Exchange Issue 12

EXCHANGEThe voluntary and communityyouth sector in dialogue

Summer 2011Issue 12

Citizenship

News:Catalyst consortium announced

Policy:National Citizen Service

Articles by:ITV FixersCatch22 NCS Partnership

Exchange - issue 12.e$S_Layout 1 24/06/2011 07:48 Page 2

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EDITORIALWelcome to Issue 12 of Exchangemagazine

This edition of Exchange is themed around the role of citizens.

A year on from the formation of the coalition Government, many observers have takenpause to assess the Government’s achievements in building a Big Society. The role ofordinary citizens has been writ large in every discussion on this subject. This is nevermore apparent than in the Government’s ideas for how young people can play an activerole in their communities.

With a series of pilots for the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme taking place asthis edition goes to print and an International Citizen Service in the works, many in thevoluntary and community youth sector have questions about the Government’sexpectations for these programmes. They are keen to find out the impact that can beachieved in such a short time and at what cost. The answers remain to be seen ahead of a formal evaluation later this year. In the meantime, this edition will shed light on theideas and realities of why and how young people can become active citizens in theircommunities.

Our network of over 280 members is dedicated to improving the lot of young people inEngland and we’ve invited four organisations to discuss their work in creating the citizensof tomorrow. Our feature article is by Catch-22 who are running a pilot of the NCS andhave written about the highs and lows of bringing this project to life. Read more abouttheir experience on p.10.

NCVYS recently announced that we will be absorbing the members of Youth ActionNetwork (YAN) into our membership following their difficult decision to close down.Davina Goodchild, Chief Executive of YAN writes on p.7 about the role of youth actionin developing young people as citizens.

Young people have a much better idea about the problems facing them in their everydaylives than adults. If citizenship is to mean anything, young people need to be able to fixtheir own problems which neatly sums up what the organisation ITV fixers do. With closelinks to the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, ITV fixers have been able to generatesubstantial attention for the projects undertaken by young people. Find out more aboutthe work of ITV fixers on p.14.

Last but not least, we feature a winner of our 2010 Young Partners Award, YoungAdvisors, in our case study. This profile of the organisation is a great demonstration ofhow young people can shape their communities for the better by providing advice andinsight that adults don’t have access to. Read about the work of Young Advisors on p.16.

If you’ve enjoyed this issue, we hope to see you at our annual conference on 2 Novemberwhich will be looking at Active Citizenship. A range of speakers and seminars will beannounced soon so please take a look at our website to find out more and book yourplace.

Our next issue is planned to arrive just before Christmas. As ever, we welcomecontributions from our members so if you’ve got news or features for an article, get in touch with us by emailing [email protected]

Ross Bailey Editor

Contents

NCVYS news p04

Networks news p05

Member news p06

Opinion: Youth Action Network p07

Policy update and analysis p08

ENVOY update p09

Article: Making Citizens p10

Connections and communications p12

Ideas bank p13

Article: Mending Britain,one fix at a time p14

Case study: Young Advisors p16

Workforce developmentupdate p17

Meet the Chief Executive:James Cathcart, BYC p18

Heads up p19


04

NCVYS becomes a Catalyst forDepartment for EducationA NCVYS coordinated consortium has been appointedas the Department for Education’s Strategic Partner foryoung people as part of a two year programme. Theconsortium, known as Catalyst, is co-ordinated byNCVYS with partners including the National YouthAgency (NYA), the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC)and The Young Foundation.

Catalyst will play a key role in ensuring the voluntaryand community youth sector contributes to the reformof services for young people and in particular is able tobolster its own capacity for delivery. Catalyst will workto develop:

• a more positive place and active role for youngpeople in society;

• a stronger focus on evidence-based targetedintervention with greater flexibility and responsibilityfor local areas to prioritise and allocate fundingaccording to local need;

• a more contestable market for publicly-fundedservices with a greater role for voluntary andcommunity organisations; and

• a greater sense of responsibility in communities,including business communities, for the engagementand wellbeing of their young people.

Catalyst’s bid put forward a number of proposals tosupport the sector and in particular establish anenvironment where services for young people aresustainable and delivered with greater coordinationand efficiency.

To keep up to date with more news about theCatalyst consortium’s work, please visit ourwebsite at: www.ncvys.org.uk

Youth Summit brings togetherexperts on youth affairsNCVYS and the Department for Education hosted thePositive for Youth Summit in March where Ministers,young people, representatives of the voluntary youthsector, local authorities and the private sector cametogether to discuss the key issues facing young

people. The summit, held in London, drew on frontlineexpertise with the aim of developing a new sharedvision for young people. With over 200 attendeesincluding the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, CivilSociety Minister Nick Hurd and, Local GovernmentMinister Andrew Stunnell, the event presented anumber of opportunities for young people and youthexperts to reach key members of the Government.

The summit was co-chaired by Children and FamiliesMinister Tim Loughton, Susanne Rauprich, ChiefExecutive of NCVYS, and Jack Rowley, vice chair ofthe British Youth Council. During the summit TimLoughton said that young people and the youth sectorwould have the chance to shape the Government'sforthcoming youth policy.

The Department for Education has created adedicated webpage for the Positive for Youth Summit.It contains the opening speeches and draft documentsrecording the key points that came out of each of thethemed discussions. The Department welcomesfurther comments, suggestions or questions, andwould like organisations to let them know if they areplanning any future connecting activity.

For more information on the Positive for YouthSummit, please visit http://bit.ly/youthsummit1

NCVYS staff take the plunge formembersNCVYS staff are always on the lookout for ways to helpour members so it came as no surprise when threeintrepid colleagues took up the challenge of a lifetimethis April. In response to the Muslim Youth Helpline’s(MYH) call for people to take part in a sponsoredparachute jump, Policy and Communications DirectorFaiza Chaudary, Young Facilitator Tom Gaskin andYouth Participation Officer Keji Okeowo signed up to do their very first parachute jump.

After an unfortunate delay due to bad weather inFebruary, the trio finally took to the skies from the NorthLondon Airfield in early April. After an intensive courseon the basics of skydiving (and what to do if theparachute didn’t open!), Faiza, Tom and Keji were readyto board the plane for the 5,000ft jump. Having

endured a nerve wracking 30 minute ascent to thejump height, all three staff members took the plungewith their instructors and made it safely back toground.

Whilst Faiza has sworn never to go near a plane again,Tom and Keji are looking for further opportunities to risk life and limb so any members looking to sign upfundraisers for their future endeavours know where tolook.

Generous sponsors including many within our membernetwork helped raise over £1000 for the Muslim YouthHelpline (MYH). The money will help fund volunteers tolisten to young people who find themselves in difficultsituations and in need of emotional support but withno-one to turn to. Faiza, Tom and Keji would like tothank all their sponsors.

You can find out more here about MYH athttp://www.myh.org.uk/about_us and seepictures from the jumphttp://on.fb.me/ncvysjump

Leadership Masterclass seriesleads the wayNCVYS has introduced a series of LeadershipMasterclasses for senior members of our network tocelebrate our 75th anniversary. Designed to kick startdebate and discussion about leadership in the sector,NCVYS has held two Masterclasses at the time ofpublication. The first event saw the Chairman of theJohn Lewis Partnership, Charlie Mayfield talk aboutchanging organisational culture and mutualisation. Thesecond event saw Tim Smit, Chief Executive of theEden project speak on issues including innovation andsocial enterprise. The third event of the current seriestakes place in late June where well known internetentrepreneur and UK Digital champion, Martha Lane-Fox will talk about leadership in a digital age.

For more information about the events, take a lookat our Leadership Masterclass pagehttp://www.ncvys.org.uk/leadershipmasterclasses.html

NCVYS NEWS

Charlie Mayfield speaks at the first Leadership Masterclass Government Ministers and Susanne Rauprich at the Positive for Youth Summit NCVYS staff get ready for takeoff before their sponsoredparachute jump


05

Two become one – lessons froma network mergerIn challenging times, more networks than everare examining radical options to ensure thatyoung people continue to receive the bestpossible services. In this article Sue Martin,Executive Infrastructure & Support atAction4Youth in Buckinghamshire discusses the story behind one such decision.

In August 2010 Youth Focus, the BuckinghamshireCouncil for Voluntary Youth Services andAction4Youth, the Buckinghamshire Association forClubs for Young People and UK Youth, merged intoone charity and company limited by guarantee:Action4Youth.

The voluntary sector in Buckinghamshire has strongfoundations with a long history of working withchildren and young people. Figures from themembership organisations of Action4Youth showover 60,000 children and young people agedbetween 5 and 25 years of age, supported by morethan 8,000 adult volunteers, accessed voluntaryyouth provisions in 2009/10.

Prior to the merger, the core activity of Action4Youthwas to provide infrastructure services for the localyouth club network and to act as a delivery agent,with qualified youth workers going out to clubs to runsessions and provide hands on support and trainingto volunteer leaders, management committees andyoung people. Youth Focus was the strategicinfrastructure organisation, operating at the highestend of the multi-agency county structure. It provideda representational voice for the whole voluntary sectorthat deliver services for children and young people,on both the Children and Young People’s Trust Boardand within the Buckinghamshire SafeguardingChildren Board arrangements.

