1. THE NEWSLETTER FOR ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN YOUTH WORK IN
DEVON AND PRODUCED BY VOLUNTARY YOUTH SERVICES
Issue 3 – MARCH 2011
POSITION REGARDING THE LOCAL
AUTHORITY’S PROPOSED CUTS TO VYS CONTENTS
Devon/Regional News
Last month I reported that the Local Authority Events
Youth Service was proposing to withdraw all of Training Courses
its funding to VYS, with effect from 1st July 2011, Publications and Resources
including the funding for the post of Manager. In Grants / Awards / Competitions
effect this is a 100% cut compared to an National News & Information
average of 15.9% cut to the rest of the local
authority youth service and an 11.7% cut to The Executive is meeting on April 6th to
other voluntary organisations funded by the plan what services VYS can continue to
County Council such as the Councils for provide post July 1st and what role VYS can
Voluntary Service (CVS’s). play in the future. We do have reserve
funds that will ensure that we can provide
The VYS Executive has sent a detailed some service for a limited time (about a
response (if you would like a copy please apply year) but not necessarily on the same scale
to Anthea Parkyn at the VYS office) to these as before. VYS staff will be contacting all
proposals to the County Council asking for a full member organisations over the next few
explanation in terms of their fairness: why is weeks asking for the following in terms of
VYS being singled out for cuts that are totally our future priorities:
disproportionate to cuts elsewhere in the youth 1. What services currently provided by
service and the voluntary sector generally? The VYS are important to you and you want
only explanation that we have so far managed to to continue receiving
get is that the local authority is trying to protect 2. What services are less important to
front line services and not support services you
(managers, admin. support staff). However, the 3. What role should VYS play in the
local authority proposals have preserved many future in relation to some of its current
of its own support services whilst cutting all key mission statements which are:
funding to the support service that VYS provides • Providing Practical Help - to
the voluntary sector (without any consultation ensure that there is sufficient
with the voluntary sector). We expect a formal support to develop and maintain the
written response from the County Council by voluntary youth sector
April 6th and we intend to pursue the matter
further if necessary.
VYS, YFC Centre, Retail Park Close, Marsh Barton Road, Exeter EX2 8LG
Tel / Fax: 01392 250976 E-mail: admin@vysdevon.org.uk
Registered Charity No. 1054442
www.vysdevon.org.uk
2. • Providing a Voice - to enable the voluntary sector to have a voice and
influence on policy and decision making regarding services to young people.
This will be especially important in the future.
• Facilitating Networking – to support, develop and promote collaboration,
cooperation and networking in order to facilitate effective partnership working.
Again, this will be especially important in the future
4. What other roles might VYS play in the future in relation to, for example:
• Holding policy makers accountable for services provided to young people
• Developing and maintaining quality and best practice in services to young
people
We plan to hold a series of briefings and seminars in May with member organisations to
consider questions such as these and any updates we have had regarding our position
regarding the cuts.
In the meantime we are starting to receive messages of support from individuals and from
member organisations, who are also making representations to the County Council about
the potential impact of the proposed cuts to VYS and to other parts of the sector and I
would urge you or your organisation to do the same as soon as possible. You should send
your representations by post to Dillon Hughes - Strategic Lead Officer – Youth Services at
County Hall, Exeter and send a copy for information to Cllr Christine Channon who is the
Lead Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services also at County Hall,
Exeter. Please contact VYS staff if you need any advice or support in this regard.
I will keep you updated next month and please do respond to VYS staff who will be in
contact over the forthcoming weeks. This is a critical time for the future of VYS and the
voluntary youth sector.
