Exchange - Issue 11 by NCVYS

EXCHANGE The voluntary and community youth sector in dialogue

Winter 2010/2011 Issue 11

Learning and skills News: NCVYS Annual conference report Policy: Education, employment and training Practice: Rathbone takes learning out of the classroom

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Contents NCVYS news

p04

Member news

p05

Networks news

p06

2010: Year in review

p07

Policy update and analysis

p08

ENVOY update

p09

Reengaging young people in learning

p10

Connections and communications

p12

Ideas bank

p13

Progressing our workforce

p14

Case study: Futureversity

p16

Workforce development update

p17

Meet the Chief Executive

p18

Heads up

p19

EDITORIAL Welcome to the winter 2011 edition of Exchange magazine This edition of Exchange is themed around developing learning and skills. 2011 will be a year of significant change for young people and the organisations that work with them. Funding cuts mean many charities are looking at their long term strategies and how they can best serve young people, possibly with fewer resources and staff. At the same time, unprecedented cuts to local authority youth services will likely result in greater pressure on voluntary organisations to pick up the pieces. In this climate, organisations need to ensure that young people are equipped with the skills they need to succeed. With youth unemployment reaching 20%, we want to unlock radical approaches across our network to support young people’s development. NCVYS member Rathbone have been experimenting with different ways of reaching young people outside of traditional learning environments. Their programme in Oldham has combined disciplines far removed from each other including boxing and drama to great effect. Learn about their experience and the impressive results in our feature article on p10. Developing the skills of the voluntary and community youth sector workforce has been a key area of NCVYS’s work for many years and with increased focus over the last twelve months. As the lead partner in the CWDC funded Progress project, NCVYS has been responsible for delivering 25,000 subsidised accredited training places to the sector. From courses on how to manage volunteers through to counselling young people, paid and voluntary staff throughout England have been improving their skills. Read more about the work of the Progress team in our article on p14. As well as all our usual sections, we’ve introduced a new feature called “Meet the Chief Executive”. Young people regularly contribute to Exchange and this new feature will see them interviewing the Chief Executives of NCVYS members and organisations. We start this new series with our very own chief executive Susanne Rauprich, ably interviewed by ENVOY member Mita Desai. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, our next issue will be arriving on your desk in June. We welcome contributions from our members so if you’ve got news or features for an article, get in touch with us by emailing ross@ncvys.org.uk. Last but not least, the way that we communicate at NCVYS is constantly evolving. Over the last few months, we’ve gathered more than 1200 followers on twitter. If you are using the service, you can find us by searching for @ncvys or visit www.twitter.com/ncvys. Ross Bailey Editor

NCVYS NEWS

Young People celebrate their win at the Young Partners Awards - December 2010

NCVYS annual conference 2010: When life hands you lemons, make lemonade! High profile speakers, including the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, Tim Loughton MP and Martin Brookes, Chief Executive of New Philanthropy Capital joined NCVYS members to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the voluntary and community youth sector at the NCVYS annual conference on Wednesday 3 November 2010. Tim Loughton MP spoke to the conference about his vision for the sector’s involvement in the Big Society. He spoke about the role of the Big Society Bank in helping charitable organisations and social enterprises to flourish and confirmed that it would fund both local and national projects. Martin Brookes delivered a well received address about the need for charities to raise the levels of innovation in their organisational strategy to stave off the effect of budget cuts. He said that charities “should see this time of flux as a chance to look critically at their processes and to identify what works and what doesn’t, so they can improve and become more efficient”. Delegates also heard from a host of seminar speakers on topics ranging from campaigning through new technology to helping young people learn about the importance of financial planning. Read more about this event here: http://bit.ly/ncvysagm10 and take a look at pictures on p7.

Beyond the Comfort Zone NCVYS’s newly appointed Director of Service Development, Beth Parker, successfully completed her challenge of walking the Thames Path on October 30 2010. Beth walked 184 miles, travelling from the river’s source in Gloucestershire to the Thames Barrier in London as part of NCVYS’s Beyond the Comfort Zone project. Beyond the Comfort Zone will raise money for the charity’s network of members who work with young people. It will also highlight the great work done by NCVYS members for their local areas in a challenging financial climate.

Attendees at Speaking Out conference during a breakout sessions - December 2010

Beth walked an average of 18.4 miles a day for ten consecutive days, relying only on the kindness of NCVYS members and local businesses along the way for food and accommodation. During the walk, she was joined by other NCVYS staff members and representatives of the 180 member organisations. Beth persevered through wet weather and sore knees to reach the Thames Barrier on a Saturday afternoon where she was cheered on by NCVYS and ENVOY staff. Along the way, Beth met with youth projects, spoke to several local radio stations, popped into the Houses of Parliament for a drink with Tim Loughton MP and only got lost once!

Tim Loughton MP addresses the NCVYS annual conference - November 2010

The event explored how members of the voluntary and community sector are coming under increased pressure to deliver projects as part of the Big Society. Other speakers at the conference included Fay Selvan from the Big Life Group who spoke about the process of founding a social enterprise and the challenges and setbacks she had experienced along the way. Tim Davies, Co-Director of Practical Participation spoke during the afternoon about the advantages of using social and digital media to give young people a chance to voice their opinions. Read more about the event and view presentations here: http://bit.ly/speakingoutconf

Beth raised over £1500 for members during the walk. Read her blog posts about the event on her blog at http://bethyeah.wordpress.com/ and donate to the appeal here http://www.mycharitypage. com/BeyondTheComfortZone . You can also see pictures of the event on p7.

Speaking Out conference 2010: Under the spotlight - unlocking community potential Over a hundred voluntary and community organisations working with children and young people across England were joined by high profile speakers, including Cabinet Office Deputy Director Helen Stephenson at the Speaking Out 2010 annual conference in Westminster on Thursday 9 December. Speaking Out is a Cabinet Office funded partnership project between the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) and Children England which aims to build a voice for the children and young people’s voluntary and community sector across government. Addressing the delegates, Helen Stephenson spoke about the scope and scale of the Big Society and the opportunities that it presented for the sector. She told delegates that the Big Society was beginning to embed itself as a philosophy in the Civil Service and that they should expect to see a real move towards local decision making for local people in the coming years.

Young Partners Award 2010 On Saturday 4 December, young people from five youth charities across England, run by and for young people, won the annual NCVYS Young Partners Award, supported and funded by BIG Lottery, for their excellent work in decision-making. The award celebrates and recognises youth leadership and what young people and adults can achieve through working in partnership. The ceremony was planned and hosted by NCVYS’s national youth forum, ENVOY. 14 shortlisted groups of young people celebrated the fantastic work they’ve achieved within these organisations in front of an audience of over 160 attendees before the five winners were announced. The awards were divided into five regional categories, with each having three shortlisted nominees. The winners were: North: Pulling Together Asian Women’s Group Midlands: Mencap (Me2 Award) South: Chatterboxes National: Young Advisors London: Futureversity Find out more about the Young Partners Awards here: http://www.ncvys.org.uk/Young_Partners_Award.html and read about a young person’s experience in planning the day on p9.

NETWORK NEWS Infrastructure is not all roads and railways Jarina Choudhury, Networks & Learning Manager NCVYS and Georgina Anstey, Communications Officer Valuing Infrastructure Programme look at the role that infrastructure plays in supporting and developing local voluntary youth sector networks. Across England there are countless groups of people taking collective action that is independent of government and for public benefit. These initiatives often turn into organisations such as charities, voluntary and community groups and social enterprises. Many of these organisations need support in order to make the biggest possible difference to the lives of people they serve. A passionate group of individuals might respond to a community need and set up a youth group but it is likely that they will need advice on the best legal form to take, routes to find funding and to a louder voice to influence the local authority, amongst other things. Historically these organisations have come together to form networks, associations, coalitions and councils in which they can share ideas, find mutual support, campaign and lobby on common concerns. Just like the roads and railways that support our nation, these support functions for organisations are called Infrastructure. Often these informal networks become formal organisations themselves. Infrastructure organisations are a healthy and dynamic expression of an active civil society, where organisations work together to make more of a difference by working together. They have a vital part to play in helping civil society to be bigger and stronger and ultimately to create appropriate conditions for people to achieve a better quality of life.

