The Youth House

Last year the LA Heads of Integrated Youth Services asked Regional Youth Work Advisor Gill Millar to come up with an ideal, completely hypothetical project to circulate to local authorities a blueprint for their own real life projects. This is what she came up with...

An ideal Youth Work Intervention?

The ‘Youth House' is a partnership project, led by a Young People's Management Board that includes young people alongside the local authority, Connexions company and the local voluntary youth organisations' umbrella body. It is sited on the edge of the town centre, close to the bus station, in an area that is known to have high social needs.

The building has had substantial capital investment, from myplace, regeneration programmes and the LA, and young people have been active in the design of the building and its contents since its inception. It is accessible to young people with disabilities, is well signposted with a welcoming entrance area. It is open every night of the week except Sundays, and during the day time for a range of specialised programmes.

The Youth House provides a wide range of open and specialised provision, and has facilities that enable young people to test out and develop their skills and confidence through:

• Music, dance, film and drama performance and creation
• Indoor and outdoor sports facilities
• Skate and board sport facilities
• Range of creative arts opportunities
• Residential experiences including outdoor and environmental programmes, international exchanges etc
• Comfortable open access social meeting area with kitchen and catering facilities where young people can cook and prepare food
• Separate rooms where groups of young people can meet to plan events, organise activities and undertake learning opportunities
• ICT to enable young people to access internet, use creative programmes, construct newsletters, magazines etc
• Supported groups for young people with specific shared experiences (BME, LGBT, Young Carers, Travellers etc)

The Youth House is not just about positive activities though: it also provides a base for other professionals to work with young people providing information, advice and guidance; one to one support; financial and legal advice; housing support; sexual health and drug and alcohol services and much more. Professionals from different agencies share office and interview facilities and hold surgeries for young people on a regular basis, at times that suit young people. Youth workers who provide ‘front of house' support to young people are trained and experienced in helping young people to assess their needs and access the right professional assistance. The presence of targeted support agencies in the Youth House, and their positive relationships with youth workers help the development of a more holistic response to individual young people's needs, aided by improved information sharing between organisations as a result of increased awareness on all sides.

The Youth House does not only provide for young people who live within the neighbourhood in which it is based, although their needs are important features in the development of the programme. It acts as a ‘hub' for provision for young people from a wide geographical area because of its proximity to local public transport, and because it has built relationships with voluntary organisations working with young people across the town and surrounding villages, and with organisations that provide care for young people, who bring their young people to the Youth House to participate in specific activities. Staff at the Youth House also provide outreach services, including mobile units taking elements of their provision out to other youth venues to enable more young people to benefit from the provision they offer. They work with local schools and colleges, providing some specialist activities within school curriculum time, and increasing awareness of the Youth House amongst school and college students.

The Youth House provides a base for a team of detached youth workers, who work with young people on the streets and other public places, to provide support, information and advice and access to positive activities and other services. The team focuses on young people who are least likely to access established facilities, including those designated as ‘hard to reach', and encourages them to organise projects and activities to broaden their experience and horizons, while helping them to take more control over issues that affect their lives.

The Youth House is seen as an integral part of the local 14-19 Curriculum Offer. The specialist facilities mean that it offers elements of the new Diplomas and other qualifications, in partnership with schools and colleges. For some young people, the less formal environment and the range of supportive staff mean that they learn more effectively here and achieve qualifications that would have been beyond them in more formal settings. The Youth House also provides a base for an Apprenticeship programme that provides opportunities for young people to work with children and young people in a range of settings while they gain NVQ qualifications.

Staff at the Youth House make sure that young people gain recognition and accreditation for their achievements, either through formal qualifications, or through recorded and accredited outcomes including Duke of Edinburgh Award, Youth Achievement Award and the local Young Leaders Award, run in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber sponsors an annual celebration event that shows how young people make a positive contribution to their community, and local employers and businesses have used this to make good links with the Youth House and the young people who use it.

