EXCHANGEThe voluntary and communityyouth sector in dialogue

Winter 2010/2011Issue 11

Learning and skills

News:NCVYS Annual conference report

Policy:Education, employment and training

Practice:Rathbone takes learning out of the classroom

2011 brochure out now!

Request your brochure today 08703 800 258 youth@pgl.co.uk www.pgl.co.uk/youth

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EDITORIALWelcome to the winter 2011 edition ofExchange magazine

This edition of Exchange is themed arounddeveloping learning and skills.

2011 will be a year of significant change for young people and the organisations thatwork with them. Funding cuts mean many charities are looking at their long termstrategies and how they can best serve young people, possibly with fewer resources andstaff. At the same time, unprecedented cuts to local authority youth services will likelyresult in greater pressure on voluntary organisations to pick up the pieces.

In this climate, organisations need to ensure that young people are equipped with theskills they need to succeed. With youth unemployment reaching 20%, we want to unlockradical approaches across our network to support young people’s development. NCVYSmember Rathbone have been experimenting with different ways of reaching youngpeople outside of traditional learning environments. Their programme in Oldham hascombined disciplines far removed from each other including boxing and drama to greateffect. 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 akey area of NCVYS’s work for many years and with increased focus over the last twelvemonths. As the lead partner in the CWDC funded Progress project, NCVYS has beenresponsible for delivering 25,000 subsidised accredited training places to the sector.From courses on how to manage volunteers through to counselling young people, paidand voluntary staff throughout England have been improving their skills. Read more aboutthe 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 ChiefExecutive”. Young people regularly contribute to Exchange and this new feature will seethem interviewing the Chief Executives of NCVYS members and organisations. We startthis new series with our very own chief executive Susanne Rauprich, ably interviewed byENVOY member Mita Desai.

If you’ve enjoyed this edition, our next issue will be arriving on your desk in June. Wewelcome 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. Overthe last few months, we’ve gathered more than 1200 followers on twitter. If you are usingthe service, you can find us by searching for @ncvys or visit www.twitter.com/ncvys.

Ross Bailey Editor

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 peoplein learning p10

Connections and communications p12

Ideas bank p13

Progressing our workforce p14

Case study: Futureversity p16

Workforce developmentupdate p17

Meet the Chief Executive p18

Heads up p19

04

NCVYS annual conference 2010:When life hands you lemons,make lemonade!High profile speakers, including the ParliamentaryUnder-Secretary of State for Children and Families,Tim Loughton MP and Martin Brookes, Chief Executiveof New Philanthropy Capital joined NCVYS membersto discuss the challenges and opportunities facing thevoluntary and community youth sector at the NCVYSannual conference on Wednesday 3 November 2010.

Tim Loughton MP spoke to the conference about hisvision for the sector’s involvement in the Big Society.He spoke about the role of the Big Society Bank inhelping charitable organisations and social enterprisesto flourish and confirmed that it would fund both localand national projects.

Martin Brookes delivered a well received addressabout the need for charities to raise the levels ofinnovation in their organisational strategy to stave offthe effect of budget cuts. He said that charities “shouldsee this time of flux as a chance to look critically at theirprocesses 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 speakerson topics ranging from campaigning through newtechnology to helping young people learn about theimportance of financial planning.

Read more about this event here: http://bit.ly/ncvysagm10 and take a look at pictures on p7.

Beyond the Comfort ZoneNCVYS’s newly appointed Director of ServiceDevelopment, Beth Parker, successfully completed herchallenge of walking the Thames Path on October 302010. Beth walked 184 miles, travelling from the river’ssource in Gloucestershire to the Thames Barrier inLondon as part of NCVYS’s Beyond the Comfort Zoneproject. Beyond the Comfort Zone will raise money forthe charity’s network of members who work withyoung people. It will also highlight the great work doneby NCVYS members for their local areas in achallenging financial climate.

Beth walked an average of 18.4 miles a day for tenconsecutive days, relying only on the kindness ofNCVYS members and local businesses along the wayfor food and accommodation. During the walk, shewas joined by other NCVYS staff members andrepresentatives of the 180 member organisations. Beth persevered through wet weather and sore kneesto reach the Thames Barrier on a Saturday afternoonwhere she was cheered on by NCVYS and ENVOYstaff. Along the way, Beth met with youth projects,spoke to several local radio stations, popped into theHouses of Parliament for a drink with Tim LoughtonMP and only got lost once!

Beth raised over £1500 for members during the walk.

Read her blog posts about the event on her blogat http://bethyeah.wordpress.com/ and donate tothe appeal here http://www.mycharitypage.com/BeyondTheComfortZone . You can also see pictures of the event on p7.

Speaking Out conference 2010:Under the spotlight - unlockingcommunity potentialOver a hundred voluntary and community organisationsworking with children and young people across Englandwere joined by high profile speakers, including CabinetOffice Deputy Director Helen Stephenson at theSpeaking Out 2010 annual conference in Westminsteron Thursday 9 December.

Speaking Out is a Cabinet Office funded partnershipproject between the National Council for VoluntaryYouth Services (NCVYS) and Children England whichaims to build a voice for the children and youngpeople’s voluntary and community sector acrossgovernment.

Addressing the delegates, Helen Stephenson spokeabout the scope and scale of the Big Society and theopportunities that it presented for the sector. She tolddelegates that the Big Society was beginning toembed itself as a philosophy in the Civil Service andthat they should expect to see a real move towards localdecision making for local people in the coming years.

The event explored how members of the voluntary and community sector are coming under increasedpressure to deliver projects as part of the Big Society.Other speakers at the conference included Fay Selvanfrom the Big Life Group who spoke about the processof founding a social enterprise and the challenges andsetbacks she had experienced along the way. TimDavies, Co-Director of Practical Participation spokeduring the afternoon about the advantages of usingsocial and digital media to give young people a chanceto voice their opinions.

Read more about the event and viewpresentations here: http://bit.ly/speakingoutconf

Young Partners Award 2010On Saturday 4 December, young people from fiveyouth charities across England, run by and for youngpeople, won the annual NCVYS Young PartnersAward, supported and funded by BIG Lottery, for theirexcellent work in decision-making. The awardcelebrates and recognises youth leadership and whatyoung people and adults can achieve through workingin partnership.

The ceremony was planned and hosted by NCVYS’snational youth forum, ENVOY. 14 shortlisted groups of young people celebrated the fantastic work they’veachieved within these organisations in front of anaudience of over 160 attendees before the five winnerswere announced.

The awards were divided into five regional categories,with each having three shortlisted nominees.

The winners were:

North: Pulling Together Asian Women’s GroupMidlands: Mencap (Me2 Award)South: ChatterboxesNational: Young AdvisorsLondon: Futureversity

Find out more about the Young Partners Awards here:http://www.ncvys.org.uk/Young_Partners_Award.htmland read about a young person’s experience inplanning the day on p9.

NCVYS NEWS

Young People celebrate their win at the Young Partners Awards - December 2010 Attendees at Speaking Out conference during a breakout sessions - December 2010 Tim Loughton MP addresses the NCVYS annual conference- November 2010

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Infrastructure is not all roads and railwaysJarina Choudhury, Networks & LearningManager NCVYS and Georgina Anstey,Communications Officer Valuing InfrastructureProgramme look at the role that infrastructureplays in supporting and developing localvoluntary youth sector networks.

Across England there are countless groups of peopletaking collective action that is independent ofgovernment and for public benefit. These initiativesoften turn into organisations such as charities,voluntary and community groups and socialenterprises. Many of these organisations needsupport in order to make the biggest possibledifference to the lives of people they serve. Apassionate group of individuals might respond to acommunity need and set up a youth group but it islikely that they will need advice on the best legal formto take, routes to find funding and to a louder voice toinfluence the local authority, amongst other things.

