skip to navigation

News

e-youthaction no. 64, August 2010

03 August 2010

Volunteering

The Prime Minister has announced plans for 16-year-olds to take part in National Citizen Service (NCS) pilots next summer. NCS is a key part of the Big Society agenda and will involve a programme of activities designed to introduce young people to the concept of civic responsibility as they make the transition into adulthood. The key aims of the programme are to:

  • build cohesion and a better understanding of others
  • encourage teamwork
  • challenge young people
  • celebrate success

A competitive tendering exercise was launched on 2 August for potential providers to submit bids.  Six information events are running for potential bidders on Thursday 5 August in London, Monday 9 August in Sheffield and Wednesday 11 August in London. Successful candidates will be announced in late October.  The scale of the pilots will be subject to the Spending Review.

The DfE has announced it is to scrap the Youth Community Action programme, which aims to encourage all 14 to 19-year-olds to take part in volunteering. The pilot programme was designed to increase opportunities for young people to take part in community action initiatives with the ambition that all young people would eventually contribute at least 50 hours of voluntary work by the age of 19.

‘Big Society’

A Big Society Network has been set up led by Nat Wei and Paul Twivy. The network aims to be a practical, accessible resource for people who want to get involved in the Big Society, enabling them to take action in their local areas.

Think tank Demos has published Civic Streets: the big society in action. The report looks at what the ‘Big Society’ means for struggling communities in need of regeneration by focusing on two estates in Birmingham which have engaged in renewal that has involved residents, the third sector and business. The report makes a number of recommendations including a key role for big supermarket chains which it is claimed can encourage a sense of pride, raise aspirations and create jobs. It also proposes the election of 'micro-mayors' to help resolve problems such as anti-social behaviour, and mechanisms to allow local people to take over local services such as Sure Start and health centres.

New Philanthropy Capital has published its perspectives on the Big Society.  Scaling up for the Big Society argues that charities and social enterprises have an important role to play in building a ‘Big Society’ but are held back by an inability to provide evidence of their impact and the challenge of identifying proven, cost-effective approaches and organisations that can be scaled up to meet the challenge. It makes a number of suggestions on ways to assess evidence of impact and social benefit and provides guidance on what to scale up and how to do it.

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has published Ten Big Questions about the Big Society: and ten ways to make the best of it. While NEF broadly welcomes the concept of a ‘Big Society’ it makes a number of proposals for making the best of the idea, which include the need for a robust social justice framework, making sure everyone can participate, and making it sustainable.

Funding

The Young Researcher Network (YRN) is pleased to invite applications for its research grant programme for 2010/11. The grant programme is designed to enable organisations working with young people to complete a short research project, funded and supported by the YRN. There are two strands of research grants available this year, and up to eight awards will be made. The mission of the Young Researcher Network is to value, support and encourage research led by young people. The Network is run by the National Youth Agency as part of its work with the Local Government Association (LG Association), supported through top-sliced funding for local authorities. Applications should be submitted by Friday 10 September. For more information email yrn@nya.org.uk

The Office for Civil Society has announced that it will be making £11m savings from its 2010/2011 budget. The £11 million savings will come from:

  • £2 million which was already unallocated in the Office for Civil Society budget.
  • £5 million reduction in the v match fund. The v match fund provides for v to match fund private sector investment in youth volunteering projects on a pound for pound basis. The £15 million fund was under spent by £4.4 million in 2009. In 2010-11 they will now have access to up to £10 million for matching purposes.
  • £1.95 million reduction in the £39 million grant to v.
  • £1.3 million in Capacitybuilders funding. Existing grant holders will be unaffected, committed grants will continue to be paid. The majority is being saved by cancellation of any further new awards under the Regional Networks Fund, Social Enterprise support and remaining elements of the ChangeUp programme.
  • £0.4 million in the Commission for the Compact. The organisation has identified savings which can come from non essential work.
  • Other smaller savings, including £0.13 million in payments to the Regional Development Agencies to deliver business support for social enterprises and £0.111 million from social enterprise action research programme which funds individual projects across Government addressing policy issues with social enterprise solutions.

The Office for Civil Society has also confirmed that the £130m Grassroots Grants fund, which was set up by the Labour government to support small charities and community groups, will not be renewed. It will be replaced by a new Communities First fund which will provide start-up funding for community groups from April 2011.

The Big Lottery Fund has launched its new Youth in Focus grants programme for projects working with young carers, young people leaving care and young people leaving young offender institutions. Up to £30m is available in total and projects are expected to apply for between £500,000 and £1m over three or five years. The deadline for applications is 30 November 2010.

Research

CLG has published the latest national statistics from the Citizenship Survey.  The survey found that 32 per cent of 16 to 25-year-olds participated in informal volunteering at least once a month, while 23 per cent participated in formal volunteering. The survey also measured levels of participation in civic engagement. Participation in the three broad strands of civic engagement was lower for younger people than adults – only 22 per cent of 16 to 25-year-olds engaged in some form of civic participation (wider forms of engagement in democratic processes) compared to between 38 and 42 per cent of 35 to 74-year-olds; 11 per cent engaged in some form of consultation about local services or issues compared to 20-25 per cent of 35 to 74-year-olds; and only 8 per cent were involved in some form of civic activism (direct decision-making about local services or issues) compared to 12 per cent of adults.

The Volunteer Rights Inquiry, set up by Volunteering England, has published an interim report which shows that volunteers need better management and leadership from the organisations they help. It calls for more protection for people who donate their time, after it was found that some volunteers were mistreated or badly managed and had no rights in dealing with their organisations when problems arise.

Participation

The National Participation Forum has launched its latest research on Children’s Participation in Decision-Making. A poll of over 1,000 young people and a summary of research evidence revealed that despite progress, children and young people still do not feel they are being listened to by public services on matters that affect their lives.

The British Youth Council has published research on young people aged 11 to 17 who volunteer for their local youth council. Young Voices ‘Stronger Together’ found that almost 20,000 young people from diverse backgrounds volunteer for their local youth council. The report calls for continued investment in local youth participation and greater recognition of good practice. 

The British Youth Council also wants to hear from young people aged 21 and under about their experiences of employment and pay in order to present a true picture to the government of how young people work, how much they get paid and what they think about their pay. The short survey forms part of BYC’s Equal pay for equal work campaign. Those taking part get the chance to win a £50 Amazon voucher. The deadline to complete the survey is 22 August.

Awards/competitions

The NCVYS Young Partners Award 2010 is now open for nominations from all voluntary and community youth organisations and projects. 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.

Media Trust has joined forces with The Sun to offer 16-21-year-olds the chance to write their own column with the support of some of the Sun’s journalists. Those judged to have the best six ideas will receive training and mentoring to bring their creative idea to life, write their own column and pitch it to a panel of experts.  The overall winner will have their column printed in The Sun newspaper and take the title of Column Idol 2010. The competition closes Monday 9 August.

Events

The NYA is pleased to announce the return of Youth Work Week, which will take place between 1 and 7 November to promote the value of youth work and raise its profile with politicians and the public. It will take the theme of 'celebrating great youth work.' In the meantime, you can show your support by joining our Facebook Group.