Paul Allan, VYS Chair
DEVON NEWS
JOB VACANCIES - Visit the VYS website which is updated with new vacancies on a
regular basis – see http://www.vysdevon.org.uk/page/jobs
The Bungalow Project Assistant Youth Support Worker at Buckfastleigh. Salary
£6115 per annum. The Bungalow Youth Project requires a dynamic and flexible Assistant
Youth Support Worker to work 16 hours per week during the evenings temporary for 12
months in the first instance. The ideal applicant will need to be able to work with a variety
of young people in different settings from generic youth sessions to advice and guidance
work. You will be working as part of a small team and will receive support from a
professional youth worker. For details ring 01626 369283 or e-mail
newton.youth@devon.gov.uk Closing date 12th April.
Dartmoor Arts Project: Bursary Awards for young artists - Dartmoor Arts Project is
looking for young talented artists age 18+ to join it at its summer school 24th to 30th July.
They have a bursary award scheme to support young and emerging artists who would like
to attend the summer school and the deadline is 18th April. Bursaries are available
2
3. across a range of courses. Young artists will have the opportunity to spend a week
working with artists from all over the country and be mentored and taught by leading art
practitioners. If you would like to put forward a young artist for a bursary award or would
like more information ring 01647 281295 or email admin@dartmoorarts.com or visit
www.dartmoorarts.com
Mórvargh Sailing Project has been created to provide an adventure, leadership and
youth development programme for young people, to increase their self-esteem,
confidence, motivation and other key 'soft skills' they need to succeed today through
sailing on the sail training yacht Helen Mary R, a 57ft Bowman Ketch. The Focus Point
programme has been set up to work over three stages and allows young people to follow
up on progress made between each voyage. Young people leave the voyages with
competence based qualifications in Key Skills which complement those gained in formal
education. See www.morvargh-sailing.co.uk or phone 01752 264484.
School Lettings - Exeter’s secondary schools are taking over the management of their
out of hours' lettings from 1st April, with facility bookings being co-ordinated by St Luke's
Science and Sports College. Up to now, the hire of the school's sports and other facilities
has been managed by Carillion Education under the PFI agreement. Devon County
Council’s Cabinet Member for Schools and Skills, Christine Channon, said: "The five new
secondary schools in Exeter were built with superb facilities. They were built with
taxpayers' money and it is extremely important that - when the schools don't need them
for their students - the facilities are available for the wider community to use." See
http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/newscentre/press-releases/press-release.htm?id=3674
Sported. Mentors Required - With the sported. programme expanding rapidly in Devon,
and more projects coming on board at a regular basis, they are looking to expand the
mentoring team. Current Mentors range from students to retired business people and as a
mentor you will gain excellent experience in working within sport development and will be
able to make a difference to the lives of young people in your local area. They ask
mentors to commit to a minimum of 10 hours over a 3 - 6 month period and before you
start your first placement you must complete a 3-hour induction training course. For more
details see the mentor recruitment fact sheet http://www.vysdevon.org.uk/news/2438
Volunteering in Devon - Consulting Inplace has published a paper analysing statistical
work to identify which places in England have the highest and lowest rates of
volunteering, and participation in local decision making. For example, the five local
authority areas with the highest volunteering rates are: West Devon, Derbyshire Dales,
South Lakeland (Cumbria), South Hams and West Somerset. The paper suggests some
places which may find it particularly easy or difficult to put the Big Society into practice.
http://www.consultinginplace.com/
EVENTS
12th April Ethical Ventures: ‘A Different Way of Doing Business’ - Introduction to
Social Enterprise & Launch of Cascade’s Social Enterprise Start-up Training
Programme - The new ‘Ethical Ventures’ programme which will be launched at this
event is designed to support those in emerging or fledgling social enterprises – and those
considering starting one up – by offering workshops that provide new learning
opportunities in affordable bite-sized chunks. Each workshop will provide an intensive
3
4. ‘flying visit’ to the basic components that Cascade (a social enterprise itself) believes
start-up social enterprises need to engage with. This workshop will run from 9.30 – 12.30
and will be held in Taunton and costs £25 per person. Contact
lauren@cascadetrainingplus.co.uk or see www.cascadetrainingplus.co.uk
11th May Creating Safety: child protection and youth arts - One-day accredited course
from Artswork being held in Plymouth. It is being delivered in partnership with Theatre
Royal in Plymouth. This one day course is essential training for anyone working within
youth arts, but especially those using more physical art forms, such as dance and drama.