Historically these organisations have come togetherto form networks, associations, coalitions andcouncils in which they can share ideas, find mutualsupport, campaign and lobby on common concerns.Just like the roads and railways that support ournation, these support functions for organisations arecalled Infrastructure. Often these informal networksbecome formal organisations themselves.

Infrastructure organisations are a healthy anddynamic expression of an active civil society, whereorganisations work together to make more of adifference by working together. They have a vital partto play in helping civil society to be bigger andstronger and ultimately to create appropriateconditions for people to achieve a better quality of life.

What’s the impetus forInfrastructure?In the majority of cases, infrastructure organisationshave grown organically to support and representvoluntary action. This means they can beindependent, representative and connected to thecommunities they serve.

Case study: The UK amateur arts sector

In 2008 the Department for Culture, Media and Sportcommissioned research into the amateur arts sectorin England (‘Our Creative Talent’) which concludedthat:

• There are approximately 49,140 amateur artsgroups across England

• A total of 9.4 million participate in amateur artsgroups in England

Most amateur arts groups in the UK are created bylocal people coming together because they want tosing, dance, act etc. They are grassroots,community-based organisations. Most exist with littleor no government funding.

Since the 1880s UK amateur arts groups havetended to seek out similar groups and 'federate',forming membership organisations within particularart forms. This is a bottom-up evolutionary processwhich has resulted today in nearly 200 specialist

national umbrella organisations among them theBritish Federation of Brass Bands, the Lace Guild, the National Association of Choirs, the NationalAssociation of Decorative and Fine Arts amongstothers.

Most of these umbrella bodies are small, unfundedmembers’ clubs which produce a newsletter and runoccasional conferences or other events. A few aremore substantial with professional offices and staff toprovide training and advice to their member groups.Voluntary Arts was created in 1991 by some of theseumbrella bodies to link them together and provide asingle voice for the amateur arts sector in the UK andIreland. Much of VAs work is about making betteruse of existing resources by linking existingorganisations, for example helping local amateur artsgroups to access funding, training, advice andsupport from the wider voluntary sector as well as thearts sector.

The impetus for VAs role lies beyond VAsmembership: Over half the UK adult population isinvolved in amateur arts and crafts; arts and craftsthat people undertake for self-improvement, socialnetworking and leisure, but not primarily for payment.Amateur arts groups are rooted in almost every localcommunity across the UK and are almost allindependent local organisations established by theirparticipants, self-financing and fiercely independent ofnational and local government.

Infrastructure for the Big SocietyInfrastructure has a crucial role to play in delivering thegovernment’s Big Society agenda. With movement toscale back the state and devolve powers to localpeople to drive agendas, define services needed,develop and deliver them, community organisationsneed, more than ever, support to exist. For most inthe sector, it is hard to see how government willachieve its Big Society vision without infrastructure to aid its implementation and effectiveness.

Case study: The National Resource Centre forSupplementary Education

The National Resource Centre for SupplementaryEducation (NRC) provides training, advice andadvocacy support to community-based and mother-tongue schools in England. With a database of over2,000 schools and an active membership of 670, theNRC is able to raise awareness at local authority andnational level, of the rich variety of community-ledorganisations primarily from Black and migrantcommunities delivering education week on week.

The focus throughout 2010 has been on supportingsupplementary schools to improve their managementand governance structures. This has been achievedthrough the delivery of the one-day courses to over650 staff, volunteers and management committeemembers. The NRC also manages a qualityassurance scheme specially aimed at promotingcontinuous self-development in the supplementaryeducation sector. The Quality Framework forSupplementary Education encourages and assistsorganisations to address ten standards of education.To date, 202 schools have completed the basic skillsBronze Award with 67 of those moving on to a Silveror Gold Award.

Over 100 different cultural and ethnic groups arerepresented within the NRC membership alone,

delivering services to communities of 15 to 360pupils. Between them they offer subjects includingEnglish, Maths, Science, IT, at least 62 uniquelanguages, sports, art, history and five major faiths.This means that there is great demand from externalagencies such as funders and the statutory sector fora simple yet sturdy and low-cost way to assessquality.

Community-based supplementary educationembodies the very principles of the ‘Big Society’ inthat supplementary schools are run overwhelminglyby volunteers in communities that take their ownaction to enable children and young people toachieve their true potential.

Read more about supplementary educationhere: http://bit.ly/suppeducation

ConclusionInfrastructure has arisen by organisations comingtogether through a common identified need. Thoughsometimes driven by external factors, the impetuscomes from within the voluntary and communitysector, driven by people who seek to effect a changein their lives or the lives of others.

Infrastructure is innovative, it performs different rolesand is able to meet different needs of communitygroups; we have seen two examples of infrastructurewhere organisations make more of a difference byworking together.

In this difficult climate, like all organisations,infrastructure needs to be as effective, efficient andsustainable so that organisations can better meet theneeds of the groups they serve in society.

To find out more about the way NCVYSworks with networks to provide support,please contact Jarina Choudhury E: jarina@ncvys.org.uk The authors would like to thank RobinSimpson and Pascale Vassie for theircontributions.

NETWORK NEWS

Jarina Choudary, NCVYS Networks and learning manager

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Welcome to our new membersThe NCVYS member network has now grown to 180members with the induction of eleven new members atthe end of last year. NCVYS is pleased to welcome thefollowing organisations into the fold: Al-Isharah, TheArts Partnership, Baca, Beatbullying, BlackpoolCVYS, Centrepoint, Getaway Girls, Just for KidsLaw, Learning SouthWest, Media Trust and YoungAdvisors.

Read more about our new members here:http://bit.ly/ncvysnewmembers

Guardian Christmas appealboost for NCVYS membersNCVYS was delighted that The Guardian chose to useits 2010 Christmas appeal to support charities workingwith disadvantaged young people in the UK. SeveralNCVYS and network members were chosen to be partof the appeal, selected from a field of 340 applicants.The ten charities selected included Catch-22,Fairbridge, Children Our Ultimate Investment UK (Teensand Toddlers project) and Bolton Lads and Girls Club.

At the close of the appeal on January 12, TheGuardian’s readers have raised just over £428,000 for the ten selected charities. They will receive an equalshare of the total fund as well as a package ofcommunications training from Media Trust, an appealpartner and NCVYS member.

The charities were chosen by a panel of Guardianjournalists after an extensive appeal for applicants. The Guardian was assisted by the charities thinktankNew Philanthropy Capital who created a model to help assess the merits of the individual organisations.

The Guardian provided extensive coverage of theappeal including a telethon where members of thepublic could call in to pledge their donations andspeak to an array of Guardian journalists ranging fromthe editor Alan Rusbridger through to fashion writerHadley Freeman.

Andrew Purvis, CEO of Fairbridge spoke about whatthe appeal meant to his organisation: “Being chosenas one of the beneficiaries of The Guardian andObserver’s Christmas Charity Appeal is a huge honourfor 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 Guardianwebsite here: http://bit.ly/christmasappeal

YWCA becomes Platform 51Changing your name after 155 years doesn’t comeeasily but for YWCA, it was a necessary step to ensurethat the organisation truly reflected the expectations ofits users. After much consultation, the charity whichworks to support women has changed its name toPlatform 51.

The new name represents the simple fact that 51% of the population are women and that they use theorganisation to have their say and as a platform fromwhere they can move into the next stage of their lives.

At a parliamentary launch of the charity and their reportinto the mental health issues facing women, newlyappointed Chief Executive Penny Newman spokeabout the importance of remaining relevant to theirusers in the 21st century.

Users of Platform 51’s centres spoke at theparliamentary launch and told the audience how they had been an active part of the rebrand, takingpart in a number of consultations and helping to pickthe new name.

