1000 for any organisation working with young people. The deadline for applications is Friday 10 September 2010 at 5pm and successful projects will be notified by 24 September 2010. The Network is run by the National Youth Agency as part of its work with the Local Government Association (LG Association), supported through topsliced funding for local authorities.
The Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG) is offering grants of £500 to 40 local community and voluntary groups through its Reach Community Engagement Fund. Youth charities are being invited to bid for a share of a £20,000 grant to organise activities to ‘encourage and inspire’ young black people. The deadline for applications is Friday 10 September.
Awards/competitions
The NCVYS Young Partners Award 2010 is still open for nominations. The award is sponsored by Participation Works, the Big Lottery Fund and PGL, and provides an opportunity for youth organisations and projects to demonstrate what young people and adults can achieve through working in partnership, sharing ideas and inspiring each other. The closing data for entries is Friday 17 September 2010.
New Insight
The National Youth Agency (NYA) has revised and relaunched its weekly policy bulletin eYPU. Renamed Insight: essential youth sector analysis and reflection, the e-bulletin aims to build on the news and information available elsewhere by offering reflection, comment and analysis to the youth field. The first issue reflected on the first 100 days of the Coalition Government and what this has meant for the youth sector, and the latest official statistics on young people NEET.
Insight is available free of charge on request. Subscribe online.
Youth Engagement: young people’s voice and influence in local democracy
In this Community of Practice the NYA is interested in identifying and analysing what makes for effective youth involvement in a variety of local democratic structures – principally via local authority processes, but especially focusing on how communities, their young people and partners have incubated and developed real and tangible change to services, resources, buildings and attitudes at a local level.
Sign up at: http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/comm/landing-home.do?id=527525