The training will cover current child protection legislation in line with the requirements of
the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), within the context of delivering a youth arts project
and includes a “safe touch” section, exploring how child protection guidelines can be
maintained within more physical art forms. For details contact Rachel Hall at
artsplan@artswork.org.uk or call 02380 682535.
11th May Have you got what it takes to be a social entrepreneur? Is a session being
run by the Devon School for Social Entrepreneurs at Dartington Hall 2.00 - 5.30 pm. It will
include action learning, witness sessions, discussions and questions. The cost is £30 per
person. For details contact Rachel Williams on 01803 847066 or email
Rachel.williams@dartington.org, or see www.sse.org.uk and click on Devon.
11/12th May Mental Health First Aid Training - Mental Health First Aid is the help given
to someone experiencing a mental health problem before professional help is obtained. It
does not teach people to be therapists. However, it does teach people how to recognise
the symptoms of mental health problems, how to provide initial help and how to guide a
person towards appropriate professional help. This two day course will run at
Workways and full details can be found at www.workways.org.uk/training.htm
12th May A Practical Approach to Fundraising: maximise your success and explore
new income streams is a course from Cascade Training being held in Bristol. It is an
ideal introduction for those new to fundraising, but will also appeal to more experienced
fundraisers who are looking for fresh ideas. It will also be relevant for managers and
trustees who have an overall responsibility for maximising income and want an insight into
fundraising frameworks. For details see www.cascadetrainingplus.co.uk or email
lauren@cascadetrainingplus.co.uk
TRAINING
Child Protection Level 3 Training - The next inter-agency training courses start at the
beginning of May. See http://dscb.info/training-index/ All those booking on the new Group
3 course need to complete the e learning module (or approved equivalent course). This
should be completed at least 4 weeks prior to the taught course date.
De Montford University has developed a new course for 2011 – Foundation Degree
Work with Communities and Young People, which has been specially designed for those
working or volunteering in organisations which provide services for young people and
communities. http://www.dmu.ac.uk/wcyp
Lifecoaching – a new website has been set up to enable individuals to find a life coach
close to them and appropriate for their needs. This is a free, confidential service that will
4
5. help those seeking a new direction in their life to find the encouragement they need. Every
life coach on the site who has a full profile has either sent a copy of their qualifications and
insurance cover to the organisation behind the website, or is registered with a professional
body with recognised codes of ethics and practice, so that you can be assured of their
professionalism. www.lifecoach-directory.org.uk
My Learning Pool offers a range of low cost online training, with a range of over 20
online training courses covering a range of topics for both individuals and organisations.
Costing £25 for a year’s subscription, My Learning Pool is designed for community and
voluntary groups, small charities, social enterprises and anyone involved in civil society.
Some of the topics available include procurement, managing stress, finding a new job and
health and safety at work. www.mylearningpool.com.
Specialist Child Protection Training – there are a number of courses arranged for the
coming months:
Child Sexual Abuse
Emotional Abuse and Neglect
Working with Resistant families who are difficult to engage
Working with families with parental mental ill health
Assessing, analysing and managing risk
Please go to www.devon.gov.uk/onlinebookings to view dates and book.
Workways Training – courses coming up soon include:
Being Mindful (3 hours) - Provides an introduction to mental health conditions and
helping someone in distress; the impact on the workplace; and supporting staff in
work and managing absence.
Mental Health Awareness (3 hours) - A more in-depth look at common mental
health conditions and more severe one such as schizophrenia and psychosis.
Suitable for anyone with little or no knowledge of mental health conditions.
