The National Youth Agency

Don't miss this opportunity tomorrow morning for dialogue, reflection and collaborative action.

***Please be aware, admittance to this session will be closed at 10:10am***

Equal Equity in partnership with the National Youth Agency invites Black and POC-Led Youth organisations and practitioners to an essential webinar: "Listening & Hearing: A Safe Space to Discuss the August '24 Race Riots."

This virtual gathering aims to provide a platform for open dialogue, reflection, and collaborative action going forward in response to the racism, islamophobia, xenophobia and misinformation that has culminated in recent events.

We will explore community perspectives, insights, and practical strategies to address the underlying issues in the interest of building a safer, more equitable future for all young people and communities:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtf-uupjwtH9UyJlmVf5o7CEUS9gk5O3LE #/registration
UK Youth

It was great to celebrate the both and Commonwealth Youth Council's 10th anniversary on Monday.

Our Deputy Director of Youth Work Esther joined both UK Young Ambassador to Europe Maurizio Cuttin and UK Young Ambassador to the Commonwealth Will Awomoyi to attend and speak at the special event at Marlborough House for a panel on the value of youth work approaches in supporting young people to challenge injustice and advocating for systemic change.

https://thecommonwealth.org/news/strong-leadership-celebrated-during-10th-anniversary-commonwealth-youth-council

🚨 Get your name down early to join our October Youth Work Insight session 🚨

We will be joined by a panel of experts to learn what good practice looks like in supporting young people's gender identity understanding through person-centred approaches 👇

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvcOGvrjsuG9JaX7e7z1B4LJhOsQZ6m_Yk

Check out our online Continuing Professional Development offer!

This recently developed course gives the learner a strong understanding of the theoretical and practical foundations needed to confidently engage with young people 👇 👇

https://nya.org.uk/nya-academy/introduction-to-engaging-with-young-people/

Get ready for this upcoming Youth Work Connect in September!

Join our digital team and practitioners around the sector to discuss the ways in which digital technology can augment our youth work practice 👇 👇 👇

https://nya.org.uk/events/

Equal Equity in partnership with the National Youth Agency invites Black and POC-Led Youth organisations and practitioners to an essential webinar: "Listening & Hearing: A Safe Space to Discuss the August '24 Race Riots."

This virtual gathering aims to provide a platform for open dialogue, reflection, and collaborative action going forward in response to the racism, islamophobia, xenophobia and misinformation that has culminated in recent events.

We will explore community perspectives, insights, and practical strategies to address the underlying issues in the interest of building a safer, more equitable future for all young people and communities:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtf-uupjwtH9UyJlmVf5o7CEUS9gk5O3LE #/registration
UK Youth

Youth Work Week is coming up in November...

Why not get yourselves prepared for the festivities by taking part in !

Work with your young people to produce a piece of art, then unveil it to the sector in November 👇 👇

https://nya.org.uk/youth-work-week/

Don’t miss the last in our series of FREE Thrive Talks providing youth workers with access to expertise from our colleagues at NatWest Bank. On Friday 16th August at 1pm we’re delving into the world of data and its application for organisational growth.

Delivered by one of NatWest’s inhouse data team, the session will provide you with access to practical examples of how you can gather and utilise data. It aims to equip you with the knowledge and tools to use data more confidently in decision-making, bid writing and reports.

The session will cover:
🔷 What is data and the different data types
🔷 Key concepts such as the Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom Pyramid
🔷 Different reporting types and useful tools to provide demographic/socioeconomic insights etc

Please click the link below to sign up. Our NatWest Thrive team will circulate a Zoom link ahead of the event to those registered.
https://nya.org.uk/natwest-thrive/data-and-reporting/

If you have any questions, please contact: [email protected]

Doncaster Youth Hubs Amigirls is a weekly youth group for underrepresented young females in South Yorkshire. Amigirls (their version of ‘Amigos’) is a safe space for Black and Asian girls to come together, socialise and talk about issues important to them – most significantly it offers somewhere they feel they belong.

The group participated in NatWest Thrive this year – an initiative to empower young people to discover their passions and improve their financial wellbeing.

The Budget Battle session provided valuable experience for the girls as they planned their local Culture Festival this summer. By allocating funds for resources, decorations, food, and drinks within a set budget, they learned how to make strategic spending decisions ahead of the event.