The drive towards merging goes back over a numberof years with an ever strengthening steer coming fromour joint funders, Buckinghamshire County Council(BCC) Youth Service. Originally both Boards definedclear identities for the two organisations. In 2009 atransformation initiative for Buckinghamshire CountyCouncil led the Youth Service to reshape, with plansto maintain a retained service concentrating on thedelivery of a range of targeted specialist youth workand the universal youth centre provision beingcommissioned to another body. These changessignaled the end of the previous arrangements withthe Youth Service and it was timely for Youth Focusand Action4Youth to consider new ways of working.

The main challenge was to deliver the breadth ofthese services within one organisation without losingfocus on supporting local voluntary youth clubs orthe wider strategic position. Our extensive experienceand well embedded local networks created a strongorganisation that meets the requirements across thewhole children and young people’s agenda. Therecognition gained by Youth Focus for its closepartnership working, coupled with the ability ofAction4Youth to deliver to both young people andthe volunteers that support them, has increased ourvisibility and profile.

The work began in earnest in January 2010 whenthe Board of Youth Focus invited NCVYS to facilitatean away day to look at the options when fundingceased. As a sole infrastructure organisation it was

going to be impossible to sustain our existencewithout some form of collaboration either with ourlocal association for youth clubs, the local widervoluntary sector or a cross county initiative withanother CVYS. It was decided that it was paramountto maintain a strong and independent voice for youngpeople within the voluntary sector and talks with the Board of Action4Youth were facilitated by aconsultant funded through the fortuitously timedModernisation Fund. Once the two Boards werepersuaded this was the best option, the membershipwere consulted and a number of meetings held.These were understandably passionate affairs whichreflected the quality of work done by bothorgnisations for Buckinghamshire’s young people.Objections were raised as the only way to mergewas to dissolve Youth Focus and transfer the assetsto Action4Youth. Dissolving both charities and startinga new one would wipe both our records which woulddisadvantage us in the forthcoming commissioningprocess. The other area of contention was that thename should be changed in order to create a newidentity and branding. After discussion andnegotiation, it was agreed to wait until thecommissioning process was completed.

The Youth Focus constitution required us to hold anextraordinary general meeting to dissolve the charity.Action4Youth was a company limited by guaranteeand therefore had a Board of Directors. Decisions hadto be made on how the membership would continueto be represented in the new structure and it wasagreed that the Board of Directors would have nomore than 12 members. It was also agreed tocontinue with our Council meetings but the memberswould no longer have decision making or votingrights. The Council has become a members’ Forum,meeting three times a year, where issues of mutualand current concern can be addressed throughdiscussion stimulated by outside speakers.

Throughout the course of this process we weresubjected to a number of external factors, includingthe outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Reviewwhich was not announced until late in 2010. The finaloutcome was the decision by the County Council thatcommunities would be asked to take on the runningof their youth clubs for themselves. As well ascarrying out intense local lobbying we had supportfrom our colleagues in BCC and the Youth Service.The combined strength of our two organisations washelpful in securing our role to provide the expertise,support and training to the emerging voluntary youthgroups.

No transition is painless or without sacrifice but thereneeds to be a high degree of pragmatism in thesedifficult circumstances combined with the ability tomake compromises and to listen to the requirementsof both parties. Overall our vision has been that weneed to have a strong, visible and recognised centreof excellence to support the children and youngpeople in our county to achieve their potential and byworking together we stand a fighting chance of doingjust that.

Sue would be happy to share adviceand learning with other networksconsidering mergers. Readers cancontact her at:

E: [email protected]

NETWORK NEWS

Countess Howe, President of Action4Youth at a recent network event


06

MEMBER NEWSUK Youth Parliament finds new home at BritishYouth Council The British Youth Council (BYC) has been awarded a grant from theDepartment for Education to manage UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) after theclosure of the latter’s parent company Democracy for Young People Ltd.

BYC has received a grant to maintain UKYP for a six month period from April 2011.UKYP will retain its independence and continue to offer young people throughoutthe UK an opportunity to represent their local areas through the national body.

UKYP have announced that their annual sitting will take place on the 22nd – 24thJuly at Leeds University. The annual event will see hundreds of members of theyouth parliament gather to discuss pressing issues affecting young people.

Chief Executive of BYC, James Cathcart said: “This year’s Annual Sitting is a bigopportunity for UKYP to make its mark on 2011. Although I am still new to theworkings of UKYP, I have seen the terrific commitment and energy of the team andstaff working together, and know that we are united in making sure that the AnnualSitting is a success!”

Find out more about BYC and the UKYP at http://bit.ly/bycukyp

Young people trial National Citizen Service (NCS)pilots Several NCVYS members will be rolling out their National Citizen Service pilotprojects by the time this issue reaches readers.

The National Citizen Service is open to Year 11 school leavers throughout Englandand offers the chance to help young people learn new skills, meet new friends andget involved in community projects.

NCVYS members V, Catch-22, Young Advisors and The Prince’s Trust are allrunning or advising on this year’s pilot scheme. To read more about the experienceof Catch-22 in setting up their NCS scheme, have a read of our article on p.10.

The KIDS are all grown upNCVYS member Kids, who enable disabled children and young people and theirfamilies, are celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2011. Founded in 1971 by ateacher concerned about the services available to a disabled pupil, the organisationhas grown significantly and now works with disabled children and their familiesthroughout the UK.

The charity celebrated their 40th anniversary with a Gala dinner at Battersea PowerStation in London and will be holding other events to commemorate theirachievements throughout the year.

Celebrating such a significant birthday in times of austerity is challenging and KIDSare continuing to advocate for children and young people with disabilities. Theyrecently took part in the Hardest Hit campaign march on Westminster to drawattention to cuts in services for families with disabled children and young peoplebeing made by local authorities.

To find out more about KIDS and their work enabling young people withdisabilities and their families, visit their website http://www.kids.org.uk/

Send in your member newsWe are always on the lookout for stories and news about our membership. If youhave a story that you would like to share with our network of over 280 membersand the readership of Exchange,

please contact the Exchange editor at [email protected]

NCVYS members KIDS at the Hardest Hit protest rally

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07

Members of Youth Action Network visit Parliament during their campaign to promote Youth Action

OPINION

Actions speak louder than wordsThe best way to get young people active in theircommunities is by having them in on the actionsays Davina Goodchild, Chief Executive of YouthAction Network.

One of the most fun and rewarding ways of being anactive citizen is to get involved in local volunteeringand, if you’re a young person, that could mean gettinginvolved in youth action. Youth action is a youth ledapproach to volunteering where young people haveresponsibility for the design, planning, delivery andevaluation of community projects. Youth Action Networkhas supported hundreds of local organisations todevelop youth action programmes and we’ve heardsome amazing stories and been inspired by somebrilliant young people along the way.

The ‘active’ part of being an active citizen is key here;and especially so in terms of youth action. We thinkactive citizens are young people who come up with theirown ideas for what needs to happen in their community– the job of adults is to support them in their search forsolutions and facilitate the development of ideas. Thesupport is crucial. Our Re:Action research looks at theimpact that youth led volunteering has on young peopleand highlights just how important the relationshipbetween the worker and young person is. Re:Actionwas a three year research project carried out by a groupof young people with support from Youth ActionNetwork and De Montford University. The young peoplewere looking at the difference that youth led volunteeringmakes to both themselves and the communities thatthey volunteer in. They found that volunteering builds the

social capital of young people by exposing them topeople who are different to their usual group of friendsor social circle. It encourages them to challenge theirown preconceptions and perceptions and gives thema different perspective from which to view the world.It also helps to build community cohesion by fosteringa sense of belonging for young people.

So, what do youth action projects look like? Well, usually (but not exclusively) youth action is a groupactivity. Ideas for projects come from the young peopleand they take control of how and when things happen.This is quite different from more traditional placementvolunteering, since the growth in recognition and status of participation as a concept even placementvolunteering often allows the volunteer to develop theirown ideas.

Funding for groups of young people involved in thedevelopment and delivery of community projects hasbeen available for a while now. Some good examplesare www.britishcouncil.org/youthinaction.htm,www.liveunltd.com, www.theduveentrust.org.uk.Unfortunately, funding for organisations supportingyoung people has declined despite a focus oncommunities ‘doing things for themselves’ and the BigSociety agenda. We recently announced that YouthAction Network will close during the autumn of 2011 as we are facing similar challenges to our membersregarding funding. We have been involved incampaigning on behalf of our members and youthvolunteering in general as our final activity for the last 6months. Many of our members have faced huge cuts infunding and are able to support far fewer young people

to volunteer. We want youth action to live on after ourclosure and we have agreed that NCVYS will absorb ourmembership network from September onwards. At thispoint, we’re keen to ensure we leave a useful legacy so I want to share the nine principles of youth action as widely as possible – they are a recipe for excellentyouth action.

