Live - Making a Positive Contribution

Participation Works

claireg — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:43:50 +0100

Participation Works- Supporting the Third Sector to Develop Participation

Participation Works is a consortium of organizations committed to children and young people’s participation. We offer support to third sector organisations, enabling them to effectively involve children young people in the development, delivery and evaluation of services, which affect their lives.

PWNE
The Participation Works Network for England (PWNE) exists to provide opportunities for adults for whom participation is part of their daily work, to network, share new ideas and learn more about the participation landscape.

Membership is free and benefits include fortnightly ebulletins to keep you up to date with the latest news, events, policy and opportunities around children and young people’s participation in decision making. Members can also search the network database to get in contact with and share knowledge with other participation workers.

Online Gateway
Our Gateway website also contains up to date news stories, events and high quality resources relevant to the world of children and young people’s participation

Training
We offer training to support organisations to develop participation. Our training courses are FREE to Voluntary, Community and Faith organisations.

Building a Culture of Participation explores how an organisation’s culture can be established to support children and young people’s active and meaningful participation across the organisation. It is based on developing skills and knowledge in participation, involving self and organisational analysis as well as action planning. This course may lead on to gaining one to one advice and support from an approved Participation Works consultant.

Ready Steady Change is a comprehensive set of training and tools to build your skills and knowledge in increasing children and young people’s effective participation in decision-making. Focusing on “values, change and action”, Ready Steady Change approaches participation from a children’s rights framework and is suitable for professionals in a variety of settings as well as policy makers.

Visit www.participationworks.org.uk to find out more.

Feedback from day 2 working groups: Priorities for making a positive contribution

tim — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:07:12 +0100

What are the key priorities for action?

Campaigning

Need focused effort to let young people know the benefits of volunteering
Need more celebrations that involve young people and parents
Need clearer support from government (not all departments seem onside)
Need more visible champions – government, industry, young people (peer to peer), educationalists
Need to raise the currency of volunteering with politicians
Volunteering works at a whole range of levels

Policy (national and local)

Compulsion issue needs proper informed national debate
Need guidance for organisations that don’t yet involve young volunteers
Start with understanding volunteers’ contribution to inclusion / take social action approach
Recognise the importance of volunteering as a route to higher education

Practice

Progression and accreditation remain hot topics:
Qualifications and awards
Accreditation – OCN etc
Recognition = local and national certificates
Must get the progression right between non-formal and the formal – it’s two way
Role of supportive adults is critical
Opportunities for young people and parents (or other older people) to volunteer together.

Spending

Need comprehensive systems and structures that support young people / signpost to opportunities / challenge organisations
Need to secure longer term funding
Organisations are well up for the new challenges of increased accountability

Youth Summit Live: Summary

tim — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:26:10 +0100

The Youth Summit has been a great success for all those who attended, bringing together practitioners, policy makers and young people to discuss the key issues affecting the implementation of the Government’s ten-year strategy for children and young people. A wealth of ideas, debate and dialogue were generated, the most relevant of which have been captured as video interviews, podcasts, powerpoints and transcripts downloadable from this website. We will ensure it informs our work as we move forward and hope you find it valuable as well.

Throughout the Summit we were recording workshops and plenary sessions through Youth Summit Live. Below are links to some of the key posts in each theme.

Staying Safe

Summary workshop notes from day 1: assessment of the challenges and a full list of day 1 workshop notes give an overview of the staying safe topics covered. The workshop was led by young people from Corby using an attitude finder activity
Discussions of the harm caused Mosquito devices played a big part in the workshop, as the young people from Corby tell is in this video interview and as a workshop participant reflects in this one.
Workshop notes from day 2: priorities for action give a sense of the issues that participants wanted to take forward.
Darshna from Churchfield Primary School also used the blogging feature on Youth Summit Live to offer an imagined advice column to young people on issues of bullying.

