UK Youths Centenary Conference

To celebrate UK Youth’s Centenary Year a conference will take place at Centre Parks’ Eveldon Forest. The conference will include a Centenary Dinner and a range of workshops to provide insight into different types of ‘learner journeys’ and how to put theory into practice. What a way to mark the best of the old and the anticipation of the new. This event is set to take place on May 10^th-11^th 2010.

For more information please contact Rebecca Wyatt Dawson at UK Youth (becky@ukyouth.org) or call 01425 675 104

To read more on this article in our online magazine ‘The Source’ please click here -> (http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?referral=other&refresh=t13G06Aw4Dr0&PBID=923805cb-54ef-493f-bfb0-43ed89d34b0b&skip=&pnum=22=)

The Source: Young Leaders

This is your last chance to check out the March issue of UK Youth’s monthly online magazine, The Source, before the April edition gets posted.  The March edition features Young Leaders.

If you don’t already receive The Source from our mailing list, you can sign up to receive it in your inbox each month by following this link.

Young Leaders

Full Participation?

Perhaps the pinnacle of ‘youth involvement’ is reached when young people become ‘youth leaders’ themselves, argues Alan Rogers.

One of the most rewarding experiences for a youth worker must be seeing someone, who began as an ‘ordinary’ member, grow over time to take on responsibility as a full member of the staff team.

Promoting young people’s increasing involvement has always been part of the youth work approach.  With the shadow of cuts hanging over most services for young people nowadays, the philosophy of ‘growing your own’ leaders may become a practical necessity, if youth groups are to survive.

Fortunately, as the following pages show, there are a number of structured programmes designed to help build leadership in young people.  UK Youth’s own Youth Achievement Awards are explicitly structured to encourage young people to challenge themselves to take on more responsibility in their groups.

Programmes, such as the Sports Leaders Awards and the Arts Award are designed to encourage leadership in specific areas of activity.  With the UnLtd Sport Relief Awards, described on these pages, as well as other funding streams, there are also opportunities to attract funding to foster those leadership qualities.

Whether to fulfil traditional youth work goals or simply for long-term survival, everyone working with young people needs to consider how they can build the youth leadership skills of the young people with whom they are working.

-Alan Rogers, Editor of The Source

excerpt from the March Edition

Read more about UK Youth’s Young Leaders.

Hearing Unheard Voices: Launch Recap

The Hearing Unheard Voices (HUV) launch, at The Public on 13 March, celebrated some of the thoughtful and original campaigns which make up the project. HUV is designed to give a voice to groups that are often unheard by society and aim to have a positive impact on young people by training them in the skills to campaign for their rights. With plenty to excite and stimulate the 400+ attendees (there was animation, art installations, interviews and dance) the event was a great success. Much hard work has already gone into the campaigns that were showcased at the launch. You can read about two of the campaigns below and there are more listed on the HUV website.

Durham Gay Young People’s Network thinks that a lot of LGBT young people are often confused and  feel angry or very isolated when they don’t understand how they feel. DGYN wants young LGBT people to know that there is support available. Through their comic strip illustration (displayed at The Public), DGYN members hope to tackle the inequalities and discrimination that is felt by LGBT young people. Download the full comic here.

YWCA Kent is very active in campaigning about women’s rights and combating stereotypes. They are currently campaigning about domestic violence and tackling the role of the female in non-traditional trades, with the aim of raising young women’s position in the world. The YWCA has produced a poster campaign.

HUV has also put a resource together for young people who would like to start their own campaign. The Campaign for Change Toolkit is a resource designed to provide disadvantaged young people with the skills and opportunities to speak up to shape their services, through media and campaigning activities. The Toolkit contains 100 pages of information sheets, session plans and activity ideas. It provides workers and young leaders with everything they need to plan, run, review and accredit large and small campaigns with young people. You can find out more about the Toolkit on the HUV website and be sure to check out HUV social, HUV’s social network.

Support UK Youth in the London Marathon!