Mental Health First Aid (2 days) - Mental Health First Aid is the help given to
someone experiencing a mental health problem before professional help is
obtained. This is a nationally accredited course.
For more information see http://www.workways.org.uk/training.htm or telephone either
Lynn Aggett or Richard Frost on 01392 677050.
PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES
Boys2Men is a guide from UK Youth to working with young men and running a
fatherhood programme. It works through fatherhood issues; opens up broader subjects
such as sexuality; sexual health; responsibility; relationships and masculinity. It also
includes an extensive range of activities including informative fun games; thought
provoking discussion ideas; entertaining quizzes and useful self evaluation activities.
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/boys2men/4442695
Circus Skills Workshops are offered by Bezerkaz Circus, with a wide range of juggling
activities, diabolo, plate spinning, unicycle, balancing activities and twirling to more
specific and specialist activities such as stiltwalking, acrobatic balancing, giant bubble
making, magic, cooperative team games etc. Workshops are both exciting and
rewarding and learners may benefit in a range of ways; from improved coordination,
concentration to groupwork. Workshops can be used in a range of ways, from one offs to
5
6. longer projects. Activities can be delivered as short taster sessions, half day, full day or
week long projects with an objective such as producing a show. For details ring 07866
261346, email info@bezerkaz.co.uk or see www.bezerkaz.co.uk
Community Newswire is a free news service to help charities and voluntary
organisations gain valuable media coverage. Press releases can be sent by email to
communitynewswire@mediatrust.org or uploaded at www.communitynewswire.org. The
release is then written up into a news story by a Press Association journalist - improving
the chances of a newspaper or news station picking it up. These stories are then sent out
via the Press Association newswire to thousands of journalists each day. As part of this
service, they offer help with press release writing.
Exchange - The latest issue of NCVYS's quarterly magazine Exchange is now online. It
brings together a unique collection of news, policy analysis and practical advice for
voluntary and community organisations and networks working with and for young people.
http://issuu.com/ncvys/docs/exchange11
Exposed is a new resource from CEOP. It is a 10 minute drama designed to tackle the
issue of young people taking indecent images which are then circulated to a wider
audience or ‘Sexting’. See http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/Teachers/
Fit and Proper Persons test - HM Revenue and Customs has revised this guidance,
including the basic guide for charity managers. This applies at present only to charities
(and Community Amateur Sports Clubs) claiming repayments of tax under Gift Aid.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/guidance-notes/chapter2/fp-persons-test.htm.
Free Websites - Cambridge Open Systems can provide free websites to all community
groups throughout the UK. Based on the successful VOICE service, any community, not-
for-profit or voluntary group can apply to have a free website. With an easy-to-use website
building package, users can set-up a website quickly and easily with no technical
expertise required. Pre-built, interactive modules such as picture galleries, discussion
boards, and surveys, can be added to websites with a single click. See:
http://e-voice.org.uk/news/free-websites
Get Legal is a new online reference and decision making tool, giving clear guidance and
information about legal structures for individuals, organisations and advisors who are
setting up or running charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations. Created by
NCVO, with a range of partners, the website demystifies legal and governance terms and
helps you to decide what structure will work best for your organisation’s mission and
vision. See www.getlegal.org.uk
Good Guide to Employment templates can be downloaded from the NCVO website.
There are a wide range of templates available which are designed to be customisable to
your organisation and which you can adapt, edit and amend as you wish. The templates
are designed to help you with the development of policies, job descriptions and good
diversity practice and more. See http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/gge-templates-downloads
Health and Safety - HSE guidance on health & safety of young people at work and on
work experience. See www.hse.gov.uk/youngpeople/index.htm See also
http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DCSF-00827-
2009 which is guidance on the employment of young people.