Read more about their parliamentary launch anddecision to change their name here:http://www.platform51.org/

And more new names for our membersIn addition to Platform 51, three more NCVYSmembers have recently changed their names.CCPR are now called The Sport and RecreationAlliance, they hope that their new name and brandwill give people a much better idea of what they do

and on whose behalf they do it. Helping their 320members and the 150,000 sports clubs around thecountry; 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 calledVoiceAbility. VoiceAbility works with individuals andgroups who have mental health problems, learningdisabilities, physical or sensory impairments or are on the autistic spectrum. They also work with olderpeople and carers; their role is to support people tospeak up about what they want. That could beinformation on what benefits they are entitled to, orrepresentation in meetings. It could be to facilitate agroup to work with decision makers to change the way that their local services run and make changesthat 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. Theorganisation works to educate and engage the UKpublic about global issues. They do this through arange of projects, influencing policy, undertakingresearch and working across their member network.

Find out more about Think Global here:http://www.think-global.org.uk

Beatbullying marches on theweb to help fight the bulliesIn tough times, organisations need to think morecreatively about campaigns than ever before.Beatbullying, who recently became a NCVYS member,staged the Big march in November 2010. The Marchwas an online campaign to mark the start of the annualanti-bullying week and saw tens of thousands ofavatars of children, parents, teachers and celebritiesmarch across computer screens via more than fiftypartners’ homepages. Supporters included Facebook,Hansard, CYPnow, NCVYS and many more. On joiningthe march, supporters signed a digital petition whichwas later presented to the Deputy Prime Minister.

Find out how the march was organised here:http://www.beatbullying.org/bigmarch/

MEMBER NEWS

Platform 51 Chief Executive Penny Newman speaks at their parliamentary reception - January 2011 Nick Clegg meets CyberMentors from Beatbullying - November 2010

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Annual Conference - November 2010

ENVOY residentials - August 2010

NCVYS IN 2010

Party conferences - September and October 2010

Beyond the Comfort Zone - October 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.

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Education, Employment and TrainingIn this edition’s policy analysis, NCVYS Policy Officer DomWeinberg looks at the impact of recent policy changes on youngpeople in education, employment and training and finds mixedsigns for the future.

The latest unemployment figures have shown that the recession has hada disproportionate impact on young people’s employment prospects.Unemployment among adults under 25 rose in January 2011 to951,000, one of the highest figures since records began in 1992, givinga youth jobless rate of 20.3%.

A report from NCVYS member the Prince’s Trust and RBS revealed thatthis could cost the UK economy up to £155 million a week. The Cost ofExclusion warns that the price of youth disadvantage in the UK is at anew high, and that an estimate of youth unemployment costs per week- based on lost productivity of unemployed young people beingequivalent 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 JobsFund (FJF), a key component of the Young Person’s Guarantee, was afund of around £1 billion to support the creation of jobs for long termunemployed young people and others who face significant disadvantagein the labour market. The FJF aimed to create 150,000 jobs, 100,000 ofwhich would be aimed at 18-24 year olds who had been out of work fornearly a year. Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury,announced in June that the Young Person's Guarantee would not beextended beyond March 2011, and confirmed that the £290m furtherroll-out of temporary jobs through the FJF would not go ahead.

In December, the Work and Pensions Select Committee published YouthUnemployment and the Future Jobs Fund, which examined the CoalitionGovernment’s decision to end the FJF. The report expressed concernabout the potential gap in provision for unemployed young peoplebetween the end of the FJF and the start of the Work Programme, andcalled for effective transitional arrangements. The report found that itwas too soon to assess whether the Future Jobs Fund has beensuccessful. NCVYS members Catch 22 and vinvolved submittedevidence to the report which suggested that the FJF has providedsignificant benefits for young people from which they have gained newskills and experience to help them find long term sustainable, fulfilling,and appropriate employment.

The Young Person’s Guarantee, including the FJF, will be replaced bythe Department for Work and Pension’s new Work Programme. Theprogramme, which will be in place nationally by the summer of 2011,“will offer integrated employment support to young people helping themmove into sustained employment rather than temporary jobs. Youngpeople aged 18-24 will be referred to the Work Programme from ninemonths”, as opposed to a year for other unemployed people.

NCVYS along with our members Rathbone and Fairbridge haveexpressed concern that the Work Programme will not help young peoplewho are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Paul Fletcher,Director of Youth Engagement at Rathbone, said, "There are multipleand complex reasons why young people are NEET; that is why there aremore than 50 types of benefits. A single work programme will not makeany significant difference to people's motivation whether to engage ornot. It is not about reforming welfare to work programmes, it is aboutcreating employment for young people and this is best done byincentivising employers to take young people on through the taxsystem." Andrew Purvis, Chief Executive of Fairbridge, said, "Withalmost one million young people not in education or employment, a one-size-fits-all programme cannot serve them all. It is clear the intervention[for the most disengaged young people] required is very different fromthat of, for instance, an unemployed recent graduate."

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

NCVYS Chief Executive Susanne Rauprich was invited to contribute to the Home Officereview of the Vetting and Barring Scheme. We have submitted a response to theEducation Select Committee inquiry into Youth Services (see http://bit.ly/youthinquiry).NCVYS Chief Executive Susanne Rauprich has also given oral evidence to the inquiry (seehttp://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 onquestion 9 on National Infrastructure alongside Children England as part of the Speaking Outproject, recommending continued investment in positive strategic partnership arrangementswith organisations that can represent the voluntary and community youth sector. We havesubmitted a response to the Office for Civil Society consultation on ModernisingCommissioning (see http://bit.ly/modernising).

The Policy team has worked alongside the Workforce Development team to produceresponses for Lifelong Learning UK on the 2010 Sector Skills Assessment (seehttp://bit.ly/sectorskills). The response highlighted the skills shortages and gaps of the voluntary and community youth sector in England, along with recommendations foraddressing these issues. NCVYS also wrote to the Young People’s Learning Agencyabout Funding of 16-19 Education and Training.

We are currently working on responses to the Ministry of Justice Green Paper Breakingthe Cycle (see http://bit.ly/breakingcycle) and the cross department Child PovertyStrategy (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 acollaborative group of voluntary and community organisations which this year organised theYouth Zone, a dedicated space for young people to have their voices heard at the highestlevel. The Coaltion welcomed speakers such as Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE, TimLoughton 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 LiberalDemocrats Simon Hughes MP, Baroness Angela Smith (previously Minister at the CabinetOffice responsible for the voluntary and community sector), James Morris MP, Secretary tothe 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 papersNCVYS has produced briefing papers summarising the Comprehensive Spending Review2010 and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’s strategy, Skills for SustainableGrowth (see http://bit.ly/skillsforgrowth). We have also produced Comprehensive Cuts:Report on funding changes in the voluntary and community youth sector. This report, theresult 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 fundingand policies and their impact on young people and the voluntary and community youthsector 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 membersThe 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 nowexpanded into a blog, which is regularly updated with new details emerging aroundgovernment spending and cuts. We are also publishing a Funding Update each month,which brings together national funding opportunities mentioned in the bulletin, and additionallocal funding opportunities.

Read our financial monitoring blog here http://ncvyspolicy.wordpress.com; and findfunding update information here: http://ncvys.org.uk/funding_update.html

POLICYANALYSIS

POLICYUPDATE

The success of the Young PartnersAward (YPA) 2010 was down to thecommitment and hard work of the YPA Planning Group (YPAPG), whichinvolved a group of 10 energetic andcreative young people from ENVOY andthe NCVYS network. The YPAPG werekeen to ensure that the awards met theneeds of both young people and adults,through consultation they determinedthe award theme and content, theythen worked together as a team to planand deliver the event. Over the courseof 6 months they worked in partnershipwith NCVYS staff who provided trainingand mentoring to support them in theirroles, they in turn supported otherENVOY members to have an active rolein the lead up to and on the day of theevent.

16 year old ENVOY member Rebecca Tate was one ofthis year’s YPAPG members. Here she explains howbeing a member of the group has enabled her to gainnew skills and develop personally and professionally.

What made you apply for aposition in the YPAPG?I applied for YPAPG after a youth worker in mygroup suggested it to me. After reading what thework involved, I decided that it would be somethingbeneficial and interesting for me to take part in, andalso an opportunity to try something new.