One young participant said, “NatWest Thrive has really helped my confidence with money and I feel better knowing that I have the skills to help me now” another young person commented, “This will help me massively whenever I want to go to university and budget my money”

Simmie Jandu, Youth Officer at Doncaster City Council, explained: “I am a huge advocate for the NatWest Thrive programme. Money management and budgeting are crucial skills in this day and age and the sessions allow the young people to be well equipped for whatever challenges they may face in life.”

Unlock new opportunities with NatWest Thrive and register your interest to take part this September: https://nya.org.uk/natwest-thrive/ -your-interest

Earlier today we published a new Safeguarding Hub resource providing guidance on how to ensure the physical safety of young people at your youth provision.

Access the resource for free here 👇 👇

https://nya.org.uk/safeguarding-hub/ -resources

Join us, UK Youth and Network of Regional Youth Work Units England for a series of shared spaces for youth workers and allied professionals working with young people to connect, reflect and provide support for one another following recent discrimination and violence within our communities.

Find out more, and access the session links here: https://www.ukyouth.org/what-we-do/support-for-youth-workers/

The NYA is committed to championing equality, challenging oppression, and fostering safe spaces for communities to come together to celebrate our diversity.

Traumatic events such as the one experienced in Southport will deeply impact young people and those who work closely with them. Youth workers play a crucial role in providing immediate and long-term support in helping young people process their experiences and feelings, and to promote respectful dialogue and unity within communities.

We’ve pulled together the following guidance alongside the insight of our partners UK Youth and Youth Focus North West to support those in the sector affected by traumatic events by providing advice and signposting towards resources and other professional services.

Please access and share the resources here: https://tinyurl.com/5y4jatcf

You may also find our pre-existing Speak it Out toolkit a useful resource to stimulate discussion, thought and reflection around key themes such as identity, belonging, diversity and community with your young people:
https://tinyurl.com/mv75n69s

Huge thanks to Dr Wendy Gill, Community and Youth Work lecturer at University of Sunderland for sharing their recent Punk Exhibition with their students and with us. The exhibition has been teaching youth work students how the sector and the experiences of young people have changed in the region since the 1980s, and how they can implement that learning into their practice.

Read about the exhibition in CPYNow here: https://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/article/punk-exhibition-inspires-youth-work-students-practice

And find out more about our campaign here: https://nya.org.uk/our-history/

The NYA’s Director of Youth Work, Abbee McLatchie, was featured on yesterday, covering the South West region, speaking about the need to build back the youth work sector to meet the needs of young people. Abbee highlighted that young people in rural and coastal areas are particularly at risk of missing out due to their geographic isolation.

The feature drew upon our recent survey of young people across the country which revealed that over half say there is a shortage of youth work which provides fun activities in their local area, as well as research by UK Youth evidencing the cost benefit of youth work. You can read more about our survey here: https://nya.org.uk/youth-survey-2024/

Great to see youth workers in action delivering impactful youth work in Torbay and youth worker, Paul Scott, describing how youth work brings about “a sense of belonging and worth” echoing the findings of our research, and summing up that youth work is “the best job in the world”.

Watch the clip here from 4 minutes in: https://tinyurl.com/2jd9566y

This week our Policy team shared their reflections from this Summer's election

Read more below sign up for our free Policy and Research mailing list for regular updates on what's happening nationally and locally. 👇 👇

https://nya.org.uk/2024-election-reflections/

We are pleased to have supported the BBC South West with their investigation into the shortfall of youth workers and youth support workers to meet the needs of young people in the region, as a reflection of the national picture.

We are committed to working with the government, training providers, universities, as well as supporting those delivering and commissioning youth work to build the skills and capacity of the workforce.

Find out more about this rewarding profession and routes into youth work on our website: https://nya.org.uk/for-learners/

Hear more from our Director of Youth Work, Abbee McLatchie on BBC South West News at 6:30pm this evening.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51ynxe8p6vo

South West 'needs more than double' number of youth workers The National Youth Agency is calling for better funding for youth workers.

We are experiencing difficulties with our phone services this morning. Please remain patient if you are contacting our team today.

Our email services remain unaffected so for urgent enquiries please use [email protected].

We will update you when services return to normal.

Our heartfelt wishes go out to the friends and families of those directly affected by the tragic events in Southport as well as the wider community.