What’s the impetus for Infrastructure? In the majority of cases, infrastructure organisations have grown organically to support and represent voluntary action. This means they can be independent, representative and connected to the communities they serve. Case study: The UK amateur arts sector In 2008 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport commissioned research into the amateur arts sector in England (‘Our Creative Talent’) which concluded that: • There are approximately 49,140 amateur arts groups across England • A total of 9.4 million participate in amateur arts groups in England Most amateur arts groups in the UK are created by local people coming together because they want to sing, dance, act etc. They are grassroots, community-based organisations. Most exist with little or no government funding. Since the 1880s UK amateur arts groups have tended to seek out similar groups and 'federate', forming membership organisations within particular art forms. This is a bottom-up evolutionary process which has resulted today in nearly 200 specialist

national umbrella organisations among them the British Federation of Brass Bands, the Lace Guild, the National Association of Choirs, the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts amongst others. Most of these umbrella bodies are small, unfunded members’ clubs which produce a newsletter and run occasional conferences or other events. A few are more substantial with professional offices and staff to provide training and advice to their member groups. Voluntary Arts was created in 1991 by some of these umbrella bodies to link them together and provide a single voice for the amateur arts sector in the UK and Ireland. Much of VAs work is about making better use of existing resources by linking existing organisations, for example helping local amateur arts groups to access funding, training, advice and support from the wider voluntary sector as well as the arts sector. The impetus for VAs role lies beyond VAs membership: Over half the UK adult population is involved in amateur arts and crafts; arts and crafts that people undertake for self-improvement, social networking and leisure, but not primarily for payment. Amateur arts groups are rooted in almost every local community across the UK and are almost all independent local organisations established by their participants, self-financing and fiercely independent of national and local government.

Infrastructure for the Big Society Infrastructure has a crucial role to play in delivering the government’s Big Society agenda. With movement to scale back the state and devolve powers to local people to drive agendas, define services needed, develop and deliver them, community organisations need, more than ever, support to exist. For most in the sector, it is hard to see how government will achieve its Big Society vision without infrastructure to aid its implementation and effectiveness. Case study: The National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education The National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRC) provides training, advice and advocacy support to community-based and mothertongue schools in England. With a database of over 2,000 schools and an active membership of 670, the NRC is able to raise awareness at local authority and national level, of the rich variety of community-led organisations primarily from Black and migrant communities delivering education week on week. The focus throughout 2010 has been on supporting supplementary schools to improve their management and governance structures. This has been achieved through the delivery of the one-day courses to over 650 staff, volunteers and management committee members. The NRC also manages a quality assurance scheme specially aimed at promoting continuous self-development in the supplementary education sector. The Quality Framework for Supplementary Education encourages and assists organisations to address ten standards of education. To date, 202 schools have completed the basic skills Bronze Award with 67 of those moving on to a Silver or Gold Award. Over 100 different cultural and ethnic groups are represented within the NRC membership alone,

Jarina Choudary, NCVYS Networks and learning manager

delivering services to communities of 15 to 360 pupils. Between them they offer subjects including English, Maths, Science, IT, at least 62 unique languages, sports, art, history and five major faiths. This means that there is great demand from external agencies such as funders and the statutory sector for a simple yet sturdy and low-cost way to assess quality. Community-based supplementary education embodies the very principles of the ‘Big Society’ in that supplementary schools are run overwhelmingly by volunteers in communities that take their own action to enable children and young people to achieve their true potential. Read more about supplementary education here: http://bit.ly/suppeducation

Conclusion Infrastructure has arisen by organisations coming together through a common identified need. Though sometimes driven by external factors, the impetus comes from within the voluntary and community sector, driven by people who seek to effect a change in their lives or the lives of others. Infrastructure is innovative, it performs different roles and is able to meet different needs of community groups; we have seen two examples of infrastructure where organisations make more of a difference by working together. In this difficult climate, like all organisations, infrastructure needs to be as effective, efficient and sustainable so that organisations can better meet the needs of the groups they serve in society.

To find out more about the way NCVYS works with networks to provide support, please contact Jarina Choudhury E: jarina@ncvys.org.uk The authors would like to thank Robin Simpson and Pascale Vassie for their contributions.

MEMBER NEWS

Platform 51 Chief Executive Penny Newman speaks at their parliamentary reception - January 2011

Welcome to our new members The NCVYS member network has now grown to 180 members with the induction of eleven new members at the end of last year. NCVYS is pleased to welcome the following organisations into the fold: Al-Isharah, The Arts Partnership, Baca, Beatbullying, Blackpool CVYS, Centrepoint, Getaway Girls, Just for Kids Law, Learning SouthWest, Media Trust and Young Advisors. Read more about our new members here: http://bit.ly/ncvysnewmembers

Guardian Christmas appeal boost for NCVYS members NCVYS was delighted that The Guardian chose to use its 2010 Christmas appeal to support charities working with disadvantaged young people in the UK. Several NCVYS and network members were chosen to be part of the appeal, selected from a field of 340 applicants. The ten charities selected included Catch-22, Fairbridge, Children Our Ultimate Investment UK (Teens and Toddlers project) and Bolton Lads and Girls Club. At the close of the appeal on January 12, The Guardian’s readers have raised just over £428,000 for the ten selected charities. They will receive an equal share of the total fund as well as a package of communications training from Media Trust, an appeal partner and NCVYS member. The charities were chosen by a panel of Guardian journalists after an extensive appeal for applicants. The Guardian was assisted by the charities thinktank New Philanthropy Capital who created a model to help assess the merits of the individual organisations. The Guardian provided extensive coverage of the appeal including a telethon where members of the public could call in to pledge their donations and speak to an array of Guardian journalists ranging from the editor Alan Rusbridger through to fashion writer Hadley Freeman. Andrew Purvis, CEO of Fairbridge spoke about what the appeal meant to his organisation: “Being chosen as one of the beneficiaries of The Guardian and Observer’s Christmas Charity Appeal is a huge honour for Fairbridge. “The youth sector is facing a tough future as the recent cuts start to bite. Despite this we know that continuing to intervene in the lives of young people who are

disengaged from society, coping with issues like homelessness, addiction or family breakdown will reap long term benefits for the young people and the communities they live in. That’s why we’re so pleased that they’ve chosen to focus on projects which help young people make the most of their lives. We’re grateful to The Guardian and Observer for their support and are proud to be featured among all the worthwhile organisations they’ve selected.” Find out more about the appeal on The Guardian website here: http://bit.ly/christmasappeal

YWCA becomes Platform 51 Changing your name after 155 years doesn’t come easily but for YWCA, it was a necessary step to ensure that the organisation truly reflected the expectations of its users. After much consultation, the charity which works to support women has changed its name to Platform 51. The new name represents the simple fact that 51% of the population are women and that they use the organisation to have their say and as a platform from where they can move into the next stage of their lives. At a parliamentary launch of the charity and their report into the mental health issues facing women, newly appointed Chief Executive Penny Newman spoke about the importance of remaining relevant to their users in the 21st century. Users of Platform 51’s centres spoke at the parliamentary launch and told the audience how they had been an active part of the rebrand, taking part in a number of consultations and helping to pick the new name. Read more about their parliamentary launch and decision to change their name here: http://www.platform51.org/

And more new names for our members In addition to Platform 51, three more NCVYS members have recently changed their names. CCPR are now called The Sport and Recreation Alliance, they hope that their new name and brand will give people a much better idea of what they do

Nick Clegg meets CyberMentors from Beatbullying - November 2010

and on whose behalf they do it. Helping their 320 members and the 150,000 sports clubs around the country; they are confident that the new brand will help them to be more effective than ever. Read more about their new name here: http://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/ Advocacy Partners Speaking Up are now called VoiceAbility. VoiceAbility works with individuals and groups who have mental health problems, learning disabilities, physical or sensory impairments or are on the autistic spectrum. They also work with older people and carers; their role is to support people to speak up about what they want. That could be information on what benefits they are entitled to, or representation in meetings. It could be to facilitate a group to work with decision makers to change the way that their local services run and make changes that really do affect them. Find out about VoiceAbility here: http://www.voiceability.org.uk DEA have rebranded to the name Think Global the Development Education Association. The organisation works to educate and engage the UK public about global issues. They do this through a range of projects, influencing policy, undertaking research and working across their member network. Find out more about Think Global here: http://www.think-global.org.uk

Beatbullying marches on the web to help fight the bullies In tough times, organisations need to think more creatively about campaigns than ever before. Beatbullying, who recently became a NCVYS member, staged the Big march in November 2010. The March was an online campaign to mark the start of the annual anti-bullying week and saw tens of thousands of avatars of children, parents, teachers and celebrities march across computer screens via more than fifty partners’ homepages. Supporters included Facebook, Hansard, CYPnow, NCVYS and many more. On joining the march, supporters signed a digital petition which was later presented to the Deputy Prime Minister. Find out how the march was organised here: http://www.beatbullying.org/bigmarch/

NCVYS IN 2010 2010 was another fantastic year of projects and events for NCVYS and the young people we work with. Take a look at our work in this year in review picture set. And remember to check out the NCVYS website regularly to see more photos in our image gallery. Annual Conference - November 2010

ENVOY residentials - August 2010

Beyond the Comfort Zone - October 2010

Party conferences - September and October 2010

POLICY POLICY ANALYSIS UPDATE Education, Employment and Training

NCVYS consultation responses

In this edition’s policy analysis, NCVYS Policy Officer Dom Weinberg looks at the impact of recent policy changes on young people in education, employment and training and finds mixed signs for the future.