1. Youth Participation2. Benefiting others3. Fun & rewarding4. Flexibility5. Support6. Recognition7. Progression & leadership8. Diverse & inclusive9. Personal and skills development

We strongly believe that young people applying forfunding and workers supporting young people in theirvolunteering efforts should put these nine principles atthe heart of their projects. We think that doing so willensure all young people involved emerge from theexperience as confirmed and committed volunteers.If working for the betterment of your community is thecornerstone of being an active citizen, we believe thatyouth action is the right place to get started.

Don’t just take my word for it. We recently ran acampaign to ask people what volunteering had donefor them. We were overwhelmed with responses, someof which you can see below.

“If I hadn’t volunteered ....

... I wouldn't have known how tomake change in my community.(Colette Harrison, Youth ActionNetwork Chair)

I started volunteering at 16 and turned43 this year. Guess what? I'm stillvolunteering! 27 years, not bad eh?(Diane Law, youth action worker, Leeds)

.....I wouldn't have got involved in the charitysector and my career would probably havetaken a very different direction. I volunteeredquite by chance, for a sheltered housingscheme that a friend was involved in, and lovedit so much I ended working there and haven'tlooked back since.(Jamie Ward-Smith, Founder of online volunteeringsocial network www.i-volunteer.org.uk)

......I wouldn't have gained a rounderperspective on life nor would I have gainedthe skills and life experience needed tomake a real difference to others.(Simon Hancox, youth action worker, Derby)


CitizenshipIn this edition’s policy analysis, NCVYS Policy Officer Dom Weinberglooks at the debate around the role of youth organisations in developingyoung people as citizens.

The role of young people in society is complex and uncertain, with their positivecontributions to communities often overshadowed by negative media coverage.Both the current and previous Government recognised the importance of tryingto influence this debate, and the issue of the role of young people has beenstimulated by this Government’s plans to introduce a National Citizen Service(NCS). The programme, designed for 16 year olds, aims ‘to give them a chance to develop the skills needed to be active and responsible citizens, mix with people from different backgrounds, and start getting involved in theircommunities.’ Participation is not compulsory, but the Government wants toexpand the programme - which is being piloted in 2011 - so that eventually every 16-year-old has the chance to part. Several of our members are taking partin piloting these schemes. You can read about the experience of the Catch22NCS partnership on p.10.

There has been significant debate about the NCS, both during an All PartyParliamentary Group (APPG) on Youth Affairs meeting, and as part of theEducation Select Committee’s Inquiry into youth services which many NCVYSmembers contributed to. The evidence sessions for the Inquiry revealed thatorganisations working with young people support the principle of a NationalCitizen Service, and welcomed the fact that a flagship Government initiative is around non-formal learning and recognising the value of voluntary youthservices. However, many witnesses expressed concerns about the short-termengagement offered by the NCS, and stressed the importance of sustained andregular youth services to develop caring relationships between adults and youngpeople. There were suggestions that the programme would be more effective if ithad tried to bring together existing volunteering activities under a national projectand build on the provision that is already there. Witnesses also spoke about the importance of there being a supported volunteering network and additionalopportunities for young people from all backgrounds to be able to carry on withvolunteering.

There was also debate on the NCS during an All Party Parliamentary Group(APPG) on Youth Affairs meeting in February, which was attended by over 80people, most of whom were young people. The event showed that young peopleshared many of the concerns about the NCS that were raised by the SelectCommittee Inquiry. At the event issues were raised around: the similarity of NCSto other schemes; whether it could be fully inclusive and engage all youngpeople; how young people’s voices would be heard in relation to the scheme;and what kind of legacy it would leave.

The NCS is being run in parallel with the Department for InternationalDevelopment’s International Citizen Service (ICS) - an international volunteeringscheme to encourage young people from the UK to take part in projects indeveloping countries. It is being co-ordinated by VSO UK on behalf of thegovernment and is aimed at 18- to 22-year-olds. Projects will run for between 10 and 12 weeks and include work in South America and Africa with people livingwith HIV/Aids. The think-tank Demos is currently examining the potential benefitsof an ICS, exploring how it can be integrated into Big Society initiatives, publicattitudes toward overseas volunteering, best practice options of differentschemes, and the cost implications.

Whilst NCS dominates the headlines, other government developments are alsoimpacting on young people’s role as citizens. The Localism Bill has potential tooffer opportunities to embed youth participation within communities, althoughthere are concerns that more needs to be done to ensure that all young people’svoices can be heard in local decision making. The Government has also launcheda review which will consider whether citizenship should be part of the NationalCurriculum, with statutory Programmes of Study, or whether it should becompulsory but with what is taught being decided at local level.

For sources and further details about issues discussed in this article, please seeour web resource at http://bit.ly/bundles/ncvys/d

NCVYS consultation responsesNCVYS continues to submit consultation responses in order to inform andinfluence policy that impacts on young people and the voluntary sector at a local,regional and national level.

We have submitted a response to the Ministry of Justice Green PaperBreaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing ofOffenders. Our response champions the role of the voluntary and communityyouth sector in breaking the cycle of offending.

Our response to the Public Administration Select Committee's Inquiry intothe Big Society expresses our concerns about the cumulative impact andconsequences of reductions in public expenditure on young people and thevoluntary and community youth sector.

Our response to theDepartment for Communities and Local Government’sReview of statutory duties supports the response of Children England. Itexpresses our concern at the status of consultation as an ‘informal’ review and the short time frame for organisations to submit a response. We are highlyconcerned that removing duties relating to young people will further damage the local priority given to youth services and strongly recommend protecting a number of specific duties.

Our response to the Home Office's consultation More effective responses to anti-social behaviour supports the response of our member Catch-22. Itemphasises that the voluntary and community youth sector plays a vital role insupporting young people who are displaying, or at risk of displaying, anti-socialbehaviour. It says that the primary focus must be on interventions that provideintensive support and encouragement, rather than punitive measures.

If you would like to inform NCVYS's responses, please contact Faiza Chaudary,Director of Policy and Communications.E: [email protected]

Briefing papersNCVYS has produced a briefing paper summarising Budget 2011 – whichincludes funding for additional apprenticeship places for NEETs and for additionalwork experience places for young people. The Budget also announced a numberof measures of relevance to the voluntary sector, including proposals around GiftAid and giving.

Our briefing paper on the Government’s Child Poverty and Social MobilityStrategies summarises the strategies. We are concerned that the strategies offerlittle in the way of new policy to tackle the problems of child poverty or low socialmobility.

Our comment paper on the Localism Bill explains our support for the Real Powerfor Communities campaign which welcomes the Localism Bill. It also notes someconcerns we have, including on equalities issues, democracy and youngpeople’s engagement.

Youth policy paperNCVYS is working with the Department for Education on its draft youth policypaper. This paper will also be informed by the work of the Education SelectCommittee’s inquiry into Youth Services, the Youth Summit held in March andadditional roundtable meetings with stakeholders. It will be launched forconsultation in the summer.

To find copies of our consultations, briefing and policy papers mentioned in thisarticle, please take a look at our online resource http://bit.ly/bundles/ncvys/c

POLICYANALYSIS

POLICYUPDATE

08


ENVOYJack Brown, Young Facilitator for the South-west

Meet the Young FacilitatorsIn 2009, NCVYS began employing a teamof Young Facilitators to expand, support andfurther promote NCVYS’s youth participationwork regionally. They interact with NCVYSmember organisations and projects, facilitatemeetings and build positive relationships withyoung people. Jack Brown, the NCVYS YoungFacilitator for the South-West region explainsmore about their role and experience so far.

Hi, I’m writing as one of the nine NCVYS YoungFacilitators to explain who we are, what we doand how we work with other youth organisations.

The Young Facilitators are a team of nine youngpeople who work on a part time basis and recruitedas an annual intake, working for one year. We arefrom all different backgrounds with a range ofexperiences in youth participation. This gives usdifferent approaches to the way we work and makesit a really interesting team to be a part of - we arealways learning from each other and sharing newideas. We are each based in one of the Englishregions and work from home, enabling us to developprojects and contacts at a regional level effectively.

Our responsibilities are to develop young people’sinvolvement at NCVYS and to support and build uprelations with NCVYS members. We engage andsupport NCVYS members and the young peoplethey work with in our work and through our nationalyouth forum, ENVOY. We do this by promotingyouth related opportunities and events to them.

One of our major responsibilities is to organiseevents and workshops throughout the year,including Hot Topic events. These provide youngpeople in our regions with an opportunity to discussand debate issues that are important to them andtheir peers. We can then feed these views back tothe NCVYS policy team who can incorporate theminto the organisation’s work with Government. TheHot Topic events have been a great chance toexpand the voice of young people in policy making.We really hope that they will lead to betterrepresentation of young people’s views at a policymaking level.