6
7. Improve your media coverage - gaining media coverage remains the cheapest and most
effective way of raising your charity’s profile, increasing donations, gaining volunteers and
attracting service users. This FREE online seminar offers you five simple things you can
do right now to gain more media coverage for your charity. See
www.charitymediatraining.co.uk/uploads/dscvid.htm?dm_i=6S7,D102,N89OL,11LLO,1
Information sharing – the Seven golden rules
♦ Remember that the Data Protection Act is not a barrier to sharing information, but
provides a framework to ensure that personal information about living persons is
shared appropriately.
♦ Be open and honest with the person from the outset about why, what, how and with
whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is
unsafe or inappropriate to do so.
♦ Seek advice if you are in doubt, without disclosing the identity of the person where
possible.
♦ Share with consent where appropriate and, where possible, respect the wishes of those
who do not want to share confidential information. You may still share information
without consent if, in your judgement, that lack of consent can be overridden in the
public interest. You will need to base your judgement on the facts of the case.
♦ Consider safety and well-being: Base your information sharing decisions on
considerations of the safety and well-being of the persons and others who may be
affected by their actions.
♦ Necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate, timely and secure: Ensure that the
information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is
shared only with the people who need to have it, is accurate and up-to-date, is shared
in a timely fashion, and is shared securely.
♦ Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it - whether it is to share information
or not.
There is lots more useful information about information sharing on the web at
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/strategy/integratedworking/a007291
5/information-sharing
Internet safety materials - Materials from the Zip it, Block it, Flag it campaign are
available free to all those who work with children.
http://www.education.gov.uk/ukccis/news_detail.cfm?newsid=48&thisnews=2
Managing charity assets and resources: an overview for trustees - The Charity
Commission has produced a new guidance document (CC25). It is a general introduction
to the management of a charity's assets and resources, with a summary of the key points
to consider. See http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Publications/cc25.aspx
Social Enterprise Toolkit that covers everything you need to know about setting up and
running a new business, specific to social enterprise.
http://www.bllondon.com/SocialEnterprise/Businesstoolkit/SEBusinessToolkit.aspx
Tendering Advice - A cost effective way to improve live tenders and learn from failed
past tenders is available from Tendering for Care via a webinar. This unique service has
been developed to increase the competitiveness of your tenders and improve your
chances of winning. This powerful tender improvement and learning service features: A
review of your tender by experts; A webinar report back which uses telephone
conferencing and remote working to look at your draft, with TcF on your PC or laptop and
7
8. discuss options for improvement in real time and more. For details see
http://tenderingforcare.com/tfc-webinar-tender-review-service
Working with young people - NCVYS has produced seven career information sheets for
individuals interested in paid or voluntary work connected to working with young people in
the voluntary and community youth sector. Each information sheet covers areas such as
what it is like to be in the role, the work, routes in, qualifications and training.
http://www.ncvys.org.uk/index.php?alias=carinfoshe
Young people's involvement in governance - The British Youth Council (BYC) has
recently revised and updated four guide booklets as part of their Youth at the Table
training programme, which aims to support young people's involvement in governance.
The booklets are designed to help develop the skills of young people in order for them to
become effective members of a committee or a charity trustee board.
http://www.participationworks.org.uk/news/byc-launch-four-governance-guides-for-
children-and-young-people
GRANTS/AWARDS/COMPETITIONS
Andy Fanshawe Memorial Trust supports projects that allow disadvantaged young
people the chance to develop an existing interest in the great outdoors. The Trust usually
supports programmes that are run by schools or youth groups, but welcomes applications
from individuals, but these must have a referee. The Trust support a wide range of
projects, but are unlikely to support foreign trips. http://www.andyfanshawe.org/index.php
BBC Children in Need are inviting not-for-profit organisations working with
disadvantaged children and young people 18 years and under to apply for grants of up to
£10,000 through their grants schemes. BBC Children in Need run two grant schemes:
• Small Grants of £10,000 or less per year for up to three years
• Main Grants over £10,000 per year for up to three years.