Did you have any experience orskills before joining the group?If so, what were they? I had gained organisational and administration skillsprior to joining the YPAPG as I have been involved inorganising the Plymouth YWCA steering group. Thisinvolved planning all meetings and ensuring it ransmoothly for the whole weekend.

What did you hope to achievebefore joining the group? I wanted to meet new people and to gain new skills.

What sort of training did youreceive once you were amember of the group?We received presentation, event planning andcustomer service training.

What skills did you gain from this? I’ve really improved my communication skills andknowledge on how to present to an audienceconfidently. The event has given me muchunderstanding of how to speak in public, things likehow to project my voice and use the correct bodylanguage. I’ve also learnt the art of organising all theelements to create a successful event as well aslearning how to provide a good customer service.

Did the training enable you toplan the event successfully? The training helped me more with actually deliveringthe event; the customer service training enabled usto interact easier with the attendees on the actualday. The event planning session was useful in aidingus to know the essentials of making sure the eventruns smoothly.

Was the training content youreceived useful or could it havebeen better?The training was interesting and fun and wasn'tsimply a case of, “here's the work read it and learnit”, but involved interactive games and role playswhich made it seem more real. Lots of writtenmaterial can be a real turnoff for young people so wereally appreciate the effort that the Young Partnersteam has put into the sessions.

Have you developed from thisexperience?Yes, I have gained lots of experience which will helpme develop, both personally and professionally and I have met an entirely different group of friends fromdifferent backgrounds.

Is there anything you wouldhave done differently whenplanning the event?No, on the day everything ran smoothly and well,everyone enjoyed the event, so therefore it wasdone to the best standard already.

Do you have any hints and tipsyou'd like to pass on to othersplanning a huge event? With a team of people with different responsibilities,it’s important to keep in contact with everyone, andknow what tasks people are doing. It’s reallyimportant to plan a series of meetings and to emaileach other on a regular basis. Social media likeFacebook has also made this a lot easier. I’d alsoadd be a good team player, write all action pointsand check your notes to meet deadlines.

This year nominations will be short listed atregional events taking place throughout thesummer leading into the national awards inNovember 2011. We are very keen to haveyoung people involved in planning these eventsalongside our regional young facilitators andENVOY members. All young people will receivetraining support to get involved and have anactive role. To express an interest or getinvolved please contact keji@ncvys.org.uk.Further details on how to apply for this year’sawards will be available on the NCVYS website inearly March 2011.

We look forward to receiving your nomination.

The YPAPG 2010 Team – Rebecca Tata, KemiFontaine Shola Arowosekila, Natalie Grant,Sabian Muhammad, Tola Saidu, StephanieWinn, Mita Desai, Ari Johnson, Sophie Fields,Teresa Santamaria.

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ENVOYMembers of the Young Partners Awards Planning Group at the event.

Planning the Young Partners Awards

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RE-ENGAGED THROUGHTHE CANVASS AND THE STAGENCVYS member

Rathbone works with

young people for whom

life at school has proved

unsuccessful. To make

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 whoalong with a dozen young people on Rathbone’sLancashire Alternative Education Provision (LEAP)scheme is combining her academic studies with aprogramme of skills and work experience to makeher ready for employment. She’s also attendingsessions at a local gym where she’s learning thedisciplines of boxing and kung fu.

Antonia enjoys that last strand since it is such acontrast to the day-to-day experience of the classroom. Each year Rathbone works with over 20,000young people who have been perceived to havefailed in mainstream education (though the moreaccurate description might be that mainstreameducation has failed them). There may have beenmany different barriers to their success, fromlearning difficulties that haven’t been spotted,through to bullying or a chaotic family background,but Antonia’s view of why school hasn’t suited isundoubtedly the most common.

Put simply, she and thousands like her, learn bydoing; and like to do so away from the traditionalclassroom – a place which has becomesynonymous with frustration, failure and difficulty.

Others on the LEAP programme (which was set upby local high schools and caters specifically forthose on the verge of exclusion) have made massiveprogress in more tranquil surroundings such as thelocal owl sanctuary. But Antonia and her cohort aregetting great benefit from letting off steam andgaining discipline and self respect through themartial arts.Former Amateur welter-weight champion MelvynGould runs the boxing sessions. The 64-year-old,who once trained with Henry Cooper, has seen

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

Mel shares the sessions at his Chorley gymnasiumwith Kung Fu Sifu Steve Whiteley. The authoritativeyet quietly spoken master leads by example andencourages his students to adopt an attitude ofpersonal responsibility.

Becoming focused, clear headed and confident hasprompted another of the LEAP students to plan hercareer path and re-engage with education. TessHayes became so disillusioned with school she wasmissing up to two days per week through truantingand although her ambition was always to work with children – she had no idea how to go about realisingthat. The gym work has given Tess a thick skin (notleast because she is one of only two femalesattending) while the personalised learning in literacyand numeracy she receives at Rathbone, also goesdown well. “I actually like learning now” says Tess, “and I want to go to class. I haven’t missed a lessonfor ages now.”

Educational and personal development throughsport is becoming increasingly popular andPremiership football clubs including Arsenal andManchester City have done much to put youngpeople in their community back on track throughhigh profile projects. Capturing less headlines butmaking a similarly dramatic impact has been thework of theatre groups up and down the country.

Rathbone has a long established relationship withthe ODD (Offender Development Through Drama)Theatre Company which peaked recently whenyoung people from Bury performed at theConservative and Liberal Democrat partyconferences. Originally set-up to work with those in young offenders institutions, the ODD Theatrechallenges its students to examine their lives and the issues that affect them, through the medium ofdrama. Andrew Conor Reid was one of the youngpeople who planned, co-wrote and starred in theplay “Finding their Way” which put before leading politicians issues such as teenage pregnancy,unemployment and alcohol addiction. Being involvedhas given Andrew confidence, made him morepolitically motivated and convinced him that he canmake a difference. About to begin an apprenticeshipcourse at Bolton College, Andrew now wants to workin public relations. “I like getting my point across” headmitted, “and want to stand up against thestereotyping of young people and campaign againstthe pitiful amount of cash we earn while learning.”

11

It is a sad truth that many disadvantagedyoungsters rarely move out of their neighbourhood,let alone visit cultural attractions or try and extendtheir range of experience. Although their home townof Oldham boasts an impressive array of artisticprojects and is situated just a few short miles fromManchester, many young people at Rathbone’sbase had never seen a play or musical before thecharity hooked up with the Oldham ColiseumTheatre. Sonia Hanif (17) admits, “I’m a big fan ofBollywood actress Aishwarya Rai but had neverthought about going to the theatre and performinguntil I came to Rathbone.” A recent study of femaletrainees at Rathbone revealed a shocking lack ofself-esteem brought about largely by bullying earlierin their lives, so for the likes of Sonia the schemehas bolstered her belief considerably and given herthe confidence to express her ideas.

Sessions have explored creativity, team work andeven how to influence people during presentations.“The learning is achievable, practical and enjoyable” said Rachel Sears, Creative Development Officer atthe Oldham Coliseum. “Some of the young peoplehardly spoke when we first began, now they areperforming in front of their peers and supportingeach other as a team.”

Rathbone Oldham followed this success by takingpart in a photography programme organised aspart of the town’s Festival Of Diversity. Again as ateam, 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 publicbuildings. For Renata Klimentova, who arrivedrecently from the Czech Republic, being with otheryoung people has improved her communicationsskills considerably and re-ignited her passion for thearts. Richard Hall, Interim Development Manager atthe Festival of Diversity said: “We are genuinely

thrilled to have been able to work with Renata andRathbone – they have been so positive andcreative. Projects like this shape, develop andempower local communities.”

