‘Just 4 Youth’ is a leader in the development of youth involvement and peer support work. Its highly skilled and experienced team offers a unique way of working with young people, providing young person-led training, research and consultancy.

 

The companies overall vision is to: develop young people

 

In order to achieve this vision, we have the following strategic aims, which set out the key priorities for the company:

 

1.      Developing skills and opportunities for young people including life skills, job prospects and aspirations

2.      Creating mechanisms for young people to be involved with, and be able to influence, service providers

3.      Generating income to become financially self-sustaining

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ staff are trained to a minimum NVQ Level 3 in Youth & Community Work and are CRB cleared. The Youth Manager is an Honours Graduate in Informal & Community Education, was selected to take part in the Transforming Youth Work Management Programme and is Chair of the NE Regional Active Participation Network.

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ is a wholly owned trading company of the West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust (WMNT) Charity. ‘Just 4 Youth’ works on a local, regional and national level.

                                                           

Achievements to date: 

 

• Young Advisor Programme

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ is currently is the only organisation in the North East to deliver a Young Advisor programme. Young Advisors are trained and employed consultants who guide adult service providers about what it is like for a young person to live, work, learn and play in their neighbourhood. They are young people aged between 15 and 21, who show community leaders and decision makers how to engage young people in community life, regeneration and renewal. In addition, Young Advisors:

 

• 'youth proof' organisations’ practices, policies, strategies and commissioning
• help organisations understand how to attract and maintain the interests of young people
• speak out for young people, making sure their thoughts and feelings are considered in decisions that affect them
• work both locally and nationally to share good practice and learn from others
• engage directly with other young people to get them involved in neighbourhood improvements

 

Young Advisors are specially trained for this work following a course delivered by accredited trainers and designed by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). They are paid a respectful wage on a sessional basis.

Since the inception of the Young Advisors scheme, the model has proven to be very successful. There are now more than 35 schemes in operation across the country with further schemes in the pipeline. Further information can be found at www.youngadvisors.co.uk

 

The WMNT Young Advisors have achieved significant success in their role including work with:

·         Government Office North East – helped develop a staff training DVD

·         Middlesbrough Unite – facilitated Staff Training Workshops

·         Connexions Tees Valley – produced a young person’s version of the 14 – 19 Learner Entitlement

 

·         Middlesbrough Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership – helped to develop the ‘Guidance Document on Involving Young People’.

·         Children’s Workforce Development Council – research project on Every Child Matters agenda.

·         CAF Locality Team – produced young person’s version of the Common Assessment Framework referral forms.

·         Cleveland Police Authority - produced a young person’s version of the 2007/08 Local Policing Plan, distributed to over 35,000 school children through secondary schools

 

• Workshops and Training 

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ has facilitated a number of young person-led presentations and training workshops designed to improve the skills of young people and adults to work together for partner agencies including:

 

·      Neighbourhood Management Network

·      Middlesbrough Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership

·      N.E. Wardens Resource Centre

·      South Tees Youth Offending Service

·      Young Advisors National Charity

·      Department for Communities and Local Government

·      Government Office North East

·      Local Authorities

 

 ‘Just 4 Youth’ Current Programmes

 

Peer Education Training

Delivering a training programme at Kings Manor School for a sustainable peer education project. The objectives of the training are:

 

·      To identify and train a group of pupils to be peer educators

·      For peer educators to design a programme of delivery to meet the needs of young people in the school

·      Deliver and evaluate the programme

·      For peer educators to train a new cohort of educators

 

Youth Employment (YES) Scheme

Three organisations - ‘Just 4 Youth’, Fairbridge Teesside and A4e Education and Enterprise - have teamed up to deliver a Jobcentre Plus Deprived Area Fund (DAF) project.

The YES Scheme is working with young people aged 16 to 19 to help them access the world of work, training and learning. The innovative new scheme started in November 2007, aiming to help at least 150 young people in Middlesbrough realise their aspirations and improve their job prospects.

 

A team of Young Employment Advisors has been recruited and trained to develop and implement an effective service for engagement with young people aged 16 to 19, to ensure they can access the correct levels of support and services to reduce the ‘worklessness’ numbers across the town. What makes this scheme unique is that the Young Employment Advisors are young people themselves. The Advisors act as positive role models to other young people in order to engage them in appropriate motivational and employment training. Once engaged, the Advisor supports the young people with their individual action plan and provide appropriate information, advice and guidance.

 

Cleveland Fire Brigade (CFB) Young People’s Participation Project

‘Just 4 Youth’ is delivering a Young People’s Participation Project, within West Middlesbrough, in order to involve young people more closely in a range of the CFB initiatives, including:

·      a six week training programme for young people to equip them with a range of skills to allow them to work effectively on the Young People’s Participation Project

·      young people taking part in a range of initiatives through the Young People’s Participation Project, aimed at engaging young people in activities which will raise awareness of CFB harm reduction initiatives

 

School Council Training Pilot

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ is managing the delivery of a ‘training the trainers’ programme and is supervising a pool of eight young people aged between 16 and 20, to equip them with the skills and knowledge to deliver a school council training programme in one secondary school, one complimentary education centre, one primary school and one special educational needs school.   

 

The objectives of the training are:

• design the ‘Train the Trainer’ course
• identify and train a group of young people to be School Council Trainers
• School Council Trainers to design a programme of School Council training delivery
• deliver and evaluate training the programme in the Schools

 

A School Council Training Toolkit will be developed as part of this programme.

 

Children Workforce Development Council Regional Project

 

‘Just 4 Youth is working with a group of children & young people to develop a participation toolkit for non-participatory practitioners & managers. The aim of the toolkit is to provide a range of practical exercises that people can carryout to gain knowledge & skills to enable them to get children and young people actively involved in their work. We will train a group of young people to work with a group of adults to develop the toolkit. The toolkit will be made available on-line as a down loadable resource and will be supported by Pod Casts from the young people to guide workers through the toolkit.

 

Children and Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Young People Project

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ is working in partnership with Middlesbrough CAMHS and the Healthy Schools Initiative on a Mental Health Awareness Campaign for students and teachers. This involves working with young people from the CAMHS and other young people to identify the best ways of raising awareness in a positive manner. We are producing a DVD, made by young people, as a training resource for students and teachers.

 

North East Regional 14 – 19 Commission Youth Advisory Board

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ is working in partnership with Stockton Council and the North East Regional Youth Work Unit to develop a Youth Advisory Board to advise and influence the adult 14 – 19 learning commission in the North East of England. This will bring together young people across the region and will be led by 2 young coordinators employed to develop the Youth Advisory Board.

 

 ‘Just 4 Youth’ bespoke programmes

 

Training

 

 ‘Just 4 Youth’ can individually tailor programmes to suit need; this could range from simply running a workshop or training course through to helping shape and develop youth engagement policy.

 

Courses we have successfully delivered include:

                                      

• Staff Training & Support
• Conflict Resolution                            
• Engaging & involving Young People
• Developing a Youth Forum

 

Research

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ can undertake research for a range of organisations to provide them with quantitative and qualitative data to enable them to improve their own services.

 

Conference Presentations and Workshops

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ can support partner agencies at local, regional and national conferences.

 

Training Resources

 

‘Just 4 Youth’ can provide and supply a range of accredited and non accredited training resources and toolkits to support the engagement of young people.

 

For further information please contact:

 

Kevin Franks

‘Just 4 Youth’ Operations Director

West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust

Melbourne House

Newport Road

Middlesbrough

TS1 5QH

Tel:  01642 230555

Fax: 01642 244177

mailto:kevin_franks@wmnt.co.uk