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

The latest unemployment figures have shown that the recession has had a disproportionate impact on young people’s employment prospects. Unemployment among adults under 25 rose in January 2011 to 951,000, one of the highest figures since records began in 1992, giving a youth jobless rate of 20.3%. A report from NCVYS member the Prince’s Trust and RBS revealed that this could cost the UK economy up to £155 million a week. The Cost of Exclusion warns that the price of youth disadvantage in the UK is at a new high, and that an estimate of youth unemployment costs per week - based on lost productivity of unemployed young people being equivalent to the average weekly wage for their age group - would be £155 million. The Labour government’s response to rising unemployment included the introduction of the Young Person’s Guarantee. The Future Jobs Fund (FJF), a key component of the Young Person’s Guarantee, was a fund of around £1 billion to support the creation of jobs for long term unemployed young people and others who face significant disadvantage in the labour market. The FJF aimed to create 150,000 jobs, 100,000 of which would be aimed at 18-24 year olds who had been out of work for nearly a year. Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, announced in June that the Young Person's Guarantee would not be extended beyond March 2011, and confirmed that the £290m further roll-out of temporary jobs through the FJF would not go ahead. In December, the Work and Pensions Select Committee published Youth Unemployment and the Future Jobs Fund, which examined the Coalition Government’s decision to end the FJF. The report expressed concern about the potential gap in provision for unemployed young people between the end of the FJF and the start of the Work Programme, and called for effective transitional arrangements. The report found that it was too soon to assess whether the Future Jobs Fund has been successful. NCVYS members Catch 22 and vinvolved submitted evidence to the report which suggested that the FJF has provided significant benefits for young people from which they have gained new skills and experience to help them find long term sustainable, fulfilling, and appropriate employment. The Young Person’s Guarantee, including the FJF, will be replaced by the Department for Work and Pension’s new Work Programme. The programme, which will be in place nationally by the summer of 2011, “will offer integrated employment support to young people helping them move into sustained employment rather than temporary jobs. Young people aged 18-24 will be referred to the Work Programme from nine months”, as opposed to a year for other unemployed people. NCVYS along with our members Rathbone and Fairbridge have expressed concern that the Work Programme will not help young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Paul Fletcher, Director of Youth Engagement at Rathbone, said, "There are multiple and complex reasons why young people are NEET; that is why there are more than 50 types of benefits. A single work programme will not make any significant difference to people's motivation whether to engage or not. It is not about reforming welfare to work programmes, it is about creating employment for young people and this is best done by incentivising employers to take young people on through the tax system." Andrew Purvis, Chief Executive of Fairbridge, said, "With almost one million young people not in education or employment, a onesize-fits-all programme cannot serve them all. It is clear the intervention [for the most disengaged young people] required is very different from that of, for instance, an unemployed recent graduate."

NCVYS Chief Executive Susanne Rauprich was invited to contribute to the Home Office review of the Vetting and Barring Scheme. We have submitted a response to the Education Select Committee inquiry into Youth Services (see http://bit.ly/youthinquiry). NCVYS Chief Executive Susanne Rauprich has also given oral evidence to the inquiry (see http://bit.ly/selectevidence). We have submitted a response to the Office for Civil Society consultation on Supporting a Stronger Civil Society (see http://bit.ly/strongersociety). We submitted our response on question 9 on National Infrastructure alongside Children England as part of the Speaking Out project, recommending continued investment in positive strategic partnership arrangements with organisations that can represent the voluntary and community youth sector. We have submitted a response to the Office for Civil Society consultation on Modernising Commissioning (see http://bit.ly/modernising). The Policy team has worked alongside the Workforce Development team to produce responses for Lifelong Learning UK on the 2010 Sector Skills Assessment (see http://bit.ly/sectorskills). The response highlighted the skills shortages and gaps of the voluntary and community youth sector in England, along with recommendations for addressing these issues. NCVYS also wrote to the Young People’s Learning Agency about Funding of 16-19 Education and Training. We are currently working on responses to the Ministry of Justice Green Paper Breaking the Cycle (see http://bit.ly/breakingcycle) and the cross department Child Poverty Strategy (see http://bit.ly/childpoverty). If you would like to inform NCVYS's responses, please contact Faiza Chaudary, Director of Policy and Communications E: faiza@ncvys.org.uk

Party Conferences At this year's party conferences, NCVYS represented its members on two levels, as part of the Coalition for Young People and hosting our own NCVYS events. The Coaltion is a collaborative group of voluntary and community organisations which this year organised the Youth Zone, a dedicated space for young people to have their voices heard at the highest level. The Coaltion welcomed speakers such as Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE, Tim Loughton MP and the newly elected Labour leader Ed Miliband MP. NCVYS’s own events saw members mixing with senior parliamentarians and policy makers at each of the conference events. Speakers included Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Simon Hughes MP, Baroness Angela Smith (previously Minister at the Cabinet Office responsible for the voluntary and community sector), James Morris MP, Secretary to the APPG on Youth Affairs, Paul Oginsky, Conservative Youth Adviser, and Sonia Sodha, Head of Public Finance at Demos. Read more about the conferences at: http://bit.ly/ncvysatconference

Briefing papers NCVYS has produced briefing papers summarising the Comprehensive Spending Review 2010 and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’s strategy, Skills for Sustainable Growth (see http://bit.ly/skillsforgrowth). We have also produced Comprehensive Cuts: Report on funding changes in the voluntary and community youth sector. This report, the result of a joint survey of over a hundred organisations working in the sector, reveals the full extent of the devastating impact that budget cuts are having on the sector (see http://bit.ly/compcuts). Comprehensive Cuts 2: Taking stock of changes in funding and policies and their impact on young people and the voluntary and community youth sector is an updated paper which looks at the policies of the Coalition Government (see http://bit.ly/compcuts2). Read more briefing papers and policy resources at: http://www.ncvys.org.uk/influencing.html

Services for members The Policy and Communications Team continues to develop new services for our members. We are pleased to announce that the Financial Monitoring page on the website has now expanded into a blog, which is regularly updated with new details emerging around government spending and cuts. We are also publishing a Funding Update each month, which brings together national funding opportunities mentioned in the bulletin, and additional local funding opportunities. Read our financial monitoring blog here http://ncvyspolicy.wordpress.com; and find funding update information here: http://ncvys.org.uk/funding_update.html

ENVOY Members of the Young Partners Awards Planning Group at the event.

Planning the Young Partners Awards The success of the Young Partners Award (YPA) 2010 was down to the commitment and hard work of the YPA Planning Group (YPAPG), which involved a group of 10 energetic and creative young people from ENVOY and the NCVYS network. The YPAPG were keen to ensure that the awards met the needs of both young people and adults, through consultation they determined the award theme and content, they then worked together as a team to plan and deliver the event. Over the course of 6 months they worked in partnership with NCVYS staff who provided training and mentoring to support them in their roles, they in turn supported other ENVOY members to have an active role in the lead up to and on the day of the event. 16 year old ENVOY member Rebecca Tate was one of this year’s YPAPG members. Here she explains how being a member of the group has enabled her to gain new skills and develop personally and professionally.

