« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
4. Access to Opportunities for Young People
All young people should have the opportunity to become involved in youth work activities. So we must make sure that there is a range of opportunities to meet the diverse interests of 11-25 year olds, and also the specific needs of particular groups. These may include young people with a disability, minority ethnic communities and young people in rural areas. It is important that local authorities and the voluntary sector work closely together to deliver this. It is also important that the right kind of facilities are open to young people at suitable times and that they themselves can influence the design and running of them.
Q13: What do you think are the priorities for youth work in the 21st century?
Q14: How do we make sure that youth work is accessible to all young people, including equality groups and those in rural areas, and respects their differences?
Q15: How can youth work contribute to good community relations?
Q16: What particular issues and barriers do young people from minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled young people, and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) young people encounter in accessing youth work opportunities?
Q17: Are there any gender issues or other issues affecting equality groups that we need to consider?
Q18: What can be done to provide the right kind of opportunities for young people of school age?
Q19: And what can be done to provide the right kind of opportunities for young people who have left school?
Community planning provides an overall framework for the planning and delivery of services at a local level. More and more, it is bringing together local authorities, NHS Boards, the Police, the Fire and Rescue Service, Local Enterprise Companies, voluntary organisations and others to work together at local level, making sure that young people get
the opportunities they need. For youth work, this has mainly been co-ordinated through community learning and development partnerships, with strong and growing links to strategies like children's services planning. More and more, community planning allows these plans to be brought together to ensure that they deliver the full potential of youth work and maximise opportunities for youth work to support other services for young people. Community planning will over time bring benefits, but it can also bring pressures, particularly on voluntary sector organisations, in terms of time and training. Sometimes community planning may not be seen as immediately relevant to the youth sector.
Q20: How do we make sure that partnerships and youth work providers are focused on delivering better outcomes for young people at a local level?
Q21: What more can be done to enable all youth work providers to engage in and influence local networks and partnerships, including the community planning framework?
It is right that decisions are made at a local level. The Executive provides funding for youth work through the general funding allocation to local authorities for community learning. Local authorities then decide how this money is spent and how to organise the delivery of youth work services in their area. There are also funds for specific priorities (for example, youth cafes which provide alcohol-free places for young people to socialise). The Scottish Executive also provides the voluntary sector with direct support for national infrastructures.
The Executive would like to see more young people participating in youth work opportunities but recognises that the full choice of provision is not always accessible by every young person. Also, for a variety of reasons, many young people choose not to participate in any youth work activity. Some providers may have scope for further development but face barriers (for example, in recruiting volunteers or accessing suitable premises). There are some good examples of people using each other's premises and facilities across the different sectors. We would encourage the greater use and sharing of facilities.
Q22: How can youth organisations expand the numbers of young people they deal with?
Q23: What steps can be taken to make best use of buildings and facilities to deliver youth work opportunities?
Case Study: Included Phoenix Group, Dumfries 
Feeling excluded can have a damaging effect on a young person's confidence and development. But feeling accepted and valued by other young people, the local community and society can give them real confidence to achieve and succeed and to contribute to their local community.
The Phoenix Group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT) young people in Dumfries and Galloway was set up in response to demand from young people in the area. At the time there were no specific services for them. Living in a rural area increased the sense of isolation that some of them felt.
With support from LGBT Youth Scotland, the project has worked to give these young people a voice and to provide the local LGBT youth community with their first real level of service provision and support. Young people from the project have been empowered and encouraged to play an active role in their community. For example, they have been involved in awareness training for a wide range of people and also in the community planning process and the Scottish Youth Parliament.
The project has significantly improved the lives of individual young people and contributed to their development. It has supported Sam Kerr to overcome early negative experiences of learning. Her many achievements include designing and delivering training, conducting consultations, writing for a national newsletter and becoming an inspiring peer educator and mentor. She recently received a Celebration of Learning Award ( CLAW Award) and is now studying social studies at university.
« Previous | Contents | Next »