Apart from our immediate responsibilities, we alsoget involved in NCVYS’s wider work and representthis to members, both individually and together asa team. We plan and deliver workshops at eventsaround youth participation, conduct presentationsabout NCVYS and attend other youth relatedevents.

Our latest and most pressing task is to work withour regional ENVOY members on planning thisyear’s Young Partners Award. The Award recognisesand celebrates excellence in youth participation andprovides a platform for young people to showcasetheir involvements. At the time of writing, we’vealready had dozens of organisations nominatethemselves as a direct consequence of our outreachwork. As NCVYS expands its reach regionally, therewill be more opportunities to network and shareideas with regional showcase events happeningin August leading up to the final awards ceremony.Take a look at the youth participation pages on theNCVYS website to find out more.

We are also working with colleagues at the NCVYSoffice to make ENVOY a more sustainable youthforum by creating more definition in the roles ofyoung people who join. We are recruiting currentand potential ENVOY members to become nationalENVOY members, which will mean moreopportunities and responsibilities within theorganisation. They will act as mentors and as asupport to regional ENVOY Members, helping themto develop their learning and skills. Regional ENVOYmembers will work on regional events, opportunitiesand training whereas national ENVOY members willfocus on all things national. This new arrangementwill also give members a progression route to worktowards and new skills, accredited training andexperience. It’s an exciting time for ENVOY and we’llbe reporting back on our progress later this year.We are also working to build partnerships withorganisations so that we can make sure that thisinvolvement in NCVYS’s work is not restricted toindividuals and is communicated between ENVOYmembers and organisations.

Hopefully this will have got you interested in whatwe do and will have left you with ideas, questions,thoughts, and things you want to talk about andshare. Why not get in touch with your local YoungFacilitator using the emails listed? We’d be delightedto talk to you in more detail about NCVYS andENVOY. We look forward to hearing from you.

Get in touch with theYoung Facilitators:Jack Brown (South West)[email protected]

Iniyam Subramoney (South East)[email protected]

Tom Gaskin (East of England)[email protected]

Charity Mhende (West Midlands)[email protected]

Lucky Thandi (East Midlands)[email protected]

Robbie Foulston (Yorkshire and Humber)[email protected]

Alex Park (North West)[email protected]

Rachel Rooney (North East)[email protected]

09

Better together - The Young Facilitators and young partners colleagues


10

MAKING CITIZENS

The Catch-22 NCS developers line up

The Government’s

National Citizen Service

(NCS) pilots are now well

underway. NCVYS

members Catch22 are

one of the pilot providers

and in this article, they

explain more about the

scheme and how it will

work for young people.

Talk of citizenship, and the reaction you get can

be similar to declaring yourself a member of a cult;

many people will walk away. And, why wouldn’t

they? Citizenship can be a pretty dry subject and

for young people, there appears little by way of

incentive for getting involved in the discussion.

However, this summer could change all that.

The National Citizen Service (NCS) pilots, due to

start in July, will allow young people to express what

being a citizen means for them and give them the

opportunity to put that into action in their

communities.

Catch22, an NCS pilot provider and a charity with a

long history of working with young people, believes

its NCS pilot will galvanise young people into

making a difference to where they live.

“NCS is a big undertaking and 10,000 young people

will be involved. We formed the Catch22 NCS

Partnership because offering young people a

chance to participate in and shape their future is a

key element in how we work with them”, explains

Catch22’s NCS national programme manager,

Duncan Pearse.

“NCS is about social action, taking an issue at the

heart of a local community and doing something

about it. Young people are the inheritors of all that’s

good and not so good about where they live and

being a citizen involves taking responsibility and

getting involved to change things for the better.”

While the full programme doesn’t start until the

summer, young people have already been active in

its development and demonstrating the art of the

possible. One of the partners involved in Catch22’s

programme is Young Advisors, an organisation that

supports, trains and inspires young people to work

together through an enterprising social action model

to improve their local community. Young Advisors

have recruited a team of eight Developers from

Catch22 projects around the UK who have a

national input, and a local leadership role. They in

turn have recruited over 40 young people as

Ambassadors, who are helping promote the project

to other year 11 students in their area.

The development phase began with a residential

weekend in January for Developers, a kind of 'mini

NCS' with outdoor team building and exercises

developing skills such as presenting and training,

self reflection, considering the needs of young

people in their communities and issues of

accessibility and inclusion. Following this the

Developers set about the essential task of recruiting

and training the ‘sales-force’; the Ambassadors

who will sell the benefits of NCS to their peers.

The Developers have made their presence felt on

the national NCS agenda, with two of the group

taking part in a recent youth summit with Minister

for Children and Young People, Tim Loughton.

Katie, from Portsmouth, was one of the Developers

who contributed and put the point simply and

clearly:

“The Government needs to consider young people’s

opinions. Whatever we say, they need to take it into

consideration. They need to take what we say and

ask themselves ‘what can we change?’ That’s

where they can have a big impact, by listening to

the young people.”

While the interaction with Government is important,

forging the most productive relationships with like-

minded organisations, is essential. Recently,

decision makers from the six strategic partners met

to talk about developing the Catch22 NCS

Partnership programme this year, and ahead in

2012. NCS Developer, Joe, took part representing

the views of young people and local projects.


11

Joe said: “Making NCS accessible to all 16 year

olds, no matter what their background or abilities,

is vital to making young people feel that NCS

really is for everyone. Listening to young people’s

experiences and reflecting on what they say about

what works for them and what can improve NCS

as it grows, will make a difference too.”

This inclusive approach can be seen in action

in Runcorn where Developer, Claire, has been

recruiting a group of Young Ambassadors who are

really leading the development of their local project,

planning and shaping what the young people are

doing, Claire says:

“To make a success of this kind of activity you have

to start from the ground up and get people behind

it from the start. Young people need to see the

impact they can make and what difference it can

make to them.”

This kind of commitment is central to the ambitions

for the NCS experience, which culminates in a

phase of social action that will take the young

participants into their communities to foment some

form of social change.

Creating this sense of collective agency, putting

young people in control and enabling them to

influence what happens around them can be the

perfect antidote to feelings of generational

alienation. In addition, it can help increase

intergenerational understanding and greater

pro-social behaviour among young people.

Duncan Pearse sums up NCS:

“Successful outcomes of NCS will be measured

in many ways; some exact and specific and

some softer. Helping young people by offering

opportunities for reflective learning may be one of

the softer measures; however, it is just as

important.”

“Holding up a mirror allows us to see other

perspectives, something that is key to NCS

success. To deliver the objectives of NCS, we need

to embed its ethos across our communities; this

will make it national. If we can stimulate a sense

of commitment among young people to making a

positive contribution to where they live, their social

capital will increase and they will move closer to

fulfilling their responsibilities as citizens. And, if we

can do that then surely the ideals of service will

follow.”

To find out more about NCS with Catch22 NCS

Partnership, or to find out how you can support

young people’s social action this summer, visit

www.catch-22.org.uk/ncs or find catch22ncs

on Facebook and Twitter.

NCS developer Claire NCS developer Joe NCS developer Katie

What will NCS involve?The NCS programme gives young people the

chance to make new friends, try new activities and

challenges, and make a difference in their local

community. Delivered by a network of local

providers in diverse communities around the UK,

the experience will have a local flavour, but a

common structure with the following set phases:

• Getting started – Before the summer kicks off

there will be chance for the young people, staff

and volunteers to have fun, get to know one

another and make a start on teambuilding.

• Away residential – A week combining outdoor

activities and mental challenges, designed to be

challenging but fun and to help develop

friendships and team work skills. Young people

might find themselves building a raft, conquering

a high-walk, reading a map, or gathered round a

camp fire.

• Home residential - This week will be a chance

to learn new skills and to find out more about and

get involved in the local area. Young people might

be making a film, planning a sports tournament,

getting out and about as roving reporters or

taking part in volunteer taster sessions with local

organisations.

• Social action week – The teams of young

people will focus on making a difference in their

local community, deciding together what they

want to tackle and making a plan for how to do it.

They will be supported to develop their idea, and

encouraged to think about the skills and roles

each of the team can play.

• Social action project – Over the next three

weeks, the young people will spend 30+ hours

putting their plan into action, and there are all

sorts of possibilities depending on what the

young people choose to do. Themes could

include helping the environment, bringing

generations together, improving a public space,

or campaigning on an issue affecting young

people.

• Graduation – Time to look back on all that the

teams achieved in the summer and celebrate

with new friends and everyone who has taken

part. It will also be a chance for young people to

look forward, think about what they have enjoyed

about getting actively involved in the local

community, and what opportunities there are

to continue.


12

Sound Systems encourages organisations to criticallyexamine policies, procedures and practice in allaspects of safeguarding, including safer recruitment,management and development of staff and volunteers,child protection procedures and providing saferactivities. Organisations that are successfully assessedand verified by independent assessors will be entitledto use the Sound Systems Quality Mark for a threeyear period before being reassessed (subject tocollection of a renewal fee).