What made you apply for a position in the YPAPG? I applied for YPAPG after a youth worker in my group suggested it to me. After reading what the work involved, I decided that it would be something beneficial and interesting for me to take part in, and also an opportunity to try something new.

Did you have any experience or skills before joining the group? If so, what were they? I had gained organisational and administration skills prior to joining the YPAPG as I have been involved in organising the Plymouth YWCA steering group. This involved planning all meetings and ensuring it ran smoothly for the whole weekend.

What did you hope to achieve before joining the group?

Have you developed from this experience?

I wanted to meet new people and to gain new skills.

Yes, I have gained lots of experience which will help me develop, both personally and professionally and I have met an entirely different group of friends from different backgrounds.

What sort of training did you receive once you were a member of the group? We received presentation, event planning and customer service training.

What skills did you gain from this? I’ve really improved my communication skills and knowledge on how to present to an audience confidently. The event has given me much understanding of how to speak in public, things like how to project my voice and use the correct body language. I’ve also learnt the art of organising all the elements to create a successful event as well as learning how to provide a good customer service.

Did the training enable you to plan the event successfully? The training helped me more with actually delivering the event; the customer service training enabled us to interact easier with the attendees on the actual day. The event planning session was useful in aiding us to know the essentials of making sure the event runs smoothly.

Was the training content you received useful or could it have been better? The training was interesting and fun and wasn't simply a case of, “here's the work read it and learn it”, but involved interactive games and role plays which made it seem more real. Lots of written material can be a real turnoff for young people so we really appreciate the effort that the Young Partners team has put into the sessions.

Is there anything you would have done differently when planning the event? No, on the day everything ran smoothly and well, everyone enjoyed the event, so therefore it was done to the best standard already.

Do you have any hints and tips you'd like to pass on to others planning a huge event? With a team of people with different responsibilities, it’s important to keep in contact with everyone, and know what tasks people are doing. It’s really important to plan a series of meetings and to email each other on a regular basis. Social media like Facebook has also made this a lot easier. I’d also add be a good team player, write all action points and check your notes to meet deadlines. This year nominations will be short listed at regional events taking place throughout the summer leading into the national awards in November 2011. We are very keen to have young people involved in planning these events alongside our regional young facilitators and ENVOY members. All young people will receive training support to get involved and have an active role. To express an interest or get involved please contact keji@ncvys.org.uk. Further details on how to apply for this year’s awards will be available on the NCVYS website in early March 2011. We look forward to receiving your nomination. The YPAPG 2010 Team – Rebecca Tata, Kemi Fontaine Shola Arowosekila, Natalie Grant, Sabian Muhammad, Tola Saidu, Stephanie Winn, Mita Desai, Ari Johnson, Sophie Fields, Teresa Santamaria.

RE-ENGAGED THROUGH THE CANVASS AND THE STAGE NCVYS member

pugilism alter the course of many angry teenage lives. “Boxing allows young people to get their anger out while at the same time teaching them discipline” said Mel, “you have to be fully focused when in the ring and it leaves no room for messing about.”

Rathbone works with young people for whom

Mel shares the sessions at his Chorley gymnasium with Kung Fu Sifu Steve Whiteley. The authoritative yet quietly spoken master leads by example and encourages his students to adopt an attitude of personal responsibility.

life at school has proved unsuccessful. To make

Becoming focused, clear headed and confident has prompted another of the LEAP students to plan her career path and re-engage with education. Tess Hayes became so disillusioned with school she was missing up to two days per week through truanting and although her ambition was always to work with children – she had no idea how to go about realising that. The gym work has given Tess a thick skin (not least because she is one of only two females attending) while the personalised learning in literacy and numeracy she receives at Rathbone, also goes down well. “I actually like learning now” says Tess, “and I want to go to class. I haven’t missed a lesson for ages now.”

learning more enjoyable and relevant, the charity has started switching some of its sessions away from the classroom to theatres, art galleries and even the boxing ring in an effort to help learners make knock-out progress. Peter Gibson, a manager at Rathbone explains more. “I enjoy Rathbone more than school because you don’t feel like you’re learning – but you are - lots!” That’s the view of 15-year-old Antonia Sullivan who along with a dozen young people on Rathbone’s Lancashire Alternative Education Provision (LEAP) scheme is combining her academic studies with a programme of skills and work experience to make her ready for employment. She’s also attending sessions at a local gym where she’s learning the disciplines of boxing and kung fu.

Antonia enjoys that last strand since it is such a contrast to the day-to-day experience of the class room. Each year Rathbone works with over 20,000 young people who have been perceived to have failed in mainstream education (though the more accurate description might be that mainstream education has failed them). There may have been many different barriers to their success, from learning difficulties that haven’t been spotted, through to bullying or a chaotic family background, but Antonia’s view of why school hasn’t suited is undoubtedly the most common. Put simply, she and thousands like her, learn by doing; and like to do so away from the traditional classroom – a place which has become synonymous with frustration, failure and difficulty. Others on the LEAP programme (which was set up by local high schools and caters specifically for those on the verge of exclusion) have made massive progress in more tranquil surroundings such as the local owl sanctuary. But Antonia and her cohort are getting great benefit from letting off steam and gaining discipline and self respect through the martial arts. Former Amateur welter-weight champion Melvyn Gould runs the boxing sessions. The 64-year-old, who once trained with Henry Cooper, has seen

Educational and personal development through sport is becoming increasingly popular and Premiership football clubs including Arsenal and Manchester City have done much to put young people in their community back on track through high profile projects. Capturing less headlines but making a similarly dramatic impact has been the work of theatre groups up and down the country. Rathbone has a long established relationship with the ODD (Offender Development Through Drama) Theatre Company which peaked recently when young people from Bury performed at the Conservative and Liberal Democrat party conferences. Originally set-up to work with those in young offenders institutions, the ODD Theatre challenges its students to examine their lives and the issues that affect them, through the medium of drama. Andrew Conor Reid was one of the young people who planned, co-wrote and starred in the play “Finding their Way” which put before leading politicians issues such as teenage pregnancy, unemployment and alcohol addiction. Being involved has given Andrew confidence, made him more politically motivated and convinced him that he can make a difference. About to begin an apprenticeship course at Bolton College, Andrew now wants to work in public relations. “I like getting my point across” he admitted, “and want to stand up against the stereotyping of young people and campaign against the pitiful amount of cash we earn while learning.”

It is a sad truth that many disadvantaged youngsters rarely move out of their neighbourhood, let alone visit cultural attractions or try and extend their range of experience. Although their home town of Oldham boasts an impressive array of artistic projects and is situated just a few short miles from Manchester, many young people at Rathbone’s base had never seen a play or musical before the charity hooked up with the Oldham Coliseum Theatre. Sonia Hanif (17) admits, “I’m a big fan of Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai but had never thought about going to the theatre and performing until I came to Rathbone.” A recent study of female trainees at Rathbone revealed a shocking lack of self-esteem brought about largely by bullying earlier in their lives, so for the likes of Sonia the scheme has bolstered her belief considerably and given her the confidence to express her ideas. Sessions have explored creativity, team work and even how to influence people during presentations. “The learning is achievable, practical and enjoyable” said Rachel Sears, Creative Development Officer at the Oldham Coliseum. “Some of the young people hardly spoke when we first began, now they are performing in front of their peers and supporting each other as a team.” Rathbone Oldham followed this success by taking part in a photography programme organised as part of the town’s Festival Of Diversity. Again as a team, the young people have taken to the streets to capture images that best reflect life in Oldham so that they might create murals to adorn public buildings. For Renata Klimentova, who arrived recently from the Czech Republic, being with other young people has improved her communications skills considerably and re-ignited her passion for the arts. Richard Hall, Interim Development Manager at the Festival of Diversity said: “We are genuinely

thrilled to have been able to work with Renata and Rathbone – they have been so positive and creative. Projects like this shape, develop and empower local communities.” Young people at Rathbone are, as LEAP learner Antonia Sullivan so succinctly put it, learning – without knowing they’re learning! You might think it a simple idea to change the educational environment but such an approach can have lifechanging consequences. For example, by helping to organise an X-Factor type competition, Edinburgh learner Dahni Kerr made more progress than he ever did in the formal school setting and he is now a dance teacher in the city. Similarly, a South Manchester 16-year-old who lost her interest in education following a bout of glandular fever has re-discovered her spark and even repaired relationships with her family thanks to a programme organised between Rathbone and the Manchester Artists Studio Association (masa). Jayde Smith had her work displayed at a recent exhibition and sculptor and local artist John Edgar commented: “For the young people, the project is all about enjoyment and taking things at their own pace. They’ve been able to get advice from artists and learn in a professional studio.” The move away from the formality of the classroom to the theatre, the art gallery and even the boxing ring has clearly paid dividends for Jayde and young people like her. Rathbone is now planning to take its learning to the forests of Cumbria, to teach young people teamwork, management and that all important ingredient – self-sufficiency. And why not? Since the young people they work with believe the sky is the limit of their dreams – why should their classroom even need a roof! E: peter.gibson@rathboneuk.org Young people take part in Rathbone's project in Oldham

CONNECTIONS Making safeguarding your priority

How can I participate in Sound Systems?