It can only fund projects that focus on the differences made (outcomes) to the lives of
disadvantaged children and young people and grants can be used to cover both capital
and revenue costs. The next deadline is the 15th April.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/grants/general_grants.shtml
Happy Days Children's Charity supports children and young people in the UK, aged 3-
17, including those with learning difficulties, physical or mental disabilities, and with acute,
chronic or life-limiting illnesses. It also helps young people who have been abused or
neglected, witnessed domestic violence, been bereaved, or act as carers for a parent or a
sibling. The aim is to help as many people as possible by funding day trips, theatre trips
and family holidays for those who need them most. http://www.happydayscharity.org
Improving Futures is a new programme from the Big Lottery Fund that aims to improve
outcomes for children within families experiencing multiple and complex problems – for
example, to do with poor health, unemployment, debt, and housing problems – which can
affect their children’s wellbeing and life chances. The Big Lottery Fund will invest up to
£20 million in the programme and expect to provide around 20 grants of up to £900,000
each across the UK, with projects receiving funding for between 3 and 5 years. To be
eligible, partnerships must be led by voluntary sector organisations, but will need to be
supported by or include local. The focus of Improving Futures is on helping families where
8
9. their oldest child is between 5-10 years of age. No more than one expression of interest
should be made per local authority area. The deadline for submitting Expression of
Interest is the 12th May. Partnerships successful at this stage will have until the 30th
September 2011 to submit full applications. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/improvingfutures
Ironmongers Company supports projects that provide opportunities for disadvantaged
children and young people to fulfil their potential. Grants range from a few hundred
pounds up to around £10,000. The average grant awarded is £4,000. The next deadline
for applications is 31st August. http://www.ironhall.co.uk/charities/organisations.htm
Percy Bilton Charity has as one of its priority areas to support organisations assisting
disadvantaged youth (under 25), and offers grants of up to £500 through their small grants
scheme and £2,000 and over through their large grant scheme towards capital
expenditure such as furniture and equipment; building/refurbishment projects. See
http://www.percybiltoncharity.org.uk/index.htm
Youth Music's Open Programme, worth nearly £2m, is available for organisations
wishing to apply for grants of £5,000 to £30,000. It funds projects that support its goals of
improving the life chances of children and young people in the most challenging
circumstances, and realising the musical talent and potential of children and young
people. http://www.youthmusic.org.uk/musicispower/Grants.html
NATIONAL NEWS AND VIEWS
Barclays Money Skills programme will be run in partnership with Action for Children, the
National Youth Agency and the National Skills Academy for Financial Services. It aims to
reach one million young people by 2012. Under the proposals, more than 120 Barclays
staff will work alongside Action for Children project workers to provide intensive coaching
on money management issues. Sessions will be held at 31 projects across the UK, with
the target of reaching 2,500 people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/bulletins/Youth-Work-Weekly/news/1057899/?DCMP=EMC-
YouthWorkWeekly
Budget Proposals - A further 40,000 apprenticeships will be created for young people in
England. George Osborne also said the government would be increasing the places on its
new work experience scheme to 100,000 over the next two years to help tackle the
problem of rising youth unemployment. http://www.cypnow.co.uk/bulletins/Daily-
Bulletin/news/1061492/?DCMP=EMC-DailyBulletin
Community Futures: Policies on the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering - the Liberal
Democrat Spring Conference has endorsed this policy paper on the voluntary sector and
volunteering. Key proposals include modernisation, infrastructure development,
encourage corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability, localism, funding,
social investment and volunteering.
http://www.libdems.org.uk/siteFiles/resources/PDF/conference/Spr11%20Community%20
Futures%20PP98%20CLEAR%20PRINT.pdf
Community Organisers - The government has selected Locality, the merged
Development Trusts Association and bassac organisation, to carry out its national
community organisers programme. This will work to help local people develop community
9
10. projects in deprived areas in England, with up to 500 senior Community Organisers being
trained and given bursaries of £20,000 for their first year, plus a further 4500 part-time and
voluntary organisers. http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/DailyBulletin/1055870/. For more
information and to register an 'Expression of Interest' to become a community organiser
see www.dta.org.uk/whatsnew/hottopics/communityorganisers.
