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On 9th March 2011 over 70 organisations came together at Leeds Aspire to have their say
on the issues and challenges facing children and young people in the Yorkshire and the
Humber. The event set out the changing environment
that youth related organisations are working in – including Big Society, the Localism
Bill and the Public Services Bill.
We heard from local authorities, voluntary and community groups and young people from
across the region - discussing and exploring the challenges around commissioning and funding
and also some fantastic examples of good practise from organisations showcasing their projects.
I’m the regional champion for the director of children services in the Yorkshire and
the Humber, so that means that anything to do with voluntary community sector I get asked
if I can get involved, so its something I do quite happily. I actually don’t think
we can influence central government very much in terms of changing its mind, it is what
it is. But what I think locally is work with our local authorities and voluntary sector
and having those conversations just to say, how can we work together.
My name is Graham Archer, I work in the Department of Education and I think everyone here is
interested in how we can improve services for young people in Yorkshire and the Humber
particularly thinking about the voluntary and community sector. My interest is in particularly
how the government can set the right framework that helps local authorities and local organisations
to provide the best possible services. But also to hear from people who are delivering
those services from young people themselves so can feed that back into the way government
does things.
Voluntary action is a local infrastructure organisation. We have a mid range role in
that I work with groups that are developing children and young peoples work and I also
have a strategic role so I’ve got the link to policy makers and the local authority.
One of the things I feel myself because I do youth work as well is engaging with the
young people, and that young people are willing to engage on the streets with us, talk to
us and that they trust us.
For the last few years I’ve been working on a programme called VCS engage, which is
part of Children England and provides support for children and young peoples voluntary organisations
in Yorkshire and the Humber. The voluntary sector is really flexible, its really creative
and people are trying to respond to the changes we’ve got, and the stories were telling
today are those stories about how people are doing the best they can.
I work with the consortium for voluntary sector organisations that provide services for children
young people and families in Rotherham. There is so much gloom and despondency and negativity
if you like, with good reason of course, that where there are examples of bucking that trend
and maybe doing things slightly differently its good to share that information. Being
true to your values, I think is really important because I think at the moment when so many
organisations are facing the possibility that that they might actually cease operating its
really tough continuing being totally committed to some of your, what I call softer values.
The ones of empowerment and keeping with the pace of the people your working with rather
than trying to produce slick quick results.
The groups that are in the room, the local authorities, the charities, the social enterprises,
the local government organisations, all of the educational institutions that are in the
room today. You are all making a tremendous difference to the lives of countless lives
of young people and we should be very proud of you for that. Big’s committed to continue
to work with you on solving those challenges. But we are also very humble and recognise
that we won’t have all the answers and rather that all the answers are with you in that
room today. That it’s the people working on the front line, it’s the people who are
working with young people every single day who know the answers to those challenges.
We should support them, we should fund them and we should invest in them. To make sure
that we collectively make a real difference. Because I know that working together by bringing
all these groups together and making sure that we have young people at the heart of
all that we do, at the heart of decision making, at the heart of our programmes, at the heart
of activities. We will succeed.
The participation is important in all organisations, I think especially now with the funding cuts
and everything its important to see that young people go all the way through the organisation
and its clear that they are involved in the organisation and the day to day running. They
know how things should be delivered, they can envisage the service being provided and
obviously their opinions will make limited money spent better.
We work with young people across the country and get them to take action against issues
that affect them. And we ask their opinions on things and we let them speak out and we
give them a platform on which to speak and I think that’s really important because
I think that a lot of you have put up post-it’s about communication that really important
of young people to stand up step up and give their opinions then you will have to invest
in them and in supporting them in the future, Thank you very much.