Young people at Rathbone are, as LEAP learnerAntonia Sullivan so succinctly put it, learning –without knowing they’re learning! You might think it a simple idea to change the educationalenvironment but such an approach can have life-changing consequences. For example, by helpingto organise an X-Factor type competition,Edinburgh learner Dahni Kerr made more progressthan he ever did in the formal school setting and heis now a dance teacher in the city. Similarly, a SouthManchester 16-year-old who lost her interest ineducation following a bout of glandular fever has re-discovered her spark and even repairedrelationships with her family thanks to a programmeorganised between Rathbone and the ManchesterArtists Studio Association (masa). Jayde Smith hadher work displayed at a recent exhibition andsculptor and local artist John Edgar commented:“For the young people, the project is all aboutenjoyment and taking things at their own pace.They’ve been able to get advice from artists andlearn in a professional studio.”

The move away from the formality of the classroomto the theatre, the art gallery and even the boxingring has clearly paid dividends for Jayde and youngpeople like her. Rathbone is now planning to takeits learning to the forests of Cumbria, to teachyoung people teamwork, management and that all important ingredient – self-sufficiency. And why not? Since the young people they work with believethe sky is the limit of their dreams – why shouldtheir classroom even need a roof!

E: peter.gibson@rathboneuk.org Young people take part in Rathbone's project in Oldham

12

Making safeguarding your priority Sound systems is NCVYS’s peer accreditationscheme in safeguarding for organisations that workwith young people. We award a quality mark toorganisations that can demonstrate they have policiesand measures in place to ensure the safety andwellbeing of young people. Your organisation does nothave to be youth focused to take up Sound Systems; if you are working with young people as part of otheractivities, then Sound Systems is also for you.

Sound Systems is a learning process that encouragesorganisations to critically examine policies, proceduresand practice in all aspects of safeguarding. Theseinclude safer recruitment, management anddevelopment of staff and volunteers, child protectionprocedures and providing safer activities. The schemeencourages discussion around anti-discriminatorypractice and enables organisations to assess whetherall their policies and practices are appropriate andsufficiently understood and implemented by all staff,volunteers and young people.

Sound Systems is aimed at organisations that wish todemonstrate to young people, funders, policy makersand partner organisations that they have relevantpolicies. These should be up to date and service-users,staff and volunteers must be able to understand them.

How can I participate in Sound Systems?After registering with NCVYS we send you a workbookwhich helps you check your policies against the six‘Keeping it Safe’ standards. NCVYS appoints a Mentorto help you with this part of the process. Once yourorganisation and the Mentor agree that you are readyfor assessment, NCVYS appoints a trained Assessorwho will visit you, assess your policies and interviewstaff, trustees and young people. The Assessor makesa recommendation to our Moderation Panel who thenaward the Sound Systems quality mark.

For networks of organisations and for largerorganisations with local members, NCVYS has alsodeveloped a Sound Systems licence. The leadorganisation completes Sounds Systems and thenmentors and assessors from within the organisationare trained up to cascade Sound Systems across thenetwork/membership.

What does it cost?Organisations need to purchase Sound Systems, whichincludes a copy of Keeping it Safe. The organisation willthen nominate a Mentee which the Mentor can workalongside. The Mentee will prepare the Sound Systemsworkbook, gather the organisation’s policies and be thepoint of contact for the Mentor.

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

Training Mentors and AssessorsInterested in becoming a Mentor/Assessor? NCVYSruns a one day course for prospective Mentors andAssessors. Please contact us for more details.

Would you like to find out more?If you would like to participate in SoundSystems or make enquiries aboutKeeping It Safe, please contact theService Development TeamAdministrator, Erica Wallace. T: 020 7843 6468 E: erica@ncvys.org.uk

NCVYS is currently updating the second edition ofKeeping It Safe, standards and guidelines. Keeping itSafe, 3rd edition costs £50 plus p&p (£35 to NCVYSmembers) and will be available in March 2011.

Creating short videosShort video is becoming a key part of thecampaign and communications arsenal oforganisations throughout the voluntary andcommunity sector. Despite plummeting costsand freely available video software, manyorganisations still shy away from producingcontent. We’ve invited freelance videographerCharlotte Henry to contribute her top tips forgetting your organisation started.

1) Have the right equipmentBefore you start producing any kind of videowork, the fact is you will need some kit.Thankfully you no longer have to break the bankto get decent equipment. Major electronicsmakers like Sony and Panasonic have a widerange of video cameras which start atreasonable prices. Flip cameras are evencheaper and still offer relatively good qualityfootage. As well as hardware you need editingsoftware. Apple’s Final Cut (which you can buy acheaper, express version of) is the most user-friendly in my opinion. Adobe’s software tends tobe a bit more expensive and complicated, butproduces high quality results. If you are startingout and just want to experiment with a quickfilm, you can start with Windows Movie Makerwhich is bundled on most computers. Anotherimportant investment is a tri-pod, which keepsyour camera still and your work lookingprofessional.

2) Planning is keyNow you have your equipment, you need to planwhat you actually want to film. This doesn’t have

to be a dull process. Get all your creative ideasonto a piece of paper, and organise them into anorder that creates a narrative for the film. Takethe time to produce a storyboard and/or a script;there is nothing more annoying than getting backto your desk to import footage and realising youhave forgotten to get the key shot of your ChiefExecutive. A storyboard is simply a sketched outversion of the video you are going to produce,and puts on paper the shots you need.

3) Be organisedWhen you have successfully recorded all thefootage you want and you are importing it intoyour computer, make sure you do so in anorganised way. Create a separate folder for eachvideo project you are working on, name themclearly so you know what is in each folder, andsave them in a logical place. If you have anexternal hard drive, backing up your originalfootage on it can save a lot of pain if things gowrong, or you want to re-import footage if youmake a mistake.

4) Say again?Film might be a visual medium, but sound is veryimportant, even in a short video. If you are doinginterviews, a microphone makes a hugedifference, and obviously you should be aware ofwind and background noise. There are copyrightissues associated with using other people’smusic, but a quick online search for ‘royalty freemusic’ or ‘copyright free music’ will bring uplibraries worth of music you can use. If you havemusical friends or colleagues, you may even beable to use something original!

5) Less is more in the final editPeople all too often produce videos that are toolong, when having a few less frames wouldactually enhance the final product. Most filmsdon’t need to be longer than 2 or at most 3minutes in length. Having the discipline to keepthe video shorter also means you can keep thevideo quality high, as this normally takes upmore memory. You may have lots of ideas, butmake sure every frame in your short film serves apurpose, and enhances the point you aremaking.

Charlotte Henry is the founder of C.A.HMultimedia, a company that creates videoand multimedia content for clients in thethird sector. Find out more athttp://www.cahmultimedia.co.uk orE: charlotteahenry@googlemail.com

CONNECTIONS

COMMUNICATIONS

Charlotte Henry, Freelance filmmaker.

13

In challenging times, it’s all too easy for anorganisation to bury its head in the sand. At NCVYSwe’re resisting this temptation and increasingly lookingfurther afield for inspiration and solutions to supportour members working on the front line of youth work.Last October we travelled to Germany to investigatetheir approaches to training youth workers and therelationship between voluntary groups and the state.Our findings provided much food for thought as weconsider the future of the Progress project - not tomention what will happen to the young people’sworkforce at a time when central government isincreasingly taking a back seat.

In Germany we found a well-established system ofyouth services in relatively good health, with a mature,de-politicised discourse between the state and thevoluntary sector at the heart of it. The historicaltradition of close co-operation between these twoactors means stability of both funding and appropriateservices. Indeed this working culture of trust is soestablished 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 aprinciple of ‘subsidiarity’ - often referenced in UKpolitics in the context of the European Union, but heremeaning the state should not provide services thatcan be delivered by social entities. When it comes toyoung people, this gives voluntary sector programmesa certain priority over state activities - and perhapseven more, almost a duty on the part of the state tosupport voluntary organisations.