Consultation on amateur sport - The Charity Commission has a new consultation on
when it is appropriate for organisations to adopt the advancement of amateur sports or
games as a charitable aim and what can be done by charities to advance that aim for the
public benefit. Deadline 31st May.
www.charitycommission.gov.uk/RSS/News/pr_amateur_sport.aspx
CRB checks - As a result of recent Government changes to the Vetting and Barring
Scheme, the cost of an Enhanced check will increase by £8 from 6th April 2011. All other
fees will remain unchanged. CRB Checks for volunteers will continue to be free of charge,
which provided a saving to the voluntary sector of approximately £32 million in 2010/11.
Don't raise our rents! Is a campaign launched by the Scout Association and supported
by Girlguiding UK. It calls on local authorities to ensure any rent increases are "fair and
affordable" and to continue to provide scouts with discretionary rate relief for scout-owned
properties. The Scout Association has said that at least 2,000 groups had been warned of
rises that could lead them to cut activities, increase subscriptions or close down.
http://www.scouts.org.uk/rent/
Getting the measure of youth unemployment - The Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development has published this Work Audit report on the labour market. It says that
youth unemployment in the UK has been overstated by many labour market
commentators, and argues that the commonly held perception that one in five 16-24 is
unemployed is based on a misreading of the official statistics, and the actual figure is
closer to one in eight. It suggests that the current scale of youth unemployment should be
understood in the context of greatly increased participation in post-16 education in recent
decades. http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E4B1648C-6566-4E7F-81FE-
48805E617861/0/5498WorkAudit.pdf
Health and Wellbeing Boards - Sector leaders have hailed health and wellbeing boards
as the next step for joined-up children's services, after the removal of the duty to set up
children's trusts sparked fears that integrated working could be undermined.
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/inDepth/ByDiscipline/Health/1058544/Health-wellbeing-boards-
offer-hope-joined-up-services/
International Citizen Service - The government has launched an international
volunteering scheme to encourage young people from the UK to take part in projects in
developing countries. The International Citizen Service is being co-ordinated by VSO UK
on behalf of the government and is aimed at 18- to 22-year-olds. Projects will run for
between 10 and 12 weeks. http://www.cypnow.co.uk/bulletins/Daily-
Bulletin/news/1059479/?DCMP=EMC-DailyBulletin
Local Authority funding for VCS - Eric Pickles, the government minister for
Communities and Local Government, stated at NCVO's Annual Conference that he
expects local authorities to behave reasonably in the way they manage their relationship
with voluntary and community groups. Three tests of reasonableness are: not passing on
10
11. disproportionate cuts, talk to sector groups at a very early stage about how services need
to change, and at least three months' notice of funding changes. He also used the speech
to praise those councils that have recognised that voluntary and community groups could
hold the key to better value and better services when setting their budgets. But he
accused those councils that are failing to engage the sector of "short sightedness." See
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1855010
and http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/mar/02/eric-pickles-block-unreasonable-cuts-
voluntary
NCVYS Funding - The Department for Education has announced the voluntary
organisations that have been successful in their bid for funding from the Department’s
Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) grant worth around £60 million each year.