Pricing for Sound SystemsNCVYS members £600

Voluntary Sector/registered charity £700

Statutory organisations £850

Commercial organisations £1000

Safe Systems is a preliminary award which leadstowards achieving the Sound Systems quality markand is intended to be very practical in accrediting whatyou actually do to keep people in your organisationsafe from harm. Having a Safe Systems recognitionmeans that you can prove to parents, young people,carers and potential funders that you take safeguardingseriously. Safe Systems accreditation lasts for twoyears after which your organisation will need to bereassessed once you have paid a renewal fee.

Pricing for Safe SystemsNCVYS members £100

Voluntary Sector/registered charity £125

Statutory organisations £150

Commercial organisations £200

Keeping it Safe is our bestselling guide toSafeguarding and has now been updated for 2011.The third edition contains the latest legislation andpolicy and includes all up-to-date standards andguidelines. Keeping it Safe costs £50 plus p&p(£35 to NCVYS members).

Please contact the NCVYS ServiceDevelopment Team to find out more. E: [email protected]: 020 7278 1041

Measuring success (and failure)The key to good messaging is to plan, create,measure and analyse. At its core, the idea isto understand what sort of messages andcontent your intended audience will engagewith and then use more of it. Until recently, ithas been quite difficult for organisations withlimited resources to know how many peoplewere engaging with them through these typesof activities. Even some larger organisationslacked the resources to create a way ofmeasuring every different fund raising initiativeor promotion.

Things can only get betterThe good news is that as we move more and moreof our services online, a number of innovative toolshave popped up to provide measurement. Theseservices let you shorten links to a web page bycreating a new short web address that redirects toit. You can then track the number of people clickingon the link. There are lots of address shortening andmeasuring services out there including Tiny URL andShort URL but one of the best is www.bit.ly and forthe purposes of this article, we’ll be using that.

Practical examples:Let’s say you have a web page that allows peopleto sign up for updates about your organisation. Youwant to promote this page and keep more peopleup to date with you work and you’d like to knowwhich is the best method of promotion. You knowthat people won’t find the page if you just link toyour website but the web address of the actualpage is too long to copy down.

Using bit.ly, you can give it multiple short addresseswww.bit.ly/charityupdates andwww.bit.ly/charityupdates2 and put these ondifferent sources of promotion e.g. put one link ona poster and another in a letter. You can then countevery time someone clicks or types in those specificlinks and assess which was your most effectivepromotional source. Next time you do the samecampaign, you’ll have a base of evidence to knowwhat sort of promotion you should invest in.

5 simple tips on how to getstarted with measurement. 1) Create an account

You can use bit.ly without creating an accountif you just want to take a really long web addressand make it short. In the longer term, it’sdefinitely worth setting up an account. This willallow you to keep a record of all the webaddresses that you’ve shortened and see thenumber of times they have been clicked. Onceyou’ve got an account, you can paste in yourfirst link and get it shortened and tracked.

2) Customise your linksIf you just want to use a link in an email, perhapshidden by a hyperlink, you can use one of bit.ly ‘ srandomised links. If you want people to typeit into a web browser, you’ll be better offcustomising the link to make it easy for themto type in and read. Bit.ly has a small buttonlabelled customize and when you click on this,you’ll get the option to choose your own namefor the link e.g. bit.ly/thisismylink

3) Keep a record of your most important linksOnce you’ve started using bit.ly, you can buildup a lot of links quite quickly. Each link has apage which shows how many clicks it hasreceived, from what countries and over whattime period. Copy and paste the web addressof each link into a spreadsheet so you can keepa record and quickly refer back to it.

4) Sync with your social mediaOnce you’ve got the hang of bit.ly, if you’re usingsocial media in your organisation, setup bit.ly asyour tracking service. You’ll soon be able to seewhich of your tweets and Facebook statusmessages are getting the most attention.

5) Encourage everyone in your organisationto use itMeasurement shouldn’t just be the responsibilityof the communications department.Understanding and measuring impact is ofgreater importance than ever to all yourcolleagues and this tool can help themunderstand the impact of their work. If you’vestarted using bit.ly and know that yourcolleagues are putting out material with nomeasurement, show them bit.ly and encouragethem to start using it.

Take a look at this short presentation aboutbit.ly to get going http://bit.ly/a/tour and doget in touch if you’d like more help or adviceon this matter.

Ross BaileyNCVYS Communications and PR Officer

CONNECTIONS

COMMUNICATIONS

Yeah relaunches safeguarding productsNCVYS is re-launching its safeguarding products through our new community interest company yeah. This new approach will allow us to improve the service to ourmembership and beyond, while continuing to ensure organisations operate best working practice in safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults in youthand community work.


13

IDEAS BANKIn this edition’s Ideas Bank,

NCVYS’s Director of

Service Development Beth

Parker discusses how her

Beyond the Comfort Zone

challenge in October 2010

played a role in the

Catalyst consortium’s

programme to strengthen

sector finances.

Funds raised from Beth's Beyond the Comfort Zone challenge are now invested in a self sustaining bike repair project run by young people

From Bikes to Bonds ... You’ll know from previous issues that we launchedBeyond the Comfort Zone back in October 2010 witha little jaunt along the Thames. The 180 mile trek wasan all singing, all dancing introduction to ‘doing thingsdifferently’ which has in turn become the necessarymantra of the moment across a sector reeling from theunprecedented cuts to budgets. So, what was theBeyond the Comfort Zone challenge doing that wasdifferent, given that on the surface, it looked like atraditional fundraising event complete with gruellingendurance activity? Whilst we still encouragedmembers of the public (both within and outside thesector) to be positive citizens and fill a kitty that wouldcontribute to the work our network does with youngpeople, this event had a slightly different aim totraditional fundraising. Money donated to Beyond theComfort Zone was intended to act as a long-terminvestment with a social return. This wasn’t yourcommon or garden grant scheme either – yes wegave away the money raised, but we were quite strictabout our eligibility criteria: the money was to act as aspringboard to a business venture with a social benefitthat was at the very least, self-sustaining after theinitial financial booster from the Beyond the ComfortZone funds. Congratulations are due to WorthUnlimited’s ‘Hub Bike Project’ and Changemakers‘Taking the lead on the issues we face’ who havereceived investment from Beyond the Comfort Zonefund to launch their business ventures. Proving a littlegoes a long way, we’ll be reporting back on theirprogress in future issues.

Learning the lessonsWhen we announced the funding from Beyond theComfort Zone, we had a number of great applicantsbut sadly a sizeable majority had to be rejected at thefirst phase because the projects they submitted werenot sustainable beyond the initial investment. I hopethat the feedback we were able to give at leastopened the discussion about social investment andsustainable activities and what it means for allinvolved. Because, let’s face it, finding a definition forsocial finance is not easy; one of the simplest onesI’ve heard so far is ‘social finance is using financialinstruments to promote decent work’. The ‘financialinstruments’ bit is often where I see people drifting off,and whilst I can’t pretend that social finance is child’splay, I’ve written a number of blog posts where Iattempt to break it down somewhat. This post isa good starting point http://bit.ly/ideasbank

It’s worth pausing on the inclusion of ‘decent work’in that definition. The key to social finance versusstandard models is that investors will be balancinghigh financial risks and the possibility of defaultsagainst the massive benefit of the social impact theirinvestment will make to end users, the ‘decent work’done with young people. If we recognise that theparticularly unique appeal of our sector is that we arechanging lives at the point that matters most, you canargue that you can’t get much more for your moneythan that! We can’t of course rest on our laurels andto make social finance work for our sector, we willneed to really raise our game in demonstratingevidence for outcomes and explaining these in acompelling and persuasive fashion.

If it helps to demystify the idea of social finance, I thinkwe need to keep in mind that getting people to givefor social benefit’s sake is essentially what has beenhappening for as long as charity has existed – after allisn’t that what charity is, the voluntary giving of timeand/or money for the good of others? Social financehas captured a lot of headlines and whilst it presentssome fantastic new opportunities, dusting off ourhistory books and in particular those relating to the19th century shows high levels of philanthropy for thesocial good. What social finance needs to succeed isfor the voluntary sector to move towards incorporatinginvestment streams with defined returns into ouroverall funding mix. Unlike the standard fundingmodels, social finance retailers will be working to

make them work for those in need, not just forourselves. Pulling this off will be a great example offinance enabling citizenship.

What comes next?One of the three key objectives to be delivered bythe Catalyst consortium (more information about thison p4), a NCVYS co-ordinated partnership, is tostrengthen the youth sector market and part of thatwork is around informing the youth sector about social finance and its mechanics, while bringingorganisations together with potential investors to tryout some of the finance models we will be looking at.Another part of that work is to look at the morepractical terms of actually developing a businesscomplete with tradable products and services. This iswhere our community interest company yeah comesin, where we are actively involving young people andour members in the development of services. Thiscollaborative effort to improve things for young peopleand those working with them, enabling them to take advantage of the many income-generatingopportunities out there, is just one of our own littlecontributions to citizenship.