Sound systems is NCVYS’s peer accreditation scheme in safeguarding for organisations that work with young people. We award a quality mark to organisations that can demonstrate they have policies and measures in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of young people. Your organisation does not have to be youth focused to take up Sound Systems; if you are working with young people as part of other activities, then Sound Systems is also for you.

After registering with NCVYS we send you a workbook which helps you check your policies against the six ‘Keeping it Safe’ standards. NCVYS appoints a Mentor to help you with this part of the process. Once your organisation and the Mentor agree that you are ready for assessment, NCVYS appoints a trained Assessor who will visit you, assess your policies and interview staff, trustees and young people. The Assessor makes a recommendation to our Moderation Panel who then award the Sound Systems quality mark.

Sound Systems is a learning process that encourages organisations to critically examine policies, procedures and practice in all aspects of safeguarding. These include safer recruitment, management and development of staff and volunteers, child protection procedures and providing safer activities. The scheme encourages discussion around anti-discriminatory practice and enables organisations to assess whether all their policies and practices are appropriate and sufficiently understood and implemented by all staff, volunteers and young people. Sound Systems is aimed at organisations that wish to demonstrate to young people, funders, policy makers and partner organisations that they have relevant policies. These should be up to date and service-users, staff and volunteers must be able to understand them.

For networks of organisations and for larger organisations with local members, NCVYS has also developed a Sound Systems licence. The lead organisation completes Sounds Systems and then mentors and assessors from within the organisation are trained up to cascade Sound Systems across the network/membership.

What does it cost? Organisations need to purchase Sound Systems, which includes a copy of Keeping it Safe. The organisation will then nominate a Mentee which the Mentor can work alongside. The Mentee will prepare the Sound Systems workbook, gather the organisation’s policies and be the point of contact for the Mentor.

If participating organisations nominate a member of their staff to train as a Mentor or Assessor and agree to support another organisation through their Sound Systems process, NCVYS will provide training on how to deliver the Mentor/Assessor role.

Training Mentors and Assessors Interested in becoming a Mentor/Assessor? NCVYS runs a one day course for prospective Mentors and Assessors. Please contact us for more details.

Would you like to find out more? If you would like to participate in Sound Systems or make enquiries about Keeping It Safe, please contact the Service Development Team Administrator, Erica Wallace. T: 020 7843 6468 E: erica@ncvys.org.uk NCVYS is currently updating the second edition of Keeping It Safe, standards and guidelines. Keeping it Safe, 3rd edition costs £50 plus p&p (£35 to NCVYS members) and will be available in March 2011.

COMMUNICATIONS Creating short videos Short video is becoming a key part of the campaign and communications arsenal of organisations throughout the voluntary and community sector. Despite plummeting costs and freely available video software, many organisations still shy away from producing content. We’ve invited freelance videographer Charlotte Henry to contribute her top tips for getting your organisation started. 1) Have the right equipment Before you start producing any kind of video work, the fact is you will need some kit. Thankfully you no longer have to break the bank to get decent equipment. Major electronics makers like Sony and Panasonic have a wide range of video cameras which start at reasonable prices. Flip cameras are even cheaper and still offer relatively good quality footage. As well as hardware you need editing software. Apple’s Final Cut (which you can buy a cheaper, express version of) is the most userfriendly in my opinion. Adobe’s software tends to be a bit more expensive and complicated, but produces high quality results. If you are starting out and just want to experiment with a quick film, you can start with Windows Movie Maker which is bundled on most computers. Another important investment is a tri-pod, which keeps your camera still and your work looking professional. 2) Planning is key Now you have your equipment, you need to plan what you actually want to film. This doesn’t have 12

to be a dull process. Get all your creative ideas onto a piece of paper, and organise them into an order that creates a narrative for the film. Take the time to produce a storyboard and/or a script; there is nothing more annoying than getting back to your desk to import footage and realising you have forgotten to get the key shot of your Chief Executive. A storyboard is simply a sketched out version of the video you are going to produce, and puts on paper the shots you need. 3) Be organised When you have successfully recorded all the footage you want and you are importing it into your computer, make sure you do so in an organised way. Create a separate folder for each video project you are working on, name them clearly so you know what is in each folder, and save them in a logical place. If you have an external hard drive, backing up your original footage on it can save a lot of pain if things go wrong, or you want to re-import footage if you make a mistake. 4) Say again? Film might be a visual medium, but sound is very important, even in a short video. If you are doing interviews, a microphone makes a huge difference, and obviously you should be aware of wind and background noise. There are copyright issues associated with using other people’s music, but a quick online search for ‘royalty free music’ or ‘copyright free music’ will bring up libraries worth of music you can use. If you have musical friends or colleagues, you may even be able to use something original!

5) Less is more in the final edit People all too often produce videos that are too long, when having a few less frames would actually enhance the final product. Most films don’t need to be longer than 2 or at most 3 minutes in length. Having the discipline to keep the video shorter also means you can keep the video quality high, as this normally takes up more memory. You may have lots of ideas, but make sure every frame in your short film serves a purpose, and enhances the point you are making.

Charlotte Henry, Freelance filmmaker.

Charlotte Henry is the founder of C.A.H Multimedia, a company that creates video and multimedia content for clients in the third sector. Find out more at http://www.cahmultimedia.co.uk or E: charlotteahenry@googlemail.com

IDEAS BANK Following a recent trip to Germany, NCVYS Director of Workforce Development Gethyn Williams gives an international perspective on lessons and opportunities for the voluntary youth sector.

Gethyn Williams meets Björn Bertram in Hanover An example of a Juleica card

In challenging times, it’s all too easy for an organisation to bury its head in the sand. At NCVYS we’re resisting this temptation and increasingly looking further afield for inspiration and solutions to support our members working on the front line of youth work. Last October we travelled to Germany to investigate their approaches to training youth workers and the relationship between voluntary groups and the state. Our findings provided much food for thought as we consider the future of the Progress project - not to mention what will happen to the young people’s workforce at a time when central government is increasingly taking a back seat. In Germany we found a well-established system of youth services in relatively good health, with a mature, de-politicised discourse between the state and the voluntary sector at the heart of it. The historical tradition of close co-operation between these two actors means stability of both funding and appropriate services. Indeed this working culture of trust is so established that the rights of young people to the fruits of such arrangements are enshrined in law (The Children and Youth Services Act). A critical starting point for this relationship is a principle of ‘subsidiarity’ - often referenced in UK politics in the context of the European Union, but here meaning the state should not provide services that can be delivered by social entities. When it comes to young people, this gives voluntary sector programmes a certain priority over state activities - and perhaps even more, almost a duty on the part of the state to support voluntary organisations. So we’re already stating from a quite different place, with German youth organisations given an automatic and well-supported seat at the table of youth service provision. This also ensures voluntary groups play a leading role in designing the programmes and interventions supporting German youth. But what of the young people’s workforce? What demands does such a VCS-friendly system place on youth workers? Our session in Hannover allowed us to investigate this question in some detail, in particular the ‘Juleica’ card system used to recognise and celebrate voluntary youth workers. Colleagues working for an infrastructure organisation covering Lower Saxony showed us how the Juleica relates to the German Lande, a strong level of regional government which

has led to some regional variation in standards of training for youth workers. There are no common, national training benchmarks but depending on where you apply for your Juleica you may be required to meet certain regional criteria, typically developed by the youth organisations themselves. This results in training which closely fits the needs of those young people accessing the service.