Help support the 40 runners fundraising for UK Youth in the 2010 London Marathon.

With just over one month left to go, our runners need your support to help reach their targets of £2,000.  Many of those running are young people themselves and we greatly appreciate their support as they run the grueling 26 miles through London.  UK Youth is hoping to raise £80,000 to help fund the work and programmes supporting young people across the UK.

Visit UK Youth’s JustGiving page to donate your support either directly to the charity or to one of the runner’s personal fundraising pages to help them reach their target.

There are other ways to support the work of UK Youth:

1.  Text YOUTH to 84025*

2.  Donate on PayPal

3.  Buy or Sell items of eBay to support UK Youth

4.  Pledge your support to Positive About Youth!

Interested in running the 2011 London Marathon for UK Youth, please get in touch:  maria@ukyouth.org

*Text donations cost £1.50 plus your standard operator charge for one text. A minimum of £0.81 from each text message will be donated to UK Youth. You must be over 16 and have the bill payer’s permission to make a text donation. UK Youth is a registered charity – Charity No 1110590 (England & Wales). For info contact: 01425 675106.

Think Big with O2 and UK Youth

Calling all young people with big ideas to improve their community!

Earlier this week, O2, working alongside UK Youth and the National Youth Agency, launched Think Big–a new social action programme supporting young people who want to make a positive difference in their communities.

Think Big wants to hear from young people aged 13-25 with bright ideas for projects that will bring people together and benefit their community.  It only takes 2 steps:  1–THINK BIG and 2–apply online!

UK Youth will be in charge of all the training involved in the project, providing young people and their O2 helpers and mentors with all the tools they need to run a successful project.  Successful applicants will receive a £300 grant towards project costs and a day’s training with us!  If the project is a success, the applicant will then have the opportunity to apply for an additional grant of up to £2500 and four days of leadership training.

We believe we can help support positive role models in the community, challenge negative perceptions about young people and bring about lasting change for the better.  The training we will provide will help make sure the young people involved in Think Big have the self-confidence and the skills needed to make their projects sustainable.  Together with Think Big we want to help young people make the most of their potential and inspire others using their talents to bring together people in their communities.

To learn more about Think Big visit our website or go to www.o2thinkbig.co.uk.

What’s your Big idea?

Hearing Unheard Voices 13 March

UK Youth is officially launching Hearing Unheard Voices this Saturday 13 March at The Public in West Bromwich in the West Midlands.

Hearing Unheard Voices gives young people the skills and opportunities to speak up to shape services through media and campaigning activities.  Hearing Unheard Voices is open to groups of young people aged 11-18, with a particular focus on those who are rarely heard such as young people who are homeless, young carers, LGBT, BME, disabled parents and those who are not engaged with school or training.  Hearing Unheard Voices is funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

The event is free and welcome to all who wish to attend whether you’re a young person, youth worker, service provider or just interested in checking out the project.  We already have over 400 confirmed guests and Councillor Linda Horton, Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, will be the keynote speaker.  At the event you can get involved with the many exciting interactive displays and workshops, all aimed to empower young people and get people involved.  Some of the highlights include a campaign toolkit master class, a video booth, painting with light creative photography and e-reporting.  Guests will also be encouraged to express their views on the day’s event via the Hearing Unheard Voices’ new website (to be launched), as well as through other social media tools.

The Public is an award-winning venue allowing participants to interact with the digital artworks located throughout the building.

Find out more about Hearing Unheard Voices at The Public.

Please see map below or go to visit The Public’s contact page for directions.

We hope to see you this Saturday!

Whole Education launched

UK Youth has joined a newly established consortium of leading non-political organisations in education and the third sector to promote and share a set of common beliefs and practices on the idea of whole education.

Whole Education aims to make sure every child reaches their full potential and has access to an education that fully equips them to be happy and successful in life and work and contribute positively to society.  Whole Education supports education that brings together academic, practical and vocational learning and believes that education should invest in the intellectual development of the young person as well as the development of social and emotional competencies.  These competencies are a major part of the foundations that allow every young person to learn effectively and contribute positively to their own development and attainment and to the development of a good society.