So we’re already stating from a quite different place,with German youth organisations given an automaticand well-supported seat at the table of youth serviceprovision. This also ensures voluntary groups play aleading role in designing the programmes andinterventions supporting German youth. But what ofthe young people’s workforce? What demands doessuch a VCS-friendly system place on youth workers?Our session in Hannover allowed us to investigate thisquestion in some detail, in particular the ‘Juleica’ cardsystem used to recognise and celebrate voluntaryyouth workers. Colleagues working for aninfrastructure organisation covering Lower Saxonyshowed us how the Juleica relates to the GermanLande, a strong level of regional government which

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

Fast facts:Accreditingvolunteers andthe 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 youthclubs, many of which enjoy longstanding fundingrelationships with their local (municipal) authorities. Butbefore we all reach for our passports and head to thecontinent, it’s worth considering what we can takefrom the German experience and relate to what’shappening here in England.

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

on a new status as funders seek to squeeze extravalue from the public purse.

We might also look for less interference from the statein the design and planning of youth services - but wecould argue the Big Society, intangible as it still is inplaces, give the voluntary sector an opportunity toperuse this.

But we could go even further as a sector and seizethe strategic initiative, in the wake of fundamentalchanges 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 anabsence of any new strategy for the Young People’sWorkforce from the Department for Education, createa vacuum where we in the voluntary sector could havea very powerful voice - especially if we can advocatenot just as social activists but as a significant bloc ofemployers.

The right idea at the wrong time?Nobody is suggesting any of this will be easy toachieve. The Big Society might create certainopenings for the voluntary youth sector, but howempowering these opportunities will prove in thecontext of massive reductions in public funding foryouth services remains to be seen. NCVYS has thesechallenges firmly in mind as we plan our workforcedevelopment support to members and the widersector for the coming year. And to do this we need a good dialogue with our members, so please docontinue to contact us with your thoughts,experiences and best practice suggestions.

Have you had the opportunity tocompare youth services in anothercountry? Carry on the discussion on our website here:http://www.bit.ly/internationalyouth

IDEAS BANK

Gethyn Williams meets Björn Bertram in Hanover

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.

An example of a Juleica card

14

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 wasinstrumental to our ability to secure and lead thiswork, and even though the changing politicallandscape has made for a highly turbulent year ofdelivery, we’re delighted so many members are nowboth delivering and benefitting from the subsidised,accredited training. In this article, we speak to someof the organisations and individuals who have beeninvolved with the project over the last twelvemonths. Ranging from training providers tovolunteers working with young people, these are theviews from the frontline of skills improvement forthe voluntary sector workforce.

The Progress trainer Annalisa Monzione, Manager at Fairbridge Training.Fairbridge Training is the external training division ofleading youth charity Fairbridge. Setup in 2005, itoffers training to the voluntary and community youthsector, as well as schools and statutory youthservices.

Progress has been a real boon to FairbridgeTraining. For us, the chance to become anaccredited provider was not to be missed. It’s alsobeen a real delight to provide courses to the reallysmall charities and organisations that have beenenabled by the training subsidy provided byProgress. For example, we’ve worked with severalScout groups who simply couldn’t have afforded the training this time last year.

Accredited training can conjure up all sorts ofnegative images – I think some see it as heavy,laborious and bureaucratic. Most of the people wework with enjoy helping young people, not filling out

training logs! We’ve gone out of our way to simplifythe process and ensure that it’s completely relevantto the needs of learners. After all, there’s no pointhaving people accredited if they can’t go back totheir organisation and put it to good use whenworking with young people.

One of our favourite things about the project hasbeen that all our training helps learners along theirjourney towards qualifications on the Qualificationsand Credit Framework (QCF). The Ticket toProgress website (seehttp://www.tickettoprogress.co.uk) has made it very simple to get learners inputting their detailsand recording their training.

Everyone knows that 2011 is going to be a difficultyear so becoming an accredited provider issomething that we hope will stand us in good stead.More than that, getting involved with an externalproject has given us the impetus to look at our ownquality processes. We’ve now been assessed andaccepted by an awarding body so our qualityassurance is in top quality shape.

The Progress LearnerElaine Yeates, Youth Matter, Warrington.Elaine is a volunteer worker for her local youth groupYouth Matter. She recently completed units in FirstAid Skills and Conflict Resolution through thetraining organisation Training 2 All.

I only started volunteering with young people about18 months ago but I’ve learnt so much that I feel asif I’ve been doing it for much longer. I’ve got to the

MAKING PROGRESS

It’s time for progressAccredited training for the voluntary and communitysector young people’s workforce

15

stage where having properly accredited training isimportant 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 organisationcalled Training2All. I was interested in doing anumber of the units and I signed up for First Aid andConflict Resolution which I completed in February.The training itself was lots of fun and on the conflictresolution course, I really enjoyed the role playactivity. Putting myself in a young person’s shoeshas helped me realise how often we misunderstandthem and don’t spot the early signs of issues thatmay turn into bigger problems.

I’ve not had much opportunity to put what I’ve learntinto practice so far; with the first aid, you sort ofhope that you won’t actually ever have to use it! But I’ve already started looking at how I can speakwith young people differently and I’m much cleareron ways I can tackle problems without thembecoming a conflict .

My next priority is to take the ‘Preparing to teach in the life long learning sector’ course (or PTLLS forshort!). I’m trying to get this sorted out before March31 2011 when the Progress subsidy comes to anend. Getting the subsidy to fund the units of traininghas made a huge difference to Youth Matter.

The Awarding OrganisationTracy Harker, Manager, ABC Awards.ABC Awards offers a coherent and innovativeportfolio of vocationally related qualifications and hasbeen one of the awarding organisations involved inthe project.

ABC Awards was really pleased to be part of theproject. Ensuring that the units selected by learnerswere mapped to the QCF was vital and a criteria for Progress to go ahead. The voluntary sectorobviously has unique challenges around people’stime and motivations and our portfolio is flexibleenough to provide appropriate qualification toenable up-skilling of the individuals involved.

There have been tough times during the project.We’ve been frantic at times trying to keep up witheveryone’s demands. That said, it’s forced us topush ourselves harder and we’ve come up with afasttrack solution specifically designed for Progress.

We think the benefits of the project have been prettyself-evident but to point to one specific area, gettingfunding to targeted units of learning has helped

learners realise that they can move towards a targetin several steps. We’ve been able to work withtrainers to demonstrate the long term benefits of thenationally accredited units which enable furtherdevelopment and progression routes to otherqualifications and training.

Coming to the end of the project, I think we can all look back and say that it’s really started to raisethe profile of accredited training in the sector. I’mhopeful that Progress can continue to facilitatecollaboration between all the bodies involved andhelp develop training in the sector.

The Progress PartnerJon Tuchband, YMCA George Williams.Jon is a qualified youth worker and has ledProgress’ curriculum development activitythroughout the project.

YMCA George Williams College is quite a uniqueorganisation. We are one of the largest providers ofprofessional training in youth work, community workand community education and the only specialistcollege in the UK. It offers accredited courses forvolunteers and part time youth workers as well asDiploma and Degree programmes in InformalEducation (Youth Work and Community Learningand Development).

For Progress, the college leads on the CurriculumDevelopment elements and has been responsible for developing the framework to which the unitssubsidised by the project are mapped against. We also develop and coordinate a trainingprogramme offered to 360 VCS trainers deliveringProgress subsidised training.

Developing the Curriculum has been a major partof the Progress project and we’ve worked with 5 key partners during the process who had specialistknowledge about different areas of youth work.These were Voice for Change – representing BME communities, KIDS – representing disabledchildren and young people, Muslim Youth Skills –representing organisations that work with Muslimyoung people, Sports and Recreation Alliance andEnglish National Youth Arts Network (ENYAN)representing the arts sector.

Progress has probably been one of the largestprojects I’ve been involved with and it’s had somereal highlights. I’d never worked with such a diverserange of professionals, across so many sectorsbefore and it’s been a real eye opener from thatperspective. We’re all very proud of having createdsuch a robust training programme which hasreached (to-date) over 300 trainers working in theVCS. It’s also been great to build such strongrelationships with the key partners in the programmeincluding NCVYS and the other members of thecurriculum development group.