Being Healthy

The summary workshop notes from day 1: assessment of the challenges in health give an overview of where we are falling short for young people, with all the different issues identified covered in this post.
Workshop notes from day 2: priorities for action gives a wide-ranging list of priorities from the health workshops, focussing in particular on funding and investment, better sex and relationship education, and improved training and sharing of good practise.
A what's changed example and two videos from the Maypole centre help explore some good practise sharing
Plus - we captured the launch of Youth Access's new resources on commissioning mental health services for young people

Enjoying and Achieving

The workshop notes from day 1: assessment of the challenges build up a clear picture of where change is needed.
Young people from NACRO Newcastle who led these workshops put enjoying and achievement into practise whilst at the summit - by making the most of their London visit and working hard to build a presentation overnight including their photos from around the city that fed into day 2.
The workshop notes from day 2: priorities for action identifies a range of campaigning, spending, policy and practise changes required.
A presentation from Actions Speak Louder highly commended project Rolling Base

Having Economic Wellbeing

The workshop notes from day 1: assessment of the challenges set out some serious topics for discussion on day 2.
But as the woorkshop notes from day 2: priorities for action show - the group generated practical forward planning ideas and shared examples of where action to ensure young people economic wellbeing can work.
We also capture Anthony Lawton's three tests for good housing through Bill's blogging and a discussion has developed on this blog post about gangs placed in the economic wellbeing category.

Making a positive contribution

The making a positive contribution workshop notes from day 1: give a wider ranging assessment of the challenges, added to by points from the young volunteers helping lead the session
The notes from day 2 with priorities are here. The group had a particularly interesting set of discussions about compulsory volunteering.
Mike from Yomo, watching Youth Summit Live whilst working in Ireland, shared some background resources that might be useful for organisations exploring young peoples volunteering and participation.

Plus - outside the core themes of the Youth Summit we had lots of activity on Youth Summit Live. This poem started of a wave of creativity, surfed by Barney from conference organisers NSA with this poetic input. Holly Hill proved to be star blogger, regularly dropping into the media centre to share her reflections. Plus - Tom Wylie's suggestion that there be a national Youth Board sparked a lot of discussion, including an online poll and a couple of video interviews.

Where next for Youth Summit Live?

The Youth Summit Live website will continue to be available and open for contributions for another couple of weeks. After that, we'll pause the ability to add information - but will keep it available so that practioners, policy makers and young people alike can share the collected wisdom and insights of all Youth Summit Live contributors.

The National Youth Agency, supported by Practical Participation is starting a deeper exploration of how methods like this can help us to communicate with and deepen our dialogue with young people and other NYA stakeholder alike. We'd welcome your continued comments, reflections and input.

The Youth Summit Live model

Youth Summit Live was concieved, designed, developed and run in just under a fortnight by Tim Davies of Practical Participation, working with the organising team for Youth Summit live from the National Youth Agency and Neil Stuarts Associates. It was championed and supported by Bill Badham. The Roving Reporters team made the media happen by roving through the Youth Summit gathering photos, reports and more. If you have any feedback about Youth Summit Live; you're interested in exploring how a Youth Summit Live style model could work at an event you are running; or you are interested in wider explorations of how new media can work for your organisation or project, please do contact tim@practicalparticipation.co.uk.

Parmjit Dhanda MP's Speech

tim — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:07:45 +0100

Web Link

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/speeches/search_detail.cfm?ID=650

Video

Young People in Malawi - Africa!

masyomo — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:25:13 +0100

The young people involved in supporting this project became involved by volunteering after they had attended courses themselves. They're from a broad range of backgrounds from different areas of the UK & Ireland.

Our work in Africa has largely been about a different kind of challenge for the young people that volunteer with us to deliver our training. In the UK we work with many of the "most deprived" areas and often hear about where communities we work with 'rank' on the indices of deprivation etc. Our volunteers are from these same areas - so this is a separate challenge working with people in 'absolute poverty'.

The average life expectancy in Malawi is just 36! It is by all measures one of the poorest countries in the world. And yet in the Zomba region we worked in two young men - Ernest & Giles are trying to make a difference. We're supporting them for at least the next 3 years because if people can make a difference in those circumstances they definitely can over here!

In this film Ernest talks a little about the Grace Orphan & Disabled Care Group and their hopes for the future. You can read more about the programme on the YoMo website at www.yomo.co.uk - just click on the link on the front page. You can also send donations by sms text message by texting 'YOMO' to 82070

If you'd like more info please use the forum on the YoMo site.

Resources for Youth Participation

masyomo — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:12:55 +0100

We're now taking orders for our free catalogue featuring our unique set of resources for youth participation and peer education. Order them online through the YoMo website at www.yomo.co.uk or email info@yomo.co.uk

In October we'll be running a networking event for practitioners and young people involved in supporting young peoples participation, citizenship and peer education.