If you would like more information about our socialfinance and enterprise work, please do not hesitateto contact me at E: [email protected]


14

MENDING BRITAIN,ONE FIX AT A TIME

Social disadvantage is no

barrier to active citizenship

and social action, as

evidence from innovative

youth organisation ITV

Fixers reveals.

Founded on the principle that ‘nothing is impossiblejust because it hasn’t been done before,’ Fixersdefies categorisation – is it a charity, or a campaign,or a television production company? The answer is:all those things and more.

Over 5,000 altruistic young people have becomeFixers in the course of the last three years, to fixsomething they see as wrong with our society asit stands. There is no typical Fixer, but they do havesome things in common – they are all aged 16 to 25with a passion for positive change and taking onchallenges, often breaking new ground in doing so.

Fixers was started by the Public ServiceBroadcasting Trust (PSBT) in 2008, with fundingfrom v, the National Young Volunteers’ Service, andin partnership with ITV regional news. Fixers worksacross England as an agency for young people who

want to start their own social action project butneed support to make it happen. Staff buildrelationships with the Fixers themselves and help them work through red tape and talk tostakeholders to further their projects – but crucially,they don’t take over or lead a project, that is downto the commitment of the young people who drivethe whole process.

“When faced with launching a broadcast campaignpromoting the voices of young people, we all half-expected our Fixers to be middle-class with afixation about Iraq. But the truth was far, far moreexciting... a procession of young disadvantaged,dispossessed and often disagreeable, who madeour lives unexpected, surprising and more oftenthan not, inspired. They have changed us with theirnobility, courage and eloquence. They were a silentmajority who suddenly, when given a chance, foundtheir voice,” says Margo Horsley, PSBT chiefexecutive and Fixers’ driving force.

Fixers is not selective in its projects, which meansthat any young person with the ideas andcommitment to become a Fixer will be supported bythe organisation. This policy has meant that we’vebeen able to build up a picture of what issues reallymatter to young people by looking at the commonthemes among Fixers projects around the country.

What makes a Fix?• 20 per cent of Fixers are tackling prejudice

and stamping out stigma. Issues Fixershave taken on include homophobic bullying,growing up as a traveller, and racial unity.

• 20 per cent of Fixers are engagingcommunities and bringing people together.Projects include a safe, cross-communityGCSE celebration party in Manchestersupported by the police.

• 10 per cent of Fixers are tackling boredomand creating things for young people to do,such as building their own skate park inCheddar, or setting up a youth magazine inCarlisle.

• 10 per cent of Fixers are fighting crime andcampaigning to reduce violence. ManyFixers have lost friends and familymembers, others have come from acriminal background themselves, but allwant to end street violence and knife andgun crime.

• Nine per cent of Fixers are helping others tostay safe.

• Eight per cent of Fixers want us to talkmore about things.

• Eight per cent of Fixers are trying to savethe planet and improve the environment.

• Five per cent of Fixers are encouraging usto keep fit.

The Big Difference bakeoff in West London


15

Anyone in the relevant age group can become aFixer, so long as the project benefits someone else,and in the three years since Fixers started, nearly5500 young people have signed up to work on over600 projects of their own design, and helped manythousands of people with problems ranging fromhomophobia to road safety – revealing a truebarometer of the issues young people care aboutin society today.

Sometimes the Fix aims to simply raise awarenessof an issue, such as homelessness ormisunderstood health conditions. Sometimes it’sa practical Fix, like the mixed-ability group in WestLondon who were worried that Londoners didn’tsmile enough, so handed out home-made cupcakesin the street to raise a smile from passers-by. TheFixers themselves come up with the idea and remainin the driving seat all through the project – theorganisation is just there to help the process along.This makes Fixers appeal to a very wide cross-section of young people – many of whom couldbe classified as “hard to reach” and seem unlikelycandidates for traditional forms of volunteering oractive citizenship. By empowering the Fixers with avoice and an outlet for their views, the organisationhas recruited across racial, religious and classdivides, a common thread of wanting to make adifference. Teenage prostitutes in Bristol andaspiring Olympic equestrians in Northumberlandwould never be brought together except under theFixers umbrella – both groups have made films toeducate and inform others.

A qualitative evaluation of Fixers, published earlierthis year by the Institute for Employment Studies(EIS), found that the young participants had controlover their projects and felt an authentic sense ofownership, which helped develop an increasedsense of empowerment and self-esteem. Adultswho participated in the research felt that Fixing‘unleashes talent.’

The research also found that the Fixer approach wasparticularly strong in developing the linking form ofsocial capital, which relates to social relationshipsacross authority structures. Fixers have contact withtheir MPs to discuss their campaigns and the thingsthat adults need to know about the issue, they also make presentations to stakeholders andprofessionals as well as working on a one-to-onebasis.

“Fixers don’t see themselves as volunteers, althoughthey are giving their time freely to help others,” saysFixers Chief Executive Margo Horsley. “Our researchshows that they approach their projects wishing to make a difference, and by helping other people to overcome the challenges they have facedthemselves, using their own experiences to put a voice to the issues.”

The EIS study reveals that Fixers focus less on hard outcomes, such as CV-building, vocationalskills or accreditation than other volunteers.Personal development, such as skills gained incommunication, team work and problem-solving,are by-products of Fixing that have impressed manyof the young Fixers and boosted their self-confidence.

One outreach worker says of a Fixer: “She hasgained a huge amount. She is now able to standup in front of lots of people and do a presentation,She’s gained skills in time planning, she’s workedin a team with professionals, she’s built up hercommunication skills. She has run her own project,shown herself to be self-motivated and driven.”Fiona Malpass (20) from Essex, was inspired to

improve mental health awareness in her communitywith the Fix. She says:

“I wanted to try a slightly new approach to raisingmental health awareness, and having the freedomto create a project around my ideas as an ITV Fixerwas a unique opportunity.”

Fiona’s film was one of two Fixers films to berecognised by the Royal Television Society in theirnon-broadcast awards category in 2011.

And they’ve got used to the Fixers receiving highpraise. The Fixers’ mantelpiece is proudly displayinga whole range of awards. The current Woman ofCourage, Siobhan Pyburn, and the runner up inthe Extraordinary Women Awards, Hayley Boulden,were both nominated for their Fixers projects (forchild abuse survivors and disabled surfersrespectively). Fixers have also won 15 regional Vawards over the last two years and also took threePositive Images Awards (Children and Young PeopleNow magazine) in 2010, including best tv coverageof young people.

The team at ITV Fixers have been spreading theirmessage far and wide among opinion formers asthey seek to scale up into a major nationalcampaign. In the last six months alone, the ITVFixers team have been invited into no fewer thaneight government departments to explain how theywork. The last word on ITV Fixers goes to theMinister for Civil Society Nick Hurd who tweetedafter one meeting that he was "Very impressed byITV Fixers. 5000 young people inspired to make adifference." High praise indeed.

What makes a Fix?• OUTREACH. Experienced field workers are

the first point of contact with young peopleand work closely with them to develop theirideas into projects and overcome obstaclesand red tape. Specialist outreach workersalso work with vulnerable and hard-to-reachgroups, and visit prisons and women’srefuges to offer these young people a voice.

• CREATIVE. Teams of young multi-skilledvideo makers and designers createwebsites, documentaries and promo videosto support the Fixers’ campaigns.

• BROADCAST. Each of ITV’s 11 Englishregions carries a news feature on a Fixersproject every month in its prime teatimenews show. What makes a Fixers reportstand out from other news stories aboutyoung people is the features are createdin-house by the Fixers’ broadcast teamand delivered as a finished product tonewsrooms around the country.

Top Tips from the ITVFixers team• Talk about what you’re doing to everyone

you meet, it’s amazing how many contactsget back to you with offers of help or ideas.

• Cut costs wherever possible by blaggingfree stuff and services, from actors tofilming venues. University courses alwayshave people who want to volunteer to gainexperience in their field.

• Never assume anything. Always doublecheck that participants have receivedemails and know where they need to be,and when they need to be there.

• Appreciation is rare and well received. Wealways end a shoot by thanking everyoneinvolved, and ensure that we send them acopy of the film. Not only is it important forpeople to feel appreciated, you never knowwhen you may need someone’s help onanother occasion.

• Always do your research. Go online andwatch as many existing related campaignsto your Fix as you can. It will give you anidea of what is missing in others work andwill also get the creative juices flowing.

• Take loads of photos at events, post themup on Facebook then text a link to everyoneon the shoot. They will all ‘like’ the page toview the photos and you’ll reach morepeople.

ITV Fixer Fiona Malpass takes her Fix to Parliament

ITV Fixers showcase their work in the live broadcasted Big Fix Live


16

The Young Advisors Charity started in2005 with the aim to recruit and trainyoung people, who may not usuallyvolunteer or participate in theircommunities, to be active citizens.The Young Advisors Charityprofessionally trains all Young Advisorsas Community Organisers or YoungConsultants, meaning that the youngpeople have the relevant skills tostimulate social action in theircommunities and beyond. YoungAdvisors are paid a respectful wagefor the work they do.

