News
e-youthaction no. 68, December 2010
30 November 2010
National Citizen Service
The Cabinet Office has announced the 12 organisations selected to run the National Citizen Service (NCS) pilot programme next summer. The twelve organisations include Bolton Lads and Girls Club, the Football League Trust, and the Challenge Network as lead provider.
The Office for Civil Society and Department for Education have also invited expressions of interest for an evaluation of the 2011 and 2012 National Citizen Service pilots. The purpose of the evaluation will be to assess the success of the 2011 and 2012 pilots in meeting the programme aims, including assessment of delivery, impact, and value for money; and to provide robust data to inform the future development of the NCS programme. The deadline to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire is Monday 13 December 2010.
Raleigh International along with other international volunteering organisations has expressed concern that the Government hasn't properly consulted youth organisations about delivering the International Citizen Service pilot schemes. The £10m pilot will provide 1,000 young people aged 18 to 22 with volunteering opportunities abroad in 2011/12. Stacey Adams, chief executive of Raleigh International, said that discussions appear to have taken place with only five organisations that are largely government funded and that work together as a group on mainly adult volunteering projects. From 2013, International Citizen Service will seek to include NCS graduates.
Big Society
The Government has launched the Big Society Award that will recognise examples of the Big Society in action taking place all around the country. The Award has been created to recognise individuals, groups or organisations that are demonstrating the Big Society in their work or activities. There is no deadline for nominations, they can be sent at any time.
The Big Society Network has announced the nine projects which have been selected to take part in ‘Your Local Budget' - a programme designed to give people a say in how mainstream local authority budgets are spent. The pilot areas will work towards developing new ways to involve local people in tough spending decisions, building on the pioneering approaches to Participatory Budgeting from around the world.
Volunteering
The Local Government Association and Volunteering England have published Hidden Talents: young people and volunteering. The paper builds on the LGA’s ‘Hidden Talents’ publications and aims encourage debate about the role volunteering can play in local authorities’ support for young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET).
Citizenship
DfE has published two surveys into young people and citizenship. Citizenship Education in England 2001-2010: The eighth and final report from the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS) found that there had been a 'marked and steady increase' in young people's civic and political participation, and indications that these young people would continue to participate as adult citizens.
Young people's civic attitudes and practices: England's outcomes from the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) found a complex picture of young people's attitudes and understanding of their societies and their role within them. Although the vast majority of young people expect to vote in national elections, political parties were the least trusted civic institution.
Research
Youth volunteering charity v has published Measuring the impossible? Scoping Study for Longitudinal Research on the Impact of Youth Volunteering. The research aims to measure the long term impact of youth volunteering on promoting a range of benefits in young people such as increased civic engagement, skills, employability and well-being.
The Institute for Volunteering Research has published Bursting the Bubble: Students, Volunteering and the Community Research Summary. The report, based on case studies of six Higher Education Institutions, found that 63 per cent of students have taken part in formal volunteering since starting university, and that 95 per cent of students who volunteer are motivated by a desire to improve things or help people. The report also found that a major barrier to volunteering reported by students is lack of time owing to study pressures. It recommends linking volunteering to academic subjects or careers to encourage more students to volunteer.
Research consultancy nfpSynergy has published Young People in Governance. The report considers organisational experiences of overcoming the barriers to involving young people in governance. A key recommendation of the report is that there is no ‘one-size fits all’ model when it comes to engaging young people in governance - each organisation must consider which mechanisms will work best for their needs.
Resources
Citizens Advice has launched a new website aimed at providing support and information to young people under 25. Last year, the charity offered help to under-25s with almost three-quarters of a million problems. Around 80 percent of the problems related to four key areas - housing, benefits, employment and debt, with the latter accounting for a third of all enquiries.
Funding
The NYA has announced the winners of its Young Researchers Network 2010/11 grant programme. A total of 28 applications from local authorities and youth organisations were shortlisted and seven grants were awarded across the two categories – Open Youth-Led Research and Young People’s Voice and Influence.
Three local authorities will be given £3,000 each to undertake open youth-led research – projects designed and led by young people - in their local areas. A further four grants of £1,000 were awarded to groups of young people to explore young people’s voice and influence in developing their local services.
The Share and Learn Grant Scheme, funded by CWDC and managed by NCVYS, aims to support VCS front-line organisations who deliver services to children, young people and families to share their experience of supporting and developing their staff and volunteers and enable other front-line organisations to learn from their practice. The scheme will sign-up 13 Workforce Development Champions across England, who will share information about their work and host learning visits. A small number of grants are also available to 26 front-line organisations (known as Learning Partners) to take part in learning visits. Other organisations will be able to learn from the good practice examples the Champions will produce. Application deadline for Champions is the 16 December 2010 and for Learning Partners the deadline is 14 January 2011.
Campaigns
Youth Action Network has launched the Youthquake campaign to highlight the threat to volunteering and youth action opportunities for young people resulting from cuts in public spending and to call for more investment.