Heading into the last months of the project, I’mpleased with what we’ve achieved over the last year. I think we’ve really raised the level of awareness oftraining needs within the sector and increased thecapacity of organisations to meet their ownrequirements. I think the work of the curriculumdevelopment group in particular has ensured properprovision for learners from all communities.

The Progress project runs until March31 2011 so to find out about ways youcan get involved, please visithttp://www.ncvys.org.uk/progress.htmlor contact NCVYS’s Director ofWorkforce Development, GethynWilliams on E: Gethyn@ncvys.org.ukor T: 020 7278 1041

16

Futureversity is a London based multi-award winning youth charity, whichoffers free inspiring courses,volunteering activities and a range ofopportunities for 11-25 year olds todevelop the skills and self-belief theyneed to make the most of their lives.The charity works with some of themost disadvantaged and hard to reachyoung people in London, breakingdown barriers to learning whilstenabling these young people to fulfiltheir aspirations in life.

As the London recipient of the NCVYS YoungPartners Award, youth participation is of paramountimportance to Futureversity when helping the charitydecide on its range of innovative learningopportunities. With youth unemployment at itshighest for a generation, costing the economy inexcess of £90 million per week in benefits and lostproductivity and an increase in the amount of youngpeople leaving formal education without any basicskills, Futureversity has recognised the critical needto help improve the skills base of young people bystriving to deliver innovative and inclusive learningopportunities.

In essence, the Futureversity concept is for youngpeople to gain core skills to get ahead in life, and toempower them to spark up a passion and discoveruntapped talents, whilst instilling the inspiration toachieve their true potential. The majority ofFutureversity’s courses are accredited, enablingyoung people to gain nationally recognisedqualifications and/or completion certificates withrecorded learning outcomes. Courses range from

Communication Skills Training to Street Dancing;and Investment Banking to Mountain Biking. Withmany of the units from Futureversity’s coursesmapped on the Qualifications CurriculumFramework, the young people are provided withflexible routes to gaining qualifications. These credit-based units lean towards basic language, literacy,numeracy and interpersonal skills, and prove to beinvaluable when transferable skills are essential,given the current economic climate.

Specific Futureversity programmes include ‘JobReady’, an 11-week employability project forNEETs, aiming to equip young people with the skillsthey need to re-enter the world of employment andeducation. Accredited by the National Open CollegeNetwork, what makes Job Ready exciting is thateach project is run with a professional organisation.Previous businesses have included an internationalfashion house and investment banks, which workclosely with the young people to share theirexperiences of work, provide mentoring andmotivate the young people. Within a year ofcompleting Job Ready, around 60% of participantsgain employment or further training.

Futureversity also runs a trainee journalism schemewhich involves producing Nang!, a cutting edgemagazine targeted at young people, distributed to30,000 readership points across London. A team of16-25 year olds get together regularly to discussand plan the content. They track down the peoplethey want to interview and write the articlesthemselves. Previous issues have featuredinterviews with big names including Sophie Dahl,Sven-Goran Eriksson, Dizzee Rascal and the Mayorof London.

During the summer holidays the charity runs aSummer Programme for 11-25 year olds, with over2,000 free arts, fashion, sports, life skills andbusiness taster courses delivered to around 20,000

young people from a rich mix of culturalbackgrounds every year. In addition, Futureversityoffers several youth and corporate volunteeringprogrammes and a Youth Assessor initiative for 16-19 year olds to appraise the quality and consistencyof courses, forming an integral part of Futureversity’sQuality Assurance Framework.

In a recent Futureversity Youth Survey of 1,000young people, it was uncovered that uponcompleting their learning activities with Futureversity,around 80% of respondents felt more confident;almost 60% felt inspired to be more involved in theirlocal communities; 85% stated they had metsomeone from a different background or culturethan their own; and 94% rated their experience tobe very good or good. The survey also depicted anoverall increase in cross-borough social mobility.Mahboobur Rahman, aged 20, a recent Job Readyparticipant from Tower Hamlets, states: “If I hadn’tdone Job Ready I would probably be in prison,dead or hurt. It’s definitely been a life changingexperience. I now have a job, along with arecognised qualification, and am grateful toFutureversity for all of their support”. Young peopleare at the heart of everything Futureversity does,and it takes pride in pushing boundaries to creatememorable and fun learning experiences for thenext generation to get ahead in life.

With big plans to expand nationally andinternationally, Futureversity has a mixed fundingmodel and relies significantly on private funding.

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

CASE STUDY

Learning in London with Futureversity

17

During my time at NCVYS, funding hasconsistently been cited as the number one barrierpreventing voluntary and community youthorganisations from fully investing in thedevelopment of their staff and volunteers.

Yet looking back over the past four and half yearswe have been fortunate to have seen stronginvestment in terms of Government funding goinginto learning and skills. The creation of theChildren’s Workforce Development Council(CWDC) has led to all sorts of new initiatives andprogrammes through the Young People’sWorkforce Reform Programme. These includedfully-funded management training for youthservice managers and subsidised accreditedtraining for the voluntary and community sector’syoung people’s workforce. The NCVYS ledconsortium’s Progress project is currently underway and subsidies are still available up to the endof March 2011.

NCVYS members continue to do their utmost toinvest in their workforce. YMCA England and theSalvation Army have conditional bursary schemeswhich support the cost of gaining youth workqualifications. Increasingly youth organisationswithin the sector are collaborating more tomaximise workforce development resources e.g.sharing training places and offering secondmentopportunities. What strikes me most is theincrease of more creative and cost-effective waysorganisations are developing their workforce usingother methods than training, such as mentoring.Examples of how organisations have developedtheir workforce are available on the NCVYSworkforce development web pages athttp://www.ncvys.org.uk/Workforce.html

However in these times of austerity it is uncertainwhether funding will be made available to invest inthe young people’s workforce. At the time ofgoing to press, we’ve only had limited informationon a new strategy for the children and youngpeople’s workforce development. Until there isgreater clarity from the Department for Educationon funding, many organisations are uncertainabout the future of their projects working with theyouth workforce. It might be expected thatinvestment in volunteer workforce developmentwould be a priority to support the Big Societyagenda and I am still hopeful that investment inthis area will be made.

The skills landscape is certainly complex, withmany different bodies to navigate. Some of thesestakeholders will disappear or change course atthe end of March, and this rationalisation mayhelp to reduce the confusion. Their work will nodoubt need to picked up– the question is bywhom? Following the decision to close LifelongLearning UK on 31 March 2011 it is currently

unclear who will assume responsibilities for skillsdevelopment of the youth work occupationalarea. NCVYS has asked to be consulted and we continue to advocate to government thatemployers (and their representative bodies,including NCVYS) should have a bigger role to play in meeting skills development needs.

There is evidence that government alreadyunderstands this. Skills for Sustainable Growth(Department for Business, Innovation and Skills,Nov 2010) has asked employers to take on alarger financial responsibility in meeting the skillsand 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 forSustainable Growth (http://bit.ly/susgrowth) isworth reading for its insight into what is going tobe funded, e.g. apprenticeship training. Thegovernment believes the biggest priorities mustbe those least able to help themselves - and it ispaying close attention to young people and thosewithout basic literacy and numeracy skills. Theyalso plan to extend adult (19+) apprenticeshipsand fully fund provision for young people studyingtheir first full level 2 and 3 qualifications. Learnersand employers will be expected to investalongside the government in meeting the costs ofintermediate and higher level qualifications. Withinthe new financial year it is expected that thewebsite www.direct.gov.uk >> education andlearning will provide an update of the fundingavailable.