Young advisors sit as equals at decision–makingtables, advise as experts in their areas and arenaturally experienced in engaging their peers. Theyare able to youth proof an organisation’scommunications, inspect a service and link theircommissioners in with wider youth culture. They aresolution centered and entrepreneurially minded. Fiveyears since the inception of Young Advisors, wehave grown to a movement of over 700 youngpeople who have a presence in over 45communities nationally.

Young Advisors now operate in three different ways;Bronze, Silver or Gold. Bronze Young Advisors dothe work voluntarily to enhance their communities;these teams are building a foundation for anenterprise-based scheme in the future. Silver YoungAdvisors charge or seek donations for their work,they then decide together as a team how they willspend this money to improve their community.Gold Young Advisors charge for their work and are

both paid themselves and raise money for a pooledbudget that they use to invest into their communityor into the sustainability of their team.

Last year the Young Advisors Charity won aNCVYS Young Partner Award in recognition ofour commitment to youth participation. One of ourschemes represented us throughout this process,from hosting a visit when we were shortlisted rightthrough to making an ecstatic acceptance speechat the awards. Sheffield Young Advisors are one ofthe top Young Advisor teams. Starting in April 2010,the Sheffield team now has over 20 young peopleworking with them. Recently they have beenadvising schools in their area on how to improvestudent access to services and careers advice,inspecting sexual health services in the city (andwitnessing their recommendations implemented)and training adults on community mapping andyouth engagement. Alongside this work they havetaken youth work qualifications and volunteered toincrease the profile of the national charity bysupporting our work. If citizenship means making a positive community contribution, Sheffield YoungAdvisors have become a shining example of this.

Young Advisor Phabian (17) reflects on hisexperience of working as a Young Advisor by saying“The way I look at it is that it benefits me, it benefitsmy friends, it benefits the services I use. For us asindividuals it benefits us directly, it gives ussomething to do, somewhere to go, people totalk to.”

The young people we work with are not wellrepresented in traditional participation structures;they are typically disengaged from the services thathelp them to realise their potential and they havestated that they feel excluded from influencingdecisions which affect their lives. Currently 42%of Young Advisors identify as being from black orminority ethnic backgrounds, and most of our

projects are situated in the top 10% of mostdeprived areas of England (according to the Indicesof Deprivation). Young Advisors are recruited in theircommunities and are themselves disadvantagedeither in education, housing, health, family,transport, income or employment.

The work of Young Advisors throughout the countryis hugely varied and dependent on need andcircumstance. Young Advisors in West Somersethave recently been working with private sectorpartner EDF to lead a series of communityconsultation events whilst Team Southwark inLondon train police in Stop and Search techniques. Nationally all our teams work towards increasingtheir voice and influence, thus strengthening andunderpinning their roles as active young citizens.

For more information about YoungAdvisors, visit their website atwww.youngadvisors.org.uk

CASE STUDYYoung Advisors working with local Police Young advisors advise on services in Sheffield

Young Advisors

Fast Facts aboutYoung Advisors

• Founded in 2005

• Works directly with over 700 young people

• A presence in 45 communities nationwide

• Winner of a 2010 NCVYS Young PartnerAward for excellence in youth participation

• Majority of projects work in the nation’s top10% most deprived communities


17

WORKFORCEDEVELOPMENT

Young Volunteers from the Somerset Rural Youth Project learningtraditional dry stone walling practices on Exmoor

Supporting the sector’s volunteer armyIn this edition’s Workforce Development column, Nichola Brown, NCVYSDevelopment Officer talks about the challenges and opportunities facingorganisations in supporting their volunteer workforce.

Volunteers are the lifeblood and frontline ofthe voluntary and community youth sector,giving their time freely to support youngpeople. Just like their paid colleagues,they also need support and developmentopportunities to equip them with theconfidence, skills and knowledge todeliver quality services for young people.

Supporting such a large and diverse workforceis a complex challenge. The Children’s WorkforceDevelopment Council estimates there are over five million volunteers supporting young people,including those not working in the voluntarysector (Source: A Picture Worth Millions, 2009).In 2010-11 the NCVYS-led Progress project sawhuge demand for accredited training from thevoluntary sector young people’s workforce. Over27,000 units of training were taken up byapproximately 8,000 learners. Over 19,000 ofthose units were accessed by those involunteering roles.

Managing volunteers effectively for the benefit of young people requires a good range of skills,tools and resources. Evaluation of the recentNCVYS ‘Share and Learn Grant Scheme’ (SLGS)shows many organisations do not know where togo for such support - despite an abundance ofinformation and advice available. Indeed thebiggest need identified by our participatingLearning Partners was for greater awareness andvisibility of these resources, including samplepolicies, procedures and templates for recruitingand supporting volunteers.

A good starting point is to access NCVYS’svolunteer management web pagehttp://www.ncvys.org.uk/volsup.html. Thisprovides links to many useful resources andspecialist organisations like Volunteering England.There you can also find the 15 practice sharingexamples produced by our WorkforceDevelopment Champions (funded via the SLGS).We’ve selected a small number of these to sharetheir learning and tips.

Somerset Rural Youth Project has beenengaging with young volunteers for over ten yearsand at the end of March 2011 completed a threeyear v project. During this time, they completedREACH – the youth volunteering qualityassurance benchmark, which ensured that all theappropriate systems and policies were in place tosuccessfully support youth volunteering in a ruralarea. Tips from them include:

‘Tools, systems and resources such as whatwe have implemented will help you. In particularvolunteer supervision is important to have inplace.’

‘Ensure that volunteers are at the heart of thesystem of managing volunteers and invite regularfeedback that support mechanisms in place aremeeting their needs.’

Aik Saath – Together as One, currentlyhave over 100 young volunteers working as peer trainers teaching conflict resolution and anti-racism skills. They have introduced acomprehensive peer-led induction programmeand awards system. Aik Saath said

‘Our improved volunteer management hasresulted in increased recruitment and retentionof young volunteers.’

“Ensure that volunteers are

at the heart of the system of

managing volunteers and invite

regular feedback that support

mechanisms in place are

meeting their needs.”

Somerset Rural Youth Project

Studio 3 Arts used arts based practice to trainvolunteers with additional needs, to work withchildren and young people in community-basedarts projects. Tips include:

‘Deliver creative activities as these trigger naturalengagement in training and stimulate individualresponsibility for personal learning anddevelopment. This structure makes the trainingfar more inclusive.’

‘Well facilitated arts practice is a very safe wayto re-engage people who may find the idea oftraditional training daunting.’

Hope UK created their own nationally accreditedtraining programme connected to drug preventionwork for their volunteers.

‘We wanted to make sure our volunteers workedto the highest standards and looked for relevantaccredited courses – but none were directlysuitable. So we worked with the Open CollegeNetwork to develop a programme.’

The SEND Project created a structuredapproach to managing volunteers, employing avolunteer manager and achieving the Investing inVolunteers www.investinginvolunteers.org.ukstatus in recognition of their overall good practicein working with volunteers. Tips include:

‘Take the time to plan how volunteers will be mosteffectively utilised, ensuring adequate structureand resources are in place to manage volunteers.’

‘There are masses of good practice informationavailable, the key is to use these resources tomake them relevant and workable within thecontext of your organisation.’

The Workforce Development Champions areavailable to be contacted if you require any furtherinformation or advice.

Please visit NCVYS’s volunteer managementweb page for contact detailshttp://www.ncvys.org.uk/volsup.html

For more information aboutWorkforce Development at NCVYS,please contact Nichola:E: [email protected]: 07792 875 635


18

MEET THE CHIEFEXECUTIVEAn interview with James Cathcart,Chief Executive of the British Youth Council

What brought you into the voluntary sector andhow long have you worked with young people?I’ve worked with young people ever since I left

university 30 years ago. My first involvement was asa volunteer in Kent, building a children’s adventureprogramme in my local area and then I worked fora children's home which was a charity. Before joiningBYC and amongst other roles, I’ve worked as avolunteer manager, at a project developing children’shomes in Kent and at the Prince’s Trust setting up ascheme for people leaving care. I’ve had a real mixof the different jobs that go on in the sector.

What has been your greatest achievement inyour career to date?Without wanting to sounding pretentious, I would say

making a difference in other people’s lives has been a

huge motivation for me. Particularly young people and

staff doing things they initially thought they couldn’t

do. I can say without reservation that working in this

sector makes me proud. Recently we’ve managed to

keep the UK Youth Parliament initiative going which is

really important in giving young people a voice.

What inspires you to work with young people?It keeps me young! I enjoy the optimism and creativityof young people. I find that young people don’t knowwhat can’t be done so they’re more likely to say ‘let’stry it’ or ‘why not’ and more often than not, we endup doing something we didn’t think we could. If you look in the newspapers, it’s a very different story butthe media has a vested interested in writing aboutbad news. I believe that young people often get araw deal in society and need allies in the adult worldto help them out.

