Here For Youth was privileged to represent our network of local community organisations and Mosques at the AGM of the National Youth Sector Advisory Board (NYSAB) in Westminster.
Some key takeaways included: Should we treat the cost of living crisis like the pandemic in terms of our response? The role youth workers can play as the first movers on social, health and justice issues rather than as a last resort. The need to create a credible face for the youth sector, on par with teachers/social workers. On reporting, we need to identify and implement standard outcome measures to share our work’s impact consistently. Collaboration is the key to effectiveness at the local level, especially when it comes to funding for youth engagement. Finally, while we advocate for young people, we need to empower them to advocate for themselves.
Despite the weather, it was a great day out, meeting familiar faces, some new.
We heard updates from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, National Youth Agency, The British Youth Council, London’s Violence Reduction Unit, Greater London Authority, YPF Trust on a range of issues.
Our CEO, Ayub Seedat asked about the role culturally competent youth workers play locally to engage young people effectively. At Here For Youth, 100% of the people we’ve got into youth work in the last 12 months have been from ethnic minority backgrounds.
We look forward to continuing the many conversations we started, online and in person, to benefit our partners and communities across the UK.