Youth Participation Ambassadors - guide

Youth participation?

“Enable young people to have their voices heard and to take action equally. This is based on core principles at all levels of Woodcraft Folk.”

“Giving everyone a chance to get involved in projects planning and running things that include young people, based on core principles”

“Young people and adults working together as equals to run activities and take action.”

Thank you for signing up to be a Youth Participation Ambassador!

This pack is a guide to help you with your role.

The content has been created by young people and adults working together including DFs, the TREE Steering Group and participants at Youth Participation Ambassador Training, October 2013.

Aim To champion children and young people’s involvement at all levels of Woodcraft Folk and also in their communities.

Responsibilities Help ensure young people are represented on the Woodcraft Folk committees and other teams / decision-making bodies that you’re involved with Signpost adults and young people to resources that support youth participation, eg Choose It Plan it Do it, Annual Gathering preparation activities, the A to Z of Good Discussion.

Support individual young people you know who are participating in new ways, eg joining their District Committee, going to Annual Gathering, starting a project Look out for new ways for yourself and other young people to participate Speak up if you think young people aren’t being included or represented fairly!

These responsibilities can be carried out on a local, regional or national level, or in the context of a specific project / campaign.

or as e as big b n a c You ant: it it to be! t n a w Import ou tion role as y participa h small a g t u o y ion ady doin p e m lr a a h e c ’r can you g what in o d t s il wh lk. craft Fo d o o W in Some examples of things you can do: local Run an activity where the Elfins can choose their term’s programme Suggest the District Committee meets somewhere young people can easily attend (eg not in a pub) Distribute copies of the Rough Guide to Annual Gathering to young people Run Leading for the Future activities for your Venturer group Mentor a young person who is being Camp KP for the first time Show your Pioneers how to publish an article on the Woodcraft website

national Support young people to stand for General Council Share information about how young people can join an Outdoor Centre management Committee Run a workshop on youth participation at Development Conference or another national event Help a delegation of Venturers attend another organisation’s event, eg the British Youth Council’s AGM Help organise a training event to share skills in youth participation

A Youth Participation Ambassador helps facilitate.

A facilitator is someone who guides a group to a successful conclusion.

A good facilitator will consider: The needs of the participants How to create a safe environment The agenda Time management Group structure How the room should be set up What equipment is needed How you’ll make sure everyone is involved, participates and understands what’s going on

A Youth Participation Ambassador supports young people to be involved.

There are many ways that support can be given, from encouragement to resources. Here are some key things to consider when giving support: Practical as well as emotional support is important Remain silent, listen to what someone has to say Each person will need different support It’s important to be positive Being open and receptive – letting people know you’re there to support them and noticing when someone needs support ‘Non-random’ acts of kindness are a good thing to do when you know someone needs support Woodcraft as a whole is a supportive environment

A Youth Ambassador communicates a clear message. Championing of youth participation can happen through many different communication methods. Here are some of the ones available in Woodcraft Folk: If you’re promoting an opportunity for Facebook young people to participate, remember to Website, including group’s own pages on make it clear: www.woodcraft.org.uk/where Woodcraft Districts’ own websites What, when, where Google groups Is it FREE? Posters and leaflets What are the benefits?

Spanthatworld.com The Courier Make your message friendly and Face to face at District meetings and don’t use jargon circle news at group nights

A Youth Participation Ambassador helps overcome barriers to participation.

You or other young people may face barriers when trying to fully participate here are some ideas to help overcome them: Positive thinking Protesting Seeing the best in people Never giving up Fixing broken hearts Education Banding together Faith in young people Trust Email local politicians to talk in schools Accepting others’ opinions and moving on

A Youth Participation Ambassador speaks up about young people’s involvement.

Speaking in public can be a scary for everyone, so here are some things to consider when doing so: Tone / register What space will you be in?

Who are your audience?

Breathe!

Voice, rhythm, pitch Contact with audience

A Youth Participation Ambassador helps guide people to useful resources.

Woodcraft Folk has produced a range of helpful resources that are free to use.

Most can be found on our website in the resource section but some key ones to look at are:

Follow the Trail Leading for the Future Activities to prepare your group for Annual Gathering

Ideas that came out of the Youth Participation Ambassadors training weekend: Run lots of games!

Encourage other young people Help your group edit its webpage on the website Get involved and help with meetings Think about being a mentor Use and share the resources Sharing views with different Districts is good Don’t dominate sessions Build on young people’s experience one step at a time Make time for young people

th e You r a s e r He sador s a b ion Am t a p i c g Parti pionin n! m a h c ipatio c i t r a ple’s p o e p young

For support, contact tree@woodcraft.org.uk info@woodcraft.org.uk 020 7703 4173 www.woodcraft.org.uk/resources

And don’t forget to ask your District for help!

PLEDGES! Help at an Elfin group & run a Venturer session Get Elfins to participate more in planning. Pioneers to run more at sessions. Get involved at District level.

Encourage young people to get involved in national events Take my Woodcraft work further Get in touch with Elfins and Pioneers for planning Try and run a session Keep in touch with Ambassadors to support them Further the Youth Participation Ambassador Programme Support people physically and emotionally eg listening Become a suitable facilitator Run a session Speaking in public Run games; speak publicly; know how to plan a session Give my group the resources

Made by Ambassadors trained in York, October 2013

Share resources amongst my District, and encourage Venturers in my group to run activities Give PassDiaryBooks to Venturers in my group who don’t have one. Give out copies of the A – Z of Good Discussion after discussions, and encourage Venturers in my group to look at resources such as ‘Activities for Venturers’ and ‘Issues for Venturers’ and run an evening / activity from one of them.

To support all young people to be Ambassadors Learn how to be an Ambassador Address lack of youth participation Increase in older Pioneers and Venturers running group night (facilitating) Get more involved with my District’s Elfin and Pioneer groups In my Venturer group get more of the newest Venturers participating—ask younger Venturers to run sessions Run a session; help people who need their voice heard Help others organise the group