Whole Education consists of partners including: UK Youth, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, RSA, Edge, Innovation Unit, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Human Scale Education, Oxfam, Futurelab, Young Foundation, DEA, ASDAN, Co-Operative College, Food for Life Partnership, Flow Foundation and Campaign for Learning.

To find out more about our common beliefs on whole education, read or download the pdf here.

Whole Education has just recently launched their new website:  www.wholeeducation.org.

You can also find more about Whole education via:

Whole Education Blog

@WholeEducation

Bebo

Flickr

YouTube

Ask your MP to support UK Youth’s Positive about Youth EDM

Natascha Engel MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Youth Affairs Group, put forward an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons supporting UK Youth and recognising the need to be Positive about Youth.  EDM #927, tabled on 24 February, has already received signatures from 46 MPs.

Help us build the support for UK Youth and our Positive about Youth centenary year in Parliament by writing to your MP asking them to sign EDM #927.

In your letter or email please reference EDM #927 and feel free to say why you are positive about youth and why they should be too!  Use the ‘Find your MP‘ search tool on the Parliament website if you need to find your MP and get their contact details–you only need your postcode.  Otherwise, write to [MP's name], House of Commons, London,  SW1A 0AA. If you have questions about what you should write,  please feel free to get in touch with us!  Email any query to ukyouth@bellenden.co.uk.

Find your MP

An Early Day Motion is a formal motion submitted to the House of Commons that could be tabled for debate.  Even though very few EDMs are actually debated on the floor, they are used to publicise the views of MPs, draw attention to events and campaigns and demonstrate parliamentary support for a particular cause.

Early Day Motion #927

UK Youth Charity

Engel, Natascha MP

That this House recognises the need to be positive about youth, as the vast majority of young people make a positive contribution to society; notes the work of the charity UK Youth in supporting 750,000 young people to raise their aspirations, realise their potential and recognise their achievements; further recognises the value of non-formal learning in helping young people achieve their goals; further notes the importance of offering an alternative curriculum through non-formal learning to young people who struggle with mainstream education; calls for greater recognition of the achievements of such young people who are making progress within an alternative curriculum; and congratulates UK Youth for its work in this sector as it celebrates its centenary in 2010.

46 Signatures:

Thank you to all the MPs who have shown their support for UK Youth and to being positive about youth by signing this EDM.

Recap: UK Youth’s Royal Reception

UK Youth’s Centenary Year was launched in style with a reception at St James’s Palace, attended by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.

UK Youth’s Royal Patron, together with Prince Michael of Kent, was able to join with the 500 guests in the special setting of the James’s.  The event provided an opportunity to see exhibitions and examples of practice from throughout UK Youth’s long history, as well as to celebrate the organisation’s current and future work.

Chief Executive John Bateman took the opportunity provided by the event to present a ‘statement of intent’ for the future.  Building from last year’s Vision not Division consultation (also attended by Her Royal Highness) the organisation is committed promoting the value of non-formal learning, as part of a comprehensive approach to education.

The plan includes involving young people and grass roots workers in demonstrating the power and effectiveness of non-formal learning as a means of achieving both inclusion and attainment.

UK Youth Chief Executive John Bateman commented, “UK Youth has a long history of innovative practice and in our Centenary Year, Vision not Division gives us a fabulous platform to work with others in taking forward the potential that non-formal learning has to offer all young people as part of their education in the 21st century.”

More coverage on UK Youth’s Royal Reception.

(excerpt from The Source)

Positive About Youth Video

Everyone should have a reason to be positive. UK Youth has been Positive About Youth for 100 years.

Watch what some of our Positive About Youth Ambassadors say on why they’re Positive About Youth!

Why are you Positive About Youth?

Pledge @ www.positiveaboutyouth.org.