Fast facts: Accrediting volunteers and the Juleica card • 95% of all people involved in youth work activities in Germany are volunteers • More than two thirds of all Juleica card holders are 25 and under • Non-governmental organisations make up 82% of the hosting for youth work activities

Such training is typically funded through local youth clubs, many of which enjoy longstanding funding relationships with their local (municipal) authorities. But before we all reach for our passports and head to the continent, it’s worth considering what we can take from the German experience and relate to what’s happening here in England.

What do we want? When do we want it? On first glance there is much to attract us to the German system. Certainly the recognition of volunteer youth workers is something NCVYS is keen to take forward in future iterations of the Progress project, more on which you can find later in this issue. At a time of cutbacks, the volunteer workforce will also take

on a new status as funders seek to squeeze extra value from the public purse. We might also look for less interference from the state in the design and planning of youth services - but we could argue the Big Society, intangible as it still is in places, give the voluntary sector an opportunity to peruse this. But we could go even further as a sector and seize the strategic initiative, in the wake of fundamental changes to key stakeholders Lifelong Learning UK and the Children’s Workforce Development Council, as discussed by my colleague Nichola Brown on p17. These developments, when combined with an absence of any new strategy for the Young People’s Workforce from the Department for Education, create a vacuum where we in the voluntary sector could have a very powerful voice - especially if we can advocate not just as social activists but as a significant bloc of employers.

The right idea at the wrong time? Nobody is suggesting any of this will be easy to achieve. The Big Society might create certain openings for the voluntary youth sector, but how empowering these opportunities will prove in the context of massive reductions in public funding for youth services remains to be seen. NCVYS has these challenges firmly in mind as we plan our workforce development support to members and the wider sector for the coming year. And to do this we need a good dialogue with our members, so please do continue to contact us with your thoughts, experiences and best practice suggestions.

Have you had the opportunity to compare youth services in another country? Carry on the discussion on our website here: http://www.bit.ly/internationalyouth 13

MAKING PROGRESS

It’s time for progress Accredited training for the voluntary and community sector young people’s workforce

In 20010/11, development of the young people’s workforce has been a key focus of NCVYS’s activity. Building on the networks and intelligence established by our Workforce Officer Nichola Brown, we successfully bid for the contract to deliver CWDC’s Third Sector young people’s workforce capacity-building project, now known as Progress, to help deliver accredited training opportunities for the voluntary sector young people’s workforce.

The strong support of NCVYS members was instrumental to our ability to secure and lead this work, and even though the changing political landscape has made for a highly turbulent year of delivery, we’re delighted so many members are now both delivering and benefitting from the subsidised, accredited training. In this article, we speak to some of the organisations and individuals who have been involved with the project over the last twelve months. Ranging from training providers to volunteers working with young people, these are the views from the frontline of skills improvement for the voluntary sector workforce.

The Progress trainer Annalisa Monzione, Manager at Fairbridge Training. Fairbridge Training is the external training division of leading youth charity Fairbridge. Setup in 2005, it offers training to the voluntary and community youth sector, as well as schools and statutory youth services. Progress has been a real boon to Fairbridge Training. For us, the chance to become an accredited provider was not to be missed. It’s also been a real delight to provide courses to the really small charities and organisations that have been enabled by the training subsidy provided by Progress. For example, we’ve worked with several Scout groups who simply couldn’t have afforded the training this time last year. Accredited training can conjure up all sorts of negative images – I think some see it as heavy, laborious and bureaucratic. Most of the people we work with enjoy helping young people, not filling out

training logs! We’ve gone out of our way to simplify the process and ensure that it’s completely relevant to the needs of learners. After all, there’s no point having people accredited if they can’t go back to their organisation and put it to good use when working with young people. One of our favourite things about the project has been that all our training helps learners along their journey towards qualifications on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). The Ticket to Progress website (see http://www.tickettoprogress.co.uk) has made it very simple to get learners inputting their details and recording their training. Everyone knows that 2011 is going to be a difficult year so becoming an accredited provider is something that we hope will stand us in good stead. More than that, getting involved with an external project has given us the impetus to look at our own quality processes. We’ve now been assessed and accepted by an awarding body so our quality assurance is in top quality shape.

The Progress Learner Elaine Yeates, Youth Matter, Warrington. Elaine is a volunteer worker for her local youth group Youth Matter. She recently completed units in First Aid Skills and Conflict Resolution through the training organisation Training 2 All. I only started volunteering with young people about 18 months ago but I’ve learnt so much that I feel as if I’ve been doing it for much longer. I’ve got to the

stage where having properly accredited training is important to me, so Progress has come along just at the right time. I originally found out about the units on offer from Ed Ellis who works for a local training organisation called Training2All. I was interested in doing a number of the units and I signed up for First Aid and Conflict Resolution which I completed in February. The training itself was lots of fun and on the conflict resolution course, I really enjoyed the role play activity. Putting myself in a young person’s shoes has helped me realise how often we misunderstand them and don’t spot the early signs of issues that may turn into bigger problems.

learners realise that they can move towards a target in several steps. We’ve been able to work with trainers to demonstrate the long term benefits of the nationally accredited units which enable further development and progression routes to other qualifications and training. Coming to the end of the project, I think we can all look back and say that it’s really started to raise the profile of accredited training in the sector. I’m hopeful that Progress can continue to facilitate collaboration between all the bodies involved and help develop training in the sector.

I’ve not had much opportunity to put what I’ve learnt into practice so far; with the first aid, you sort of hope that you won’t actually ever have to use it! But I’ve already started looking at how I can speak with young people differently and I’m much clearer on ways I can tackle problems without them becoming a conflict.

Developing the Curriculum has been a major part of the Progress project and we’ve worked with 5 key partners during the process who had specialist knowledge about different areas of youth work. These were Voice for Change – representing BME communities, KIDS – representing disabled children and young people, Muslim Youth Skills – representing organisations that work with Muslim young people, Sports and Recreation Alliance and English National Youth Arts Network (ENYAN) representing the arts sector. Progress has probably been one of the largest projects I’ve been involved with and it’s had some real highlights. I’d never worked with such a diverse range of professionals, across so many sectors before and it’s been a real eye opener from that perspective. We’re all very proud of having created such a robust training programme which has reached (to-date) over 300 trainers working in the VCS. It’s also been great to build such strong relationships with the key partners in the programme including NCVYS and the other members of the curriculum development group. Heading into the last months of the project, I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved over the last year. I think we’ve really raised the level of awareness of training needs within the sector and increased the capacity of organisations to meet their own requirements. I think the work of the curriculum development group in particular has ensured proper provision for learners from all communities.

My next priority is to take the ‘Preparing to teach in the life long learning sector’ course (or PTLLS for short!). I’m trying to get this sorted out before March 31 2011 when the Progress subsidy comes to an end. Getting the subsidy to fund the units of training has made a huge difference to Youth Matter.

The Awarding Organisation Tracy Harker, Manager, ABC Awards. ABC Awards offers a coherent and innovative portfolio of vocationally related qualifications and has been one of the awarding organisations involved in the project. ABC Awards was really pleased to be part of the project. Ensuring that the units selected by learners were mapped to the QCF was vital and a criteria for Progress to go ahead. The voluntary sector obviously has unique challenges around people’s time and motivations and our portfolio is flexible enough to provide appropriate qualification to enable up-skilling of the individuals involved. There have been tough times during the project. We’ve been frantic at times trying to keep up with everyone’s demands. That said, it’s forced us to push ourselves harder and we’ve come up with a fasttrack solution specifically designed for Progress. We think the benefits of the project have been pretty self-evident but to point to one specific area, getting funding to targeted units of learning has helped

The Progress Partner Jon Tuchband, YMCA George Williams. Jon is a qualified youth worker and has led Progress’ curriculum development activity throughout the project. YMCA George Williams College is quite a unique organisation. We are one of the largest providers of professional training in youth work, community work and community education and the only specialist college in the UK. It offers accredited courses for volunteers and part time youth workers as well as Diploma and Degree programmes in Informal Education (Youth Work and Community Learning and Development).