We condemn the exploitation of this tragedy to create and reinforce narratives of division and hatred.

We are working with colleagues at Youth Focus North West and UK Youth to coordinate support resources for those youth workers and young people affected.

Our catalogue of Continuing Professional Development courses range from basic to advanced level and cover a wide range of youth work topics.

All are accessible online, and most are free to undertake, find out more and get started here 👇 👇

https://nya.org.uk/cpd/

Interested in the changing landscape and what it means for the youth sector?

Sign up for our free Policy and Research mailing list for regular updates on what's happening nationally and locally. Next edition comes out next week! 👇 👇

https://mailchi.mp/nya.org.uk/policy-research-updates

This spring, 48 young people aged 10-11 years from SELFA Children's Charity in North Yorkshire had the opportunity to participate in NatWest Thrive – an initiative designed to help them identify their passions, develop financial wellbeing and feel empowered to dream big.

From interactive activities to thought-provoking discussions, sessions are curated to spark curiosity and make learning about budgeting, values, employability skills and enterprise, fun and memorable.

Katie Hoggarth, Senior Children and Young People’s Worker at SELFA, said “We found the resources genuinely engaging and insightful for the young people, they gave us new ideas and creative ways to present new topics to the young people.”

The Famous Failures session plan highlights the struggles and setbacks faced by some of the world's most successful individuals. It’s a reminder that failure is not the end but rather a stepping stone to success. By turning it into a 'four corners' game with music and movement the youth club engaged young people with the message of resilience and perseverance.

One young participant described how much she enjoys coming to SELFA each week and shared her growing aspirations to work in childcare, to help other young people in the same way the youth club has helped her.

It’s now your chance to take part in NatWest Thrive this September. Please complete the expression of interest form to get involved:
https://nya.org.uk/natwest-thrive/ -your-interest

Read our interview with Leona, a young person who found solace and self-confidence at her local youth provision

Click below to read about her youth work story 👇 👇

https://nya.org.uk/leona-16/

Actor Tienne Simon, whose character Bishop was supported by a youth worker in the BBC drama Grime Kids, is backing the Art of Youth Work campaign.

To take part in the campaign young people will create a piece of visual or performance art which they can unveil or perform as part of their Youth Work Week celebrations during 4-10 November.

The artworks should bring to life how their youth work provision provides a safe and inclusive space where they can discover their talents, celebrate their identity and feel connected within their communities.

Tienne says: Youth work unlocks young people’s talents and aspirations for their futures, as well as providing them with the support of skilled youth workers to help them to flourish in other areas of their lives.

“I can’t wait to see how young people at youth clubs across the country express what youth work means to them through the Art of Youth Work campaign.”

Download the guidance and get started today👇👇

https://nya.org.uk/youth-work-week/

Based in Yorkshire and the Humber, or nearby?

Click below to find out more about this upcoming Designated Safeguarding Lead training and get yourself or your team booked on 👇 👇

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/designated-safeguarding-lead-training-for-the-youth-sector-leeds-tickets-945604908737?aff=oddtdtcreator

As part of our recent we interviewed some young people around the country

Click below to read about Emily's powerful experiences with Goole Youth Action 👇 👇

https://nya.org.uk/a-powerful-experience-and-hope-for-the-future-emily-18/

Britain’s Got Talent finalist, Harrison Pettman, 23, joined us at the youth club he attended, ran by Grand Gravesend to support the campaign in the run up to 2024 in November.

He says that the support of his youth worker and youth support worker instilled in him the self-belief he needed to go on and perform in front of millions of viewers.

Read more about Harrison’s return to Gifted Young Generation and the upcoming artwork campaign, showcasing the safe and inclusive spaces that youth work provides to allow young people to feel connected with their communities here👇

https://nya.org.uk/tienne-simon-launches-art-of-youth-work/

Reflecting on the important role youth work has to play in the prevention agenda and achieving the government's aims for supporting young people's mental health and wellbeing, our CEO Leigh responds to the King's Speech below.

Tomorrow morning is our on Navigating Global Conflict.

Join us and our guests from The British Red Cross Community Education team to discuss humanitarian approaches in youth work and the challenges of maintaining impartiality and navigating our own views while supporting young people.

Sign up via zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qf-uqqz4qHNdc0soTl-aDkr4tBdqLlRwF