‘Strategic Partner’ grants have been established to ensure Government gets advice about
issues affecting VCS organisations and to help capacity building of the sector through
transition, in particular smaller organisations. NVCYS has been offered grants as a
strategic partner of £1,490,000 in 2011-12 and £1,089,000 for 2012-13. For further details
see http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/pressnotices/a0074906/voluntary-and-
community-organisations-awarded-60-million-grant
National Citizen Service 2012 Pilots – the DfE has launched a competitive
commissioning process for the delivery of NCS pilots in summer 2012. Further
information on the competitive bidding process and specification documents is at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeople/nationalcitizenservice
Play England - the Department for Education will not be renewing its contracts with
sector skills council Play England.
http://www.playengland.org.uk/news/2011/02/government-to-discontinue-national-play-
contracts
Positive for Youth Summit - The Department for Education has created a dedicated
webpage for the Positive for Youth Summit held 9th March. It contains the opening
speeches by Susanne Rauprich, Tim Loughton and Jack Rowley, and draft documents
recording the key points that came out of each of the themed discussions will be available
on the page shortly. The Department welcomes further comments, suggestions or
questions, and would like organisations to let them know if they are planning any future
connecting activity.
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeople/a0075495/positive-for-
youth
Review of vocational education - The Department for Education has published
Professor Alison Wolf's independent review which looked at how vocational education for
young people aged 14-19 could be improved in order to promote successful progression
into the labour market and higher-level education and training routes. It found that many
young people, around 300,000 to 400,000, are on courses that the league table systems
encouraged, but which led children into 'dead-ends'. It said that they are not being told the
truth about the consequences of their choice of qualification. It also claimed that high-
quality apprenticeships are too rare, and an increasing proportion are being offered to
older people rather than teenagers. See
http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/pressnotices/a0075181/wolf-review-proposes-
major-reform-of-vocational-education
11
12. Sexual health - Minister for Public Health Anne Milton has told the charity Brook's annual
conference that the government is to launch a strategy on young people's sexual health
that will be backed by a youth policy document. Milton said the government would be
working with professionals in the sector to produce the plans, and that Brook's national
director Simon Blake would be a member of the new sexual health forum set up in the
Department of Health (DoH). Milton told delegates that the DoH is working closely with the
Department for Education (DfE) on sexual health and young people, adding that the DfE's
youth policy document is likely to outline how sex and relationships education (SRE)
should be delivered in schools later this year.
www.cypnow.co.uk/news/1058245/Anne-Milton-reveals-plans-sexual-health-strategy/
Specialist Drug and Alcohol Services for Young People: A Cost Benefit Analysis -
The DfE has published this research report that aims to calculate the amount that was
spent in total and per person on specialist drug and alcohol services for young people in
2008-09. It also estimates and values the benefits of young people's drug and alcohol
treatment. It finds that every pound invested in specialist drug and alcohol services for
young people saved the taxpayer between £5 and £8 over a lifetime.
http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RR087.pdf
Teenage Kicks is a new report from the think tank New Philanthropy Capital,
commissioned by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. The report examines three
projects which use sport to engage young people in a wider programme of education and
support. It calls for the government to recognise and develop sports-based projects as
part of its youth crime policy as it finds that they are a low-cost way of reducing
reoffending. http://www.philanthropycapital.org/download/default.aspx?id=1141
Young People’s Views Sought - The Education Committee has launched an online
discussion with young people as part of its ongoing inquiry into Services for Young
People. The Committee has teamed up with online student community The Student Room
to consult its 500,000 young members about which services they use. It wants to hear
from young people aged 13 to 25 on subjects including what out-of-school activities they
do, whether they volunteer, their views on a summer programme for 16-year olds and how
they would spend the budget for young people in their area.
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Parliament_wants_your_view
Youth Action Network - NCVYS has welcomed members of Youth Action Network (YAN)
into its network following YAN's formal announcement of closure. Youth Action Network's
members voted unanimously to transfer the organisation's assets and members over to
NCVYS after a period of consultation between the two membership organisations on how
best to secure the long term future for the valuable intellectual property and member
relationships built up over the years by YAN.
DISCLAIMER – VYS (Devon) accepts no responsibility for any errors or omissions.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure details are correct, VYS (Devon)
cannot endorse events or items mentioned in this newsletter.
12
