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Executive Summary
Youth work can enhance the life of any young person. It can contribute positively to young people's personal growth and to the growth of the communities they live in.
In recognising the value of youth work we undertook a consultation to hear the views of young people and those that help deliver these opportunities. This provided your views as to how we can build on and support the already considerable strength of the youth work sector in Scotland. An excellent response was received on the consultation paper on youth work with over 3,091 responses and over 2, 500 of these were from young people.
Our long term vision for youth work has two main elements:
- all young people in Scotland able to benefit from youth work opportunities which make a real difference to their lives; and
- a youth work sector equipped and empowered to achieve ongoing positive outcomes for young people now and in the future.
To achieve this we need to think both short and long term. Below is a summary of some of the main actions we are proposing through the National Youth Work Strategy.
Short term:
To kick-start the delivery of the strategy we are proposing a year of action on youth work.
We will provide £0.5m in 2007-2008 for a Voluntary Organisations Support Fund to support national voluntary organisations to provide better training and strengthen their capacity.
We will continue to support more young people volunteering through Project Scotland, and in other appropriate ways.
We will work with voluntary organisations to ensure clear information and understanding in the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Bill.
We will provide a Youth Opportunities Fund of £2.5m for 2007-2008 for bids to run local events, projects and volunteer campaigns.
We will offer a £5m Youth Work Facilities Improvement Fund for 2007-2008.
We will fund with Learning and Teaching Scotland a co-ordinator post to work with schools and the youth work sector improving and increasing links across the sectors and improving ultimate benefits for young people.
We will continue to support the value of peer education of providing support to young people by young people through continuing to fund the Peer Education Network until 2010.
We will ask YouthLink to pilot local and themed networks to give youth work providers more opportunity to share good practice and train together.
We will ensure that the new Standards Council for Community Learning and Development recognises and responds to the unique role of youth workers and volunteers.
We will work with Higher Education Institutions to ensure the key elements of the strategy are reflected in degree provision.
We will engage with young people in helping to shape and take forward the Action Plan outlined in the Youth Work Strategy.
Long term:
We will promote the role and contribution of youth work in developing wider policies affecting young people.
We will encourage more young people to take advantage of the increased opportunities available.
We will support youth work organisations at a national level through working alongside the sector, providing longer-term funding and offering support for quality improvement through HMIe.
We will support organisations to improve their training, understanding and support of minority groups.
We will work with voluntary organisations to develop an Action Plan for Volunteering.
We will work with organisations to improve delivery and evaluation of services.
We will work with Young Scot to ensure young people have access to the information they require in the format most accessible to them.
We will help employers to understand and value the skills young people gain through youth work.
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