The Progress project runs until March 31 2011 so to find out about ways you can get involved, please visit http://www.ncvys.org.uk/progress.html or contact NCVYS’s Director of Workforce Development, Gethyn Williams on E: Gethyn@ncvys.org.uk or T: 020 7278 1041

For Progress, the college leads on the Curriculum Development elements and has been responsible for developing the framework to which the units subsidised by the project are mapped against. We also develop and coordinate a training programme offered to 360 VCS trainers delivering Progress subsidised training.

CASE STUDY

Learning in London with Futureversity Futureversity is a London based multiaward winning youth charity, which offers free inspiring courses, volunteering activities and a range of opportunities for 11-25 year olds to develop the skills and self-belief they need to make the most of their lives. The charity works with some of the most disadvantaged and hard to reach young people in London, breaking down barriers to learning whilst enabling these young people to fulfil their aspirations in life. As the London recipient of the NCVYS Young Partners Award, youth participation is of paramount importance to Futureversity when helping the charity decide on its range of innovative learning opportunities. With youth unemployment at its highest for a generation, costing the economy in excess of £90 million per week in benefits and lost productivity and an increase in the amount of young people leaving formal education without any basic skills, Futureversity has recognised the critical need to help improve the skills base of young people by striving to deliver innovative and inclusive learning opportunities. In essence, the Futureversity concept is for young people to gain core skills to get ahead in life, and to empower them to spark up a passion and discover untapped talents, whilst instilling the inspiration to achieve their true potential. The majority of Futureversity’s courses are accredited, enabling young people to gain nationally recognised qualifications and/or completion certificates with recorded learning outcomes. Courses range from

Communication Skills Training to Street Dancing; and Investment Banking to Mountain Biking. With many of the units from Futureversity’s courses mapped on the Qualifications Curriculum Framework, the young people are provided with flexible routes to gaining qualifications. These creditbased units lean towards basic language, literacy, numeracy and interpersonal skills, and prove to be invaluable when transferable skills are essential, given the current economic climate. Specific Futureversity programmes include ‘Job Ready’, an 11-week employability project for NEETs, aiming to equip young people with the skills they need to re-enter the world of employment and education. Accredited by the National Open College Network, what makes Job Ready exciting is that each project is run with a professional organisation. Previous businesses have included an international fashion house and investment banks, which work closely with the young people to share their experiences of work, provide mentoring and motivate the young people. Within a year of completing Job Ready, around 60% of participants gain employment or further training. Futureversity also runs a trainee journalism scheme which involves producing Nang!, a cutting edge magazine targeted at young people, distributed to 30,000 readership points across London. A team of 16-25 year olds get together regularly to discuss and plan the content. They track down the people they want to interview and write the articles themselves. Previous issues have featured interviews with big names including Sophie Dahl, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Dizzee Rascal and the Mayor of London. During the summer holidays the charity runs a Summer Programme for 11-25 year olds, with over 2,000 free arts, fashion, sports, life skills and business taster courses delivered to around 20,000

young people from a rich mix of cultural backgrounds every year. In addition, Futureversity offers several youth and corporate volunteering programmes and a Youth Assessor initiative for 1619 year olds to appraise the quality and consistency of courses, forming an integral part of Futureversity’s Quality Assurance Framework. In a recent Futureversity Youth Survey of 1,000 young people, it was uncovered that upon completing their learning activities with Futureversity, around 80% of respondents felt more confident; almost 60% felt inspired to be more involved in their local communities; 85% stated they had met someone from a different background or culture than their own; and 94% rated their experience to be very good or good. The survey also depicted an overall increase in cross-borough social mobility. Mahboobur Rahman, aged 20, a recent Job Ready participant from Tower Hamlets, states: “If I hadn’t done Job Ready I would probably be in prison, dead or hurt. It’s definitely been a life changing experience. I now have a job, along with a recognised qualification, and am grateful to Futureversity for all of their support”. Young people are at the heart of everything Futureversity does, and it takes pride in pushing boundaries to create memorable and fun learning experiences for the next generation to get ahead in life. With big plans to expand nationally and internationally, Futureversity has a mixed funding model and relies significantly on private funding.

To get involved, make a donation or for more information, check out www.futureversity.org or contact Nicola Harvey on: E: nicola.harvey@futureversity.org

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Funding learning and skills development In the latest of our regular features, NCVYS’s Workforce Development Officer Nichola Brown reflects on five years of big changes for the young people’s workforce During my time at NCVYS, funding has consistently been cited as the number one barrier preventing voluntary and community youth organisations from fully investing in the development of their staff and volunteers. Yet looking back over the past four and half years we have been fortunate to have seen strong investment in terms of Government funding going into learning and skills. The creation of the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has led to all sorts of new initiatives and programmes through the Young People’s Workforce Reform Programme. These included fully-funded management training for youth service managers and subsidised accredited training for the voluntary and community sector’s young people’s workforce. The NCVYS led consortium’s Progress project is currently under way and subsidies are still available up to the end of March 2011. NCVYS members continue to do their utmost to invest in their workforce. YMCA England and the Salvation Army have conditional bursary schemes which support the cost of gaining youth work qualifications. Increasingly youth organisations within the sector are collaborating more to maximise workforce development resources e.g. sharing training places and offering secondment opportunities. What strikes me most is the increase of more creative and cost-effective ways organisations are developing their workforce using other methods than training, such as mentoring. Examples of how organisations have developed their workforce are available on the NCVYS workforce development web pages at http://www.ncvys.org.uk/Workforce.html However in these times of austerity it is uncertain whether funding will be made available to invest in the young people’s workforce. At the time of going to press, we’ve only had limited information on a new strategy for the children and young people’s workforce development. Until there is greater clarity from the Department for Education on funding, many organisations are uncertain about the future of their projects working with the youth workforce. It might be expected that investment in volunteer workforce development would be a priority to support the Big Society agenda and I am still hopeful that investment in this area will be made. The skills landscape is certainly complex, with many different bodies to navigate. Some of these stakeholders will disappear or change course at the end of March, and this rationalisation may help to reduce the confusion. Their work will no doubt need to picked up– the question is by whom? Following the decision to close Lifelong Learning UK on 31 March 2011 it is currently

unclear who will assume responsibilities for skills development of the youth work occupational area. NCVYS has asked to be consulted and we continue to advocate to government that employers (and their representative bodies, including NCVYS) should have a bigger role to play in meeting skills development needs. There is evidence that government already understands this. Skills for Sustainable Growth (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Nov 2010) has asked employers to take on a larger financial responsibility in meeting the skills and development needs of its workforce. The strategy said:

‘The cost of paying for training should ultimately be shared between employers, individuals and the state to reflect the benefit each receives. As well as a better way of allocating scarce resource, it means that individuals and business are motivated to ensure that what is provided meets their needs’. A NCVYS briefing paper summarising Skills for Sustainable Growth (http://bit.ly/susgrowth) is worth reading for its insight into what is going to be funded, e.g. apprenticeship training. The government believes the biggest priorities must be those least able to help themselves - and it is paying close attention to young people and those without basic literacy and numeracy skills. They also plan to extend adult (19+) apprenticeships and fully fund provision for young people studying their first full level 2 and 3 qualifications. Learners and employers will be expected to invest alongside the government in meeting the costs of intermediate and higher level qualifications. Within the new financial year it is expected that the website www.direct.gov.uk >> education and learning will provide an update of the funding available.

Nichola Brown, Workforce Development Officer

NCVYS will continue to keep the sector up to date with news and policy developments via its workforce development e-bulletin Snippets. This can be downloaded from the NCVYS website or you can be added to the mailing list by emailing nichola@ncvys.org.uk. Funding specifically for workforce development is added to the web page http://www.ncvys.org.uk/funding_update.html Working with our partners, NCVYS has plans for a dialogue with the youth sector in order to gain consensus on the needs and support required to develop the workforce. We have a key leadership role to play representing the voluntary and community youth sector and hope that many of our members will get involved in helping to shape these plans. I am sure NCVYS members will rise to the challenge government has set and do their upmost to invest in a workforce effective in delivering young people’s services, taking advantage of any government funding that comes along the way.

