Guest post: ‘We have to invest in young people’

Staffordshire County Council is currently consulting on plans to change the way it delivers youth services. It wants to move away from providing out-of-school activities for all young people, instead focusing on “vulnerable young people who really need our help”.

You can find out more about the consultation and the county’s proposals by clicking HERE (and click HERE to take part in the consultation, which closes on 24th February).

Kim Jones from Stone, who was a youth worker for over 20 years – including 12 years in Stone – passionately believes in a well-funded youth service for all young people. His guest blog post is below…

Being a former youth worker who worked in Staffordshire for over 20 years, 12 of those in Stone, I am compelled to respond to the proposals put forward by Staffordshire County Council for consultation. Quite simply they are not about improving or transforming the service. It is about saving money that will decimate the youth service and strip it of its primary assets – youth workers and provision. Inevitably this will once again negatively impact on young people, many of whom have been on the receiving end of the recession.

The current Youth Service in Staffordshire works with thousands of teenagers in the 13-19 age range. These are young people in adolescence, a transition from childhood to becoming adults. For those young people it is a time of change physically, emotionally, psychologically and intellectually. It is not an easy time. Youth workers help young people learn about themselves, others and society through non-formal educational activities that combine enjoyment, challenge, learning and achievement.

Youth work provides for young people’s wellbeing and development in all its various forms through the principle of voluntary participation. They choose to come into contact with youth workers, they are not referred, it is their choice. Built upon a foundation of trust and honesty, youth workers assist young people in their personal and social development. Youth workers have made a real and positive difference to the lives of young people in Stone and Staffordshire. Youth workers are continually stopped in Stone by current and former members who remember their enjoyable experiences at Stone Y/C, just witness the plethora of activities on display to celebrate the 50th anniversary last year. Youth clubs offer young people a safe environment where they can meet up and socially interact just as adults go out to pubs, clubs and other venues to socialise.

Youth provision is not about ping pong, pool and pinball. Youth workers offer advice, guidance, friendship, support and a range of opportunities for personal and social development. In the recent past Staffordshire has been recognised as one of the best youth service’s in the country.

Ofsted: “ Staffordshire Youth Service is a good performing service providing high quality opportunities for young people.”

National Youth Agency: “Staffordshire is one of the best value for money services in England.”

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Young people have always been at the heart of the Youth Service this again is demonstrated by evidence, Staffordshire has a track record of young people actively participating in local decision making through a network of local youth forums, Youth Action Kouncil and UK youth parliament. Again Staffordshire performs well with one of the highest participation rates for in the country – 10,000+ young people voting to elect their representatives.

Other opportunities on offer include volunteering, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award , residential experiences, international work, arts, craft, leisure, Youth Achievement Awards, outdoor activities and inter generational work. There is specialist provision for vulnerable young people and those with a disability e.g at Walton hall and the Reach programme working with young people excluded from mainstream education provision. Hundreds of young people every year achieve nationally recognised awards via the Youth Service.

Young people’s surveys consistently show that where there is nothing for young people to do and no youth provision, anti-social behaviour increases. A recent Barnardo’s survey showed that 88% of young people wanted more and better affordable places to go and things to do. 68% of young people stated that more youth workers were required. Brunel University found that 93% of young people see Youth Clubs as a safe place to go and 71% were assisted with career development.

I know the response from elected members will be we are looking to change and improve with less cost, yes they know about cost little about value. They talk about using volunteers and the voluntary sector. Historically the statutory and voluntary youth service have always worked together collaboratively and alongside many other agencies. These proposals are divisive attempting to pitch the voluntary against the statutory sector.

The County Council should be celebrating the differences and divergent activities that they both offer building upon their unique strengths. Volunteering in the Youth Service is nothing new it has been an underlying principle since the 1950’s, over 80% of the current workforce are either part time or volunteers. All of whom work extra and unsociable hours giving up weekends to enable young people to enjoy outdoor recreation, residential and cultural activities. Volunteers can assist in the running of youth provision but they require professional support and advice, as stated previously teenage years are a transitional period and working with them requires a certain aptitude.

Added to this the current climate of litigation and legislation it is imperative that staff are trained in safeguarding and are aware of their responsibilities with regards to children and young people. I am not against change as young people’s needs are ever changing in a complex and demanding world and services have to metamorphose in order to meet fresh challenges. However improvement and transformation has to be for the right reason not political ideology and dogma.

The proposed cuts to the Youth Service are against a back drop of bullying, fear of failure, family breakdown and unemployment. The recession has witnessed many years of high youth employment even as the UK moves out of recession youth unemployment figures are alarmingly high December 2013 940,00 (20.5%) 16-24 year olds unemployed whist the number of 16/17 year olds is 35.5%. It amazes me that we talk about investing for the future, companies need to invest now to reap the benefits for the future. Yet here we are both nationally and in Staffordshire going in the opposition direction.

Also, in many areas of Staffordshire there are plans for extensive housing builds and new estates, in Stone there are proposals for upwards of 700 houses: where is the provision for young people? Under proposals Stone Youth Centre could be closed or sold off, it has always been a busy and thriving Centre. Young people are the future of our communities and society they are tomorrow’s parents, policy makers and leaders. Surely we should be investing more and more in young people to give them the foundations, knowledge and skills to improve society to build a blueprint for the 21st century.

Click HERE to take part in the consultation, which closes on 26th February