NCVYS will continue to keep the sector up todate with news and policy developments via itsworkforce development e-bulletin Snippets. Thiscan be downloaded from the NCVYS website oryou can be added to the mailing list by emailingnichola@ncvys.org.uk. Funding specifically forworkforce development is added to the web pagehttp://www.ncvys.org.uk/funding_update.html

Working with our partners, NCVYS has plans for a dialogue with the youth sector in order to gainconsensus on the needs and support required todevelop the workforce. We have a key leadershiprole to play representing the voluntary andcommunity youth sector and hope that many ofour members will get involved in helping to shapethese plans. I am sure NCVYS members will riseto the challenge government has set and do their upmost to invest in a workforce effective in delivering young people’s services, takingadvantage of any government funding that comesalong the way.

For more information about workforcedevelopment at NCVYS, pleasecontact Nichola:E: Nichola@ncvys.org.ukT: 07792 875 635

WORKFORCEDEVELOPMENT

Nichola Brown, Workforce Development Officer

Funding learning and skills developmentIn the latest of our regular features, NCVYS’s Workforce Development Officer Nichola Brownreflects on five years of big changes for the young people’s workforce

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This is the first in a new series ofinterviews with leading figures in ourmember network. Young people will beinterviewing the Chief Executives oforganisations to find out what makesthem tick and their opinions on the issuesthat matter most.

In this issue, 20 year old ENVOY memberMita Desai interviews Susanne Rauprich,NCVYS Chief Executive on her career in the voluntary and community youthsector.

How did you start out in the sector?I was involved with youth work in my home towncatholic 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 involvedwhen they were younger. I later went on to train as a teacher where I realised I had greater passion forworking with young people informally and so I tookthe steps to become a youth worker.

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

What advice would you give to a youngperson interested in getting started inthe sector today?Get involved and keep your eyes open! See what ishappening in your local community or in nearbyareas. There are always things to do, so don’t be

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

What has been your greatestachievement?With regards to NCVYS it has been the way I haveestablished the organisation, its reputation and theway in which we engage a large number oforganisations.

How has the sector changed since youstarted?It has changed quite significantly. We used to take anawful lot for granted, that organisations who had along history of work with young people would alwaysbe in receipt of public sector funding and over thelast few years that has changed quite a lot. Today wehave to really demonstrate that organisations arereally making a difference and that has bought quite a lot of challenges for NCVYS members.

Why do you think it is important foryoung people to take charge of theservices they are going to use and beaffected by?Two reasons. Firstly, young people know best whatthey want and the second is because it is a greatdevelopment opportunity. I know everything I knownow because as a young person I was given aposition of responsibility, it was a life changingopportunity for me and that is still true today. So if youput young people into positions of responsibility thatis the best way to develop their potential.

What are the most innovative practicesyou have seen in learning anddevelopment?That’s an interesting question... I can’t really say whatis the most innovative. What is more important is thatthings reflect the needs and interests of young peopleat the time. Whatever might be innovative now will nolonger be innovative in 5 years. There are quite a lot of

projects that are run and designed by young peoplethemselves and it’s always those that tend to be themost creative and innovative.

What is the most important thing youhave 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 shyaway from them. It’s very difficult to know what theright thing is all the time, the main thing to do is tomake decisions and live with the consequences andthat is the way you develop as a leader.

What skills of your own would you liketo improve?Lots! Well .... rather than skills, its more aboutknowledge and learning. The key things are aboutknowing what makes a difference and being able totalk 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 influencein your career?There are lots of key influences and they tend to bevery different in their thoughts from different sources. I do also have a mentor, his name is David Carringtonand I have been seeing him for many years. He is anexpert in the voluntary sector with his particularknowledge around finance issues. We meet once amonth and he gives me an opportunity to check out ifmy own thinking is on the right track and I think that isvery important.

What inspires you to work with youngpeople?It has changed over the years, when I first startedworking 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 isimportant to me, is to know in a little way I can makea difference and I feel extremely privileged in doing thework that I do.

MEET THE CHIEFEXECUTIVEMita Desai talks with Susanne Rauprich, NCVYS Chief Executive

An interview with Susanne Rauprich, Chief Executive of NCVYS

FREE Leadership masterclasses for member Chief Executives NCVYS is launching a series of leadershipmasterclasses on March 30 2011. Designed to helpsector leaders advance their leadership skills, theseries of talks will be hosted in central London and willfeature leading figures from outside of the voluntaryand community youth sector.

We are delighted to confirm that the first speaker atthe masterclass series will be Charlie Mayfield,Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. Rarely out of the press in recent months, Charlie is perfectlypositioned to talk about leading organisations throughdifficult 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 demandso please go to http://bit.ly/ncvysleadership torequest your place.

Send in your articles for the next issue of ExchangeExchange reaches over 5,000 individuals interested inthe voluntary and community youth sector includingChief Executives, Parliamentarians and Civil Servants.We’re always interested in news, articles and casestudies in best practice from our members. If you havea story to tell, please contact the editor:ross@ncvys.org.uk

What does the Big Society mean for the North of England?Because the North is pivotal in leading on the BigSociety concept, Children & Young People Now,Regeneration & Renewal and Third Sector havedecided to bring the Big Society In Practice

conference to Liverpool. The one day conference takes place on 15 March 2011. The specialised formatmeans that you can pick and choose which sessionsyou attend to tailor the day to your own needs.Choose from funding, volunteering and deliverystreams. Keynote plenary sessions will also providecrucial updates on how the Big Society will work inreality.

Over 36 speakers will demonstrate practical tipson how to capture the opportunities and meet thechallenges presented by the concept. This event alsoboasts northern-specific case studies to ensurethat you understand how the Big Society will work inyour area. To view the full speaker line-up please visitwww.bigsocietynorthconference.com

NCVYS is pleased to announce that our Director ofPolicy and Communications, Faiza Chaudary will bespeaking at this Conference.

Subsidised accredited training in Safeguarding from NCVYSNCVYS is re-launching its training programme toinclude accredited training in safeguarding, developedto incorporate all the latest standards and guidelines.

The training can be accessed through Progress andleads to an accredited qualification (level 3) with ABC.Courses will commence in March 2011. We are alsooffering a unit on safeguarding in BME communities asan optional extra. If you wish to find out more aboutthe contents of the course and learning outcomes orregister for this training please contact Erica Wallaceat: erica@ncvys.org.uk or T: 020 7843 6468 fordetails.

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

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

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

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

HEADS UP

Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership

The front cover for this issuewas designed by Alex BousteadAlex is a 25 year old Graphic Design graduate.Since completing her studies, Alex has workedwithin packaging and website design, whereshe enjoys using visual communication toexpress the ideals and aspirations of individualbusinesses. Alex recently completed the GoldDuke of Edinburgh Award with the CumbriaYouth Alliance. She said it was a greatopportunity to learn new skills and to getinvolved 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 achievethose goals, and broaden their futurepossibilities."

Alex is currently working as a freelancedesigner and her portfolio can be found athttp://www.alexboustead.com. You cancontact her via email:E: alex.boustead@gmail.com

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

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

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

Feedback and contributionsIf you have any publications, events, training orprojects that you would like to be featured inExchange or would like to send in letters,comments or ideas for future articles, pleasecontact Ross Bailey, Exchange Editor on :E: press@ncvys.org.uk

3rd FloorLancaster House33 Islington High StreetLondon N1 9LH

T: 020 7278 1041F: 020 7833 2491E: press@ncvys.org.ukW:www.ncvys.org.uk

Registered charity no. 1093386Registered company no. 4385383

Cover illustration by:Alex Bousteadalex.boustead@gmail.com

Exchange is a quarterly magazine,bringing together a unique collection of news, policy analysisand practical advice for voluntaryand community organisations and networks working with youngpeople. Exchange contains articlesby expert contributors from the sector and beyond. The magazineis distributed throughout the youthsector, reaching around 5000 readers in print and online.

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

EditorialIf you would like to promote your workin Exchange, please send news and pressreleases to:press@ncvys.org.ukor contact Ross Bailey, Editor on:020 7278 1041

Advertising and subscriptionsIf you would like to advertise inExchange, or find out more about subscriptions please email your requests to:press@ncvys.org.uk