This will be a 2 day event on the 25th & 26th October - places are free for participants that agree to share a resource or run a workshop. Will also include a 'speed networking' session and information about our work supporting a group in Malawi, Africa working with orphaned children.

To ensure you get more information sign up to the YoMo mailing list on the YoMo website (link for the mailing list is at the bottom of the page). If you get confused send us an email! You are very welcome to come to this event and promote your project for free! Thats what its all about!!

Roving Reporters - Newsletter

tim — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:50:52 +0100

The Roving Reporters were up till late last night creating an overnight newsletter to give a picture of the whole event.

Get your copy here (PDF).

Full notes from workshop 3... making a positive contribution

tim — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:37:50 +0100

Web Link

Video

Notes from the workshop.... (Making a positive contribution)

tim — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:19:38 +0100

What is young people's experience?

What needs to be changed or put in place?

How to replicate the success of projects like YouthAID across London / England
How to change the image of volunteering to engage ‘hard to reach’ young people
How to let local and national government know more about these projects
Ensuring young people gain personally from volunteering (personal not financial)
Highlighting the benefits (skills, activities of interest to the individual, chance to meet people, certificates etc)
How to encourage young people to spread the message to others – they are the most convincing advocates
Recruit a friend campaign?
Talking to young people that are not volunteering about volunteers experiences!
Whether volunteering should become compulsory for young people as part of their personal development…
Understanding young people’s motivation for volunteering is critical – could compulsory elements be included or would this undermine involvement?
What should young people do after their education is finished at 16 – stay on? volunteer? Undertake National service?…
How to recognise and celebrate young people’s achievements in the community
How to challenge negative perceptions and change peoples’ views?
How do we get more young people volunteering - making voluntary opportunities more appealing so more young people will be interested
What support structures and resources are there out there? For young people / for organisations wanting to involve young people?
Where are the progression routes for young volunteers?

Where are we falling short for children and young people?

Extra Evidence Online (optional)

Why are we falling short?

Extra Evidence Online (optional)

Vox Pops after open space session

tim — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:42:10 +0100

Steve Moore from Channel 4 led an open spaces session at today's Youth Summit - and afterwards DK captured some of the ideas that have come up...

How to Participate?!

masyomo — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:27:54 +0100

Web Link

http://www.yomotraining.com/training-guides/training/considering-community-actio...

Video

YoMo!

masyomo — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:20:21 +0100

Web Link

http://www.yomo.co.uk

Video

Tom Wylie on Youth Services and Participation

tim — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:25:56 +0100

We caught up with Tom Wylie after his keynote earlier and here's what he said:

His key points:

We need an architecture or arrangements that will better engage young people in decision making at the local level.
We need youthwork as a way of intervening with the young.
Youthwork is a set of proccesses, a set of activites, as set of relationships which are about young peoples personal and social development
That arrangement, that youthwork, is available only in a patch fashion across the country - and we need something that makes it more systematic, sets higher standards, and provides sufficient and sustainble resources.
To involve young people in decision making the government should build on the Youth Opportunity Fund, should encourage every local authority to have some form of youth forum, and should use the Hear by Right standards as the basis on which to judge whether or not local authorities are being successful.

Rolling Base

tim — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:53:16 +0100

Web Link

Video

Young People in the Media

tim — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:40:24 +0100

A survey released today has shown just how much coverage of young people in the media is negative. I caught up with two of the NYA Team at the Youth Summit to get their views:

Earlier on today I also got chance to talk to Leigh from Media Box to ask her to explain what media box is all about and how it can help challenge negative media portrayal of young people.

Check out the full press release

YOUNG PEOPLE 'SEEN BUT NOT HEARD' IN NATIONAL MEDIA

9 out of 10 stories on young people don't report what they say

Less than 1 in 4 stories are positive about young people

A news survey for Young People Now magazine by TNS Media Intelligence
shows only 22.7% of national media coverage about young people is
positive/favourable. The survey findings are launched today at the start
of the national Youth Summit in London.

Broadcast media in particular concentrated on negative perceptions of
young people, with an astonishing 87.5% of broadcast clips unfavourable
towards young people.

While adults were quoted in 38% of stories about young people, a young
person's quotation appeared in only 11% of the coverage. If the views of
young people were heard at all, they were often heard only after adult
expects on the matter in hand had been quoted.