Staff at the Youth House have worked with young people to develop a local Youth Council for the area which acts as a voice for young people in decision making and consultation processes. They organise an accredited Young Assessors programme for young people, who are then supported to play a role in monitoring and evaluating services and organisations that affect their lives. The Youth House facilitates and hosts the annual elections to the UK Youth Parliament, and provides both professional and administrative support to the 2 MYPs. Young people from the Youth Council are now involved in a European Youth Democracy Project, working with similar groups in 4 other EU countries to compare their democratic systems and evaluate how effective young people's involvement has been.

The activities at the Youth House are widely marketed throughout the area, and young people are actively involved in designing and delivering the marketing strategy. Marketing activities include colourful, well produced leaflets aimed at young people, parents, carers and professionals; an interactive Youth House website linked to the LA promoting Positive Activities site, the 14-19 Offer and Connexions; a young people led local digital radio station, and adverts on the local commercial radio station; local media coverage of events and new programmes, text and e-mail updates to young people on the membership list. Word of mouth, however, remains the most likely way that young people initially get involved in activities at the Youth House, and the young people who use the facilities act as advocates for it in their communities and peer groups.

Obviously this amount of activity requires significant funding and a substantial team of staff. The YouthHouse employs around 40 staff, including professionally qualified youth workers, youth support workers, administration and financial staff and specialist tutors/development workers, including Skills for Life tutors Many staff work part-time, and all work flexible hours, to enable the House to open at times that young people want to use it. There are also around 30 regular volunteers, including young people who have ‘graduated' from projects within the Youth House, local adults from the immediate community, and people who have been referred by the local volunteering centre. There is a clear Workforce Development Plan, linked to the local C&YP Plan, with appropriate training for all staff, including volunteers that takes into account their skill levels, specialisms and career aspirations.

The Youth House has a designated management team, who are accountable to a Management Board. There are 4 young people on the Board, nominated by the users of the centre, plus 2 from the Youth Council, to represent the broader views of young people in the area. Other Board members represent the local authority C&YP Directorate, the voluntary youth sector and the 14-19 Partnership. Individuals have been co-opted onto the Board to bring in additional skills and experience, including private sector employers, the local university and sports and arts interests. Young people are involved at all levels of planning and design including the building itself, the ‘offer' to young people, the programme of events and activities and the development of outreach and detached work.

The annual turnover for the Youth House is around £1.5million. This includes a contribution from the LA and funding from LSC, PCT, Sport England, Youth Music, and Urban 2, as well as smaller project funding from a wide range of sources including charitable trusts and private sector. A charge is made for some of the specialised activities, and young people pay a small annual membership fee, which offers them discounts in a number of local shops, cinemas and heritage sites. Young people also have a Fundraising Committee which organises fundraising activities throughout the year. Young people on the Fundraising Committee receive accreditation for their achievements, and participate in financial awareness training.

Since the Youth House was established, around 50% of the local youth population has visited it at least once, and around 25% have regular involvement with at least one of the activities or services based there. Young people report that they like feeling that they are part of an organisation that can provide so many different opportunities for them, and really enjoy the good quality facilities and relaxed atmosphere. They very much value the support and challenge of the friendly and confident staff team, and many have built strong and trusting relationships with members of staff. The Youth House has achieved advanced standing for the Y-Mark (Quality Standards Award from NYA) and has strong QA processes in place.

The Youth House has helped the LA to meet PSA and ECM targets by:

• Significantly broadening the range of creative and challenging positive activities on offer to young people, and making them accessible to a much wider group of young people

• Enabling young people to stay in education and training and achieve qualifications in an informal setting

• Increased the number of young people accessing sexual health advice and services, drugs and alcohol services, careers advice and housing support

• Improved the public perception of young people by developing good local media relations and working with the community and employers

• Contributed to a significant decline in minor criminal offences and anti-social behaviour in the surrounding area
• Provided a focus for integrated approaches to work with young people linking targeted and open access services
• Enabled young people to make a positive contribution to their communities and to the design and delivery of services
• Built stronger links between schools and colleges and providers of positive activities and support.