What is the most important lesson you’velearned as a Chief Executive?That you can’t do it on your own. The best ChiefExecutives know how to get the most out ofeverybody on their team. I’ve also learnt that ifyou give people space to grow, they’ll fill it.

How can young people get more involved withtheir local communities?A good start can be finding local projects and groups,

either through national organisations like the Scouts

and Guides or more local like a youth club. Howeverif young people do have their own ideas and can seegaps where services and clubs are needed, theyshould fill it! Teachers can often be great atsignposting opportunities so it’s always worthspeaking to them if you’re a young person withan idea.

Do you think young people are less civicallyengaged than they used to be?Actually, I think a lot of evidence shows they are more

interested. Research we’ve done shows that 3 out

of 4 young people want to have a greater say in

decisions in their local communities. We also know

that the proportion of those aged 18-24 voting in

general elections is now rising.

As I mentioned earlier, one of my fears is that themedia distorts our vision of young people. Thereshould be a lot more coverage of where youngpeople have gotten involved.

Unfortunately, there is a real danger that savingsbeing made to youth services might affect thenumber of opportunities youth services can supportin coming years. I worry that this might make youngpeople less inclined to get involved.

How do you think a programme like the NationalCitizen Service will help young people?I like its ideas around integrating communities

and bringing people together. Getting people from

different backgrounds together on a residential could

be really positive for all the young people involved.

In terms of the impact, it’s very hard to predict the

long term effect because it’s for such a short period.

As it’s only during the summer, I’m also concerned

that some young people might have to choose

between volunteering and doing paid summer work.

On balance, I’m more in favour than not but the

Government has a lot of advice available from the

sector so I’m hoping they will listen to that when

producing the evaluation.

How does BYC recognise acts of citizenshipby young people?We’ve introduced two new award schemes this year.

The Youth Voice award and the Councillor Shadowing

scheme award.

The Youth Voice scheme recognises active young

citizens who have completed 10 hours of activities

representing their peers through youth participation

initiatives such as youth councils, forums and

parliaments. As well as registering the hard work

young representatives already do within their local

communities, it also challenges them to come up

with new, exciting and innovative activities that

represent their peers and improve their communities.

We’ve created an easy-to-use logbook and staff

handbook to make the award application process

as straightforward as possible.

The Councillor Shadowing award is aimed at young

citizens who can achieve accreditation by providing

evidence of their learning through shadowing a local

councillor for a minimum of 10 hours. It has been

developed to offer a really great leadership experience

for young people and we also hope that councillors

will benefit from their interaction and learn something

new during the process. Young people are provided

with a logbook and handbook which will provide

guidance on how to run the Award. At the end of the

Award students submit completed logbooks along

with the submission and moderation forms.

We’re looking for more young people toconduct interviews. Get in touch with usby emailing the Exchange editor.E: [email protected]

In our regular series, leading figures in our member network are interviewed by ENVOY members.In this issue, Linda Epstein, 16, an ENVOY and British Youth Council (BYC) member interviewsJames Cathcart, British Youth Council Chief Executive on his career in the voluntary and communityyouth sector and thoughts on citizenship.

Linda Epstein talks with James Cathcart, BYC's Chief Executive


Do you have news for ourreaders?Exchange reaches over 5,000 individuals interested inthe voluntary and community youth sector includingChief Executives, Parliamentarians and Civil Servants.We’re always interested in news, articles and casestudies in best practice from our members. If you have a story to tell, please contact the editor:E: [email protected]

NCVYS Annual conference– 2 November 2011The NCVYS annual conference will take place onWednesday 2 November 2011 and will be on thetheme of Citizenship. With the Government’s vision ofa Big Society receiving more attention than ever, wewant to use the event to discuss how our membersare helping young people to play a role as activecitizens in their communities.

Confirmed speakers include the Children and FamiliesMinister Tim Loughton with more speakers to beconfirmed in coming weeks. Please keep an eye onthe NCVYS website or email us to find out more.E: [email protected]: www.ncvys.org.uk

Young Partners Award 2011 Our annual Young Partners Award recognisesexcellence in youth participation by voluntary andcommunity youth organisations. Nominations arebeing taken till June 2011 with a series of regionalshowcases being held for successful nominees inAugust 2011. The eventual winners will be chosenfollowing visits by ENVOY members and NCVYS staffas well as their presentation at the regional showcaseevent. Winners will be announced at the nationalYoung Partners Award ceremony on Saturday 15October 2011.

If you would like to attend the regional showcases or learn more about our work on youth participation,please visit the Young Partners Award web pages or email us E: [email protected]: http://bit.ly/ypaexchange

NCVYS at the party conferences NCVYS is working with partners to put together aprogramme of events and activity at the 2011 partyconferences. The Youth Zone is a collaboration ofNCVYS, National Youth Agency, British Youth Council,UK Youth, 4Children, V, Kids Count, Media Trust andCHYPS, together with the Co-operative Group andO2. We would welcome NCVYS members and otheryouth organisations to join and be part of the YouthZone.The Youth Zone is designed to help makeholding events more cost-effective for charities and tohelp showcase the sector to conferences delegates.

This year’s party conferences takes place on thefollowing dates: 17-21 September (Liberal Democrats,Birmingham), 25-29 September (Labour Party,Liverpool) and 2-5 October (Conservative Party,Manchester).

Please let NCVYS know if you are interested in takingpart in the Youth Zone or simply wish to enquire aboutbooking the space for your own event at one or moreof the party conferences this year. We can then liaiseand design a cost-effective package to best suit yourneeds. Visit our web pages for more information orcontact our Policy and Communications Director Faiza Chaudary for more information.E: [email protected] W: http://www.ncvys.org.uk/Partyconferences.html

Keep up to date with NCVYS’sinformation and policy servicesNCVYS publishes a range of policy and informationservices through a number of channels. You can followus on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ncvys, watchvideos from our events like the annual conference athttp://www.youtube.com/ncvys and listen to audiointerviews at http://www.audioboo.fm/ncvys.

We continue to provide our weekly StrategicIntelligence Service bulletin every Friday afternoon andour NECTAR update at the start of each month. Inaddition, our policy team regularly update our fundingblog with news of grants and service cuts. Take a lookat http://www.ncvyspolicy.wordpress.com to findout more.

Last but not least, all our news, policy andinformation documents go up on the website atwww.ncvys.org.uk Check back regularly to seeupdates about our work.

HEADS UP

Tim Loughton MP in last year's Youth Zone at the Conservative PartyConference

ENVOY members at the 2010 Young Partners Award

The front cover for thisissue was designed byAlex Boustead Alex is a 25 year old Graphic Design graduate.Since completing her studies, Alex has workedwithin packaging and website design, whereshe enjoys using visual communication toexpress the ideals and aspirations of individualbusinesses. This is the second time that Alexhas designed for Exchange.

About the design Alex said:"On this issue’s cover, collections of words form to create the big picture. Look closely andyou can identify acts of citizenship that youngpeople are involved in everyday. By providing apositive contribution to the world around themthese citizens are helping to improve the lives of individuals and shape the society we live in."

Alex is currently working as a freelancedesigner and her portfolio can be found athttp://www.alexboustead.com. You cancontact her via email:E: [email protected]

Exchange now onlineNCVYS publishes an online version ofExchange magazine, aimed at readers in thevoluntary and community youth sector.

Readers can view the latest issues for free byvisiting the link below. NCVYS will still continueto print and distribute issues of Exchange,which members receive free as part of theirmembership to our network.See www.issuu.com/ncvys

Exchange distributionExchange is read by over 5,000 peopleinterested in the voluntary and communityyouth sector. We can send bulk copies tooffices requiring 10 copies or more. If you or acolleague is receiving Exchange and would likeus to stop sending copies, please email RossBailey, Exchange Editor at:E: [email protected]

Feedback and contributionsIf you have any publications, events, training or projects that you would like to be featured in Exchange or would like to send in letters,comments or ideas for future articles, pleasecontact Ross Bailey, Exchange Editor on:E: [email protected]


3rd FloorLancaster House33 Islington High StreetLondon N1 9LH

T: 020 7278 1041F: 020 7833 2491E: [email protected]:www.ncvys.org.uk

Registered charity no. 1093386Registered company no. 4385383

Cover illustration by:Alex [email protected]

Exchange is a regular magazine,bringing together a uniquecollection of news, policy analysisand practical advice for voluntaryand community organisations andnetworks working with youngpeople. Exchange contains articlesby expert contributors from thesector and beyond. The magazineis distributed throughout the youthsector, reaching around 5000readers in print and offline.

Designed/produced by arc. www.arc-cs.com

EditorialIf you would like to promote your work inExchange, please email news and pressreleases to:[email protected] contact Ross Bailey, Editor on:020 7843 6471

Advertising and distributionIf you would like to advertise in Exchange,or find out more about subscriptions pleaseemail your requests to:[email protected]


Exchange Issue 12

Documents

Transcript of Exchange Issue 12