The survey covered all daily and Sunday nationals, all major and most of
the smaller broadcast news outlets, monitoring coverage for one week in
May 2007.

*  Broadcast coverage tended to be of short duration and focused on the
more headline-grabbing incidents of violence and crime.

*  The most popular Broadsheet newspaper topic was education, accounting
for 38% of coverage about young people.

*  Tabloid newspapers included both violent crime and education, but they
were also more concerned than other media about the sexualisation of
childhood that accounted for 16% of the tabloids' coverage.

While in any one week particular stories might dominate a news-agenda,
there is little to suggest that the negative coverage of young people is
atypical. The range of topics covered by the national media was
predominantly negative, with an emphasis on problem behaviour and young
people the instigators or victims. The survey also follows previous
studies for Young People Now. Initial research in 2004 showed that 3 out
of 4 stories about young people were negative.

Ravi Chandiramani, editor of Young People Now, said: "Over the last
three years, there has been an increase in positive coverage of young
people. However, as our survey shows there is a great deal more to do,
in particular for broadcast news media. All too often young people are
seen but not heard. This not only reinforces negative images and
stereotypes of young people, but risks further alienating young people
in communities."

Philip Lynch, director of evaluation at TNS Media Intelligence
commented: "Young people were closely associated with negative issues
such as crime, violence and antisocial behaviour. Other issues such as
education, the sexualisation of childhood and gangs often carried an
element of distress that adults are failing young people."

Young People Now will hand out its 2007 Positive Images Awards at The
Youth Summit, in association with The National Youth Agency, as part of
its campaign to improve the media portrayal of young people.

- Ends -

For further details or media interviews with Young People Now, TNS Media
Intelligence and The National Youth Agency, contact:

*  Jonathan Hopkins (tel: 01235 559556)

Notes to editors:-

The Youth Summit: is a two-day event 25/26 June that brings together
Government Ministers, senior officials, leading policy makers, service
providers and a panel of 100 young people from across England, forging
dynamic links between young people, communities and government.
www.youthsummit.co.uk 

Positive Images: a full list of the 2007 award winners will be available
from Young People Now on Monday 25th June. The awards will be presented
at 5.30pm, at The Youth Summit, New Connaught Rooms, London WC2. Young
People Now launched Positive Images in October 2004 as a campaign:

*  to improve the portrayal of young people in the media
*  to encourage media to look for positive angles when reporting stories
about young people
*  to incentivise youth groups and young people to be proactive in
contacting the media for local councils to celebrate young people as
part of a long-term strategy.

Young People Now: is the only weekly title for those who work with young
people aged 11-25. It was launched in 1989 by The National Youth Agency
and has been published by Haymarket Media Group since January 2003.
Haymarket is the UK's largest privately owned magazine publisher, and
Haymarket titles are now published in over 30 countries in more than 100
editions.

The National Youth Agency: supports those involved in young people's
personal and social development and works to enable all young people to
fulfil their potential within a just society. www.nya.org.uk


TNS Media Intelligence: TNS Media Intelligence UK has been at the
forefront of the media monitoring industry since its inception fifty
years ago and is a recognised industry expert in audiovisual tracking.
In January 2007 it merged with Presswatch, founded in 1996 and well
known as a high-quality information service provider and independent
reputation analyst in the UK.

Positive Images Survey 2007: TNS Media Intelligence monitored the tone
of coverage of young people during the week of 19-25 May 2007. In total,
304 items of coverage were recorded, of which 104 were broadcast, 90
broadsheet and 110 tabloid.

A youth board for England?

tim — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:19:12 +0100

Tom Wylie, Chief Exec of the NYA is calling for a Youth Board to be set up chaired by a government minister. Young people now featued the call in this article last week.

After his keynote Tom said "The issues and views of young people as young adults are lost in the focus on 'children's services' 0 - 19 years"

So - we want to know what you think...

Should there be a national Youth Board set up chaired by a senior government minister? Vote here and add your comments to the discussion...

What's Changed: Maypole

tim — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:15:19 +0100

Web Link

http://www.maypolecentre.co.uk/contents/default.html

Video

3D Dialogues - tour with Parmjit Dhanda

tim — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:57:37 +0100

Web Link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/obslogic/sets/72157600348335550/