For more information about workforce development at NCVYS, please contact Nichola: E: Nichola@ncvys.org.uk T: 07792 875 635

MEET THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE Mita Desai talks with Susanne Rauprich, NCVYS Chief Executive

An interview with Susanne Rauprich, Chief Executive of NCVYS This is the first in a new series of interviews with leading figures in our member network. Young people will be interviewing the Chief Executives of organisations to find out what makes them tick and their opinions on the issues that matter most. In this issue, 20 year old ENVOY member Mita Desai interviews Susanne Rauprich, NCVYS Chief Executive on her career in the voluntary and community youth sector. How did you start out in the sector? I was involved with youth work in my home town catholic church; it was there I had decided to take up a leadership role as a group leader, it has been a family tradition and my parents were also involved when they were younger. I later went on to train as a teacher where I realised I had greater passion for working with young people informally and so I took the steps to become a youth worker.

What steps did you take from the position of volunteering to actually working in the sector? In those days, gaining a teaching qualification meant that I was immediately qualified to do youth work. Today that would be no longer possible and I would have to go to university and take a degree in youth work. This is becoming an increasingly popular option which a lot of young people we meet want to pursue. I’m fully behind the specialisation and upskilling of the workforce through academic study.

What advice would you give to a young person interested in getting started in the sector today? Get involved and keep your eyes open! See what is happening in your local community or in nearby areas. There are always things to do, so don’t be

disheartened if you don’t know how to start, ask anybody, the challenge is to find a foot in. I think you should always question anyone you can who works in the sector. Eventually you will find somebody who will support you to do the kinds of things you want to do.

What has been your greatest achievement? With regards to NCVYS it has been the way I have established the organisation, its reputation and the way in which we engage a large number of organisations.

How has the sector changed since you started? It has changed quite significantly. We used to take an awful lot for granted, that organisations who had a long history of work with young people would always be in receipt of public sector funding and over the last few years that has changed quite a lot. Today we have to really demonstrate that organisations are really making a difference and that has bought quite a lot of challenges for NCVYS members.

Why do you think it is important for young people to take charge of the services they are going to use and be affected by? Two reasons. Firstly, young people know best what they want and the second is because it is a great development opportunity. I know everything I know now because as a young person I was given a position of responsibility, it was a life changing opportunity for me and that is still true today. So if you put young people into positions of responsibility that is the best way to develop their potential.

What are the most innovative practices you have seen in learning and development? That’s an interesting question... I can’t really say what is the most innovative. What is more important is that things reflect the needs and interests of young people at the time. Whatever might be innovative now will no longer be innovative in 5 years. There are quite a lot of

projects that are run and designed by young people themselves and it’s always those that tend to be the most creative and innovative.

What is the most important thing you have learnt as a Chief Executive? As a Chief Executive you have to make an awful lot of decisions and you quickly learn that you can’t shy away from them. It’s very difficult to know what the right thing is all the time, the main thing to do is to make decisions and live with the consequences and that is the way you develop as a leader.

What skills of your own would you like to improve? Lots! Well .... rather than skills, its more about knowledge and learning. The key things are about knowing what makes a difference and being able to talk about it in the right way and I want to do a little bit more of that.

Do you have a mentor or a key influence in your career? There are lots of key influences and they tend to be very different in their thoughts from different sources. I do also have a mentor, his name is David Carrington and I have been seeing him for many years. He is an expert in the voluntary sector with his particular knowledge around finance issues. We meet once a month and he gives me an opportunity to check out if my own thinking is on the right track and I think that is very important.

What inspires you to work with young people? It has changed over the years, when I first started working with young people, I was quite young myself. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and it was really where things were at. Now what is important to me, is to know in a little way I can make a difference and I feel extremely privileged in doing the work that I do.

HEADS UP FREE Leadership masterclasses for member Chief Executives NCVYS is launching a series of leadership masterclasses on March 30 2011. Designed to help sector leaders advance their leadership skills, the series of talks will be hosted in central London and will feature leading figures from outside of the voluntary and community youth sector. We are delighted to confirm that the first speaker at the masterclass series will be Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. Rarely out of the press in recent months, Charlie is perfectly positioned to talk about leading organisations through difficult times whilst remaining close to their principles. You can read more about the masterclass series here: http://bit.ly/ncvysleadership Places are limited and are likely to be in high demand so please go to http://bit.ly/ncvysleadership to request your place.

conference to Liverpool. The one day conference takes place on 15 March 2011. The specialised format means that you can pick and choose which sessions you attend to tailor the day to your own needs. Choose from funding, volunteering and delivery streams. Keynote plenary sessions will also provide crucial updates on how the Big Society will work in reality. Over 36 speakers will demonstrate practical tips on how to capture the opportunities and meet the challenges presented by the concept. This event also boasts northern-specific case studies to ensure that you understand how the Big Society will work in your area. To view the full speaker line-up please visit www.bigsocietynorthconference.com NCVYS is pleased to announce that our Director of Policy and Communications, Faiza Chaudary will be speaking at this Conference.

Subsidised accredited training in Safeguarding from NCVYS NCVYS is re-launching its training programme to include accredited training in safeguarding, developed to incorporate all the latest standards and guidelines. The training can be accessed through Progress and leads to an accredited qualification (level 3) with ABC. Courses will commence in March 2011. We are also offering a unit on safeguarding in BME communities as an optional extra. If you wish to find out more about the contents of the course and learning outcomes or register for this training please contact Erica Wallace at: erica@ncvys.org.uk or T: 020 7843 6468 for details.

Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership

Send in your articles for the next issue of Exchange Exchange reaches over 5,000 individuals interested in the voluntary and community youth sector including Chief Executives, Parliamentarians and Civil Servants. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re always interested in news, articles and case studies in best practice from our members. If you have a story to tell, please contact the editor: ross@ncvys.org.uk

This re-launch includes an update to our Keeping it Safe guide, which will also be available in March 2011. Keep an eye on our website for details.

Keep up to date with NCVYSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s information and policy services NCVYS publishes a range of policy and information services through a number of channels. You can follow us on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ncvys, watch videos from our events like the annual conference at http://www.twitter.com/youtube and listen to audio interviews at http://www.audioboo.fm/ncvys

What does the Big Society mean for the North of England?

We continue to provide our weekly Strategic Intelligence Service bulletin every Friday afternoon and our Nectar update at the start of each month. In addition, our policy team regularly update our funding blog with news of grants and service cuts. Take a look at http://www.ncvyspolicy.wordpress.com to find out more.

Because the North is pivotal in leading on the Big Society concept, Children & Young People Now, Regeneration & Renewal and Third Sector have decided to bring the Big Society In Practice

Last but not least, all our news, policy and information documents go up on the website at www.ncvys.org.uk Check back regularly to see updates about our work.

The front cover for this issue was designed by Alex Boustead Alex is a 25 year old Graphic Design graduate. Since completing her studies, Alex has worked within packaging and website design, where she enjoys using visual communication to express the ideals and aspirations of individual businesses. Alex recently completed the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award with the Cumbria Youth Alliance. She said it was a great opportunity to learn new skills and to get involved in local and national events. About the design Alex said: "Young adults point towards their goals and dreams. Although distant to begin with, learning opportunities will help them to achieve those goals, and broaden their future possibilities." Alex is currently working as a freelance designer and her portfolio can be found at http://www.alexboustead.com. You can contact her via email: E: alex.boustead@gmail.com

Exchange now online NCVYS publishes an online version of Exchange magazine, aimed at readers in the voluntary and community youth sector. Readers can view the latest issues for free by visiting the link below. NCVYS will still continue to print and distribute issues of Exchange, which members receive free as part of their membership to our network. See www.ncvys.org.uk Exchange distribution Exchange is read by over 5,000 people interested in the voluntary and community youth sector. We can send bulk copies to offices requiring 10 copies or more. If you or a colleague is receiving Exchange and would like us to stop sending copies, please email Ross Bailey, Exchange Editor at: E: press@ncvys.org.uk

Feedback and contributions If 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, please contact Ross Bailey, Exchange Editor on : E: press@ncvys.org.uk

Cover illustration by: Alex Boustead alex.boustead@gmail.com

Exchange is a quarterly magazine, bringing together a unique collection of news, policy analysis and practical advice for voluntary and community organisations and networks working with young people. Exchange contains articles by expert contributors from the sector and beyond. The magazine is distributed throughout the youth sector, reaching around 5000 readers in print and online. Designed/produced by arc. www.arc-cs.com

Editorial

If you would like to promote your work in Exchange, please send news and press releases to: press@ncvys.org.uk or contact Ross Bailey, Editor on: 020 7278 1041

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