Young people's views on youth work

Closed 9 Oct 2015

Opened 9 Sep 2015

Feedback updated 11 Feb 2016

We asked

Young people to give us their views on youth clubs and youth work, whether they currently take part or not.  We asked what they thought was best, what they'd like to see changed and how best to inform young people about youth clubs.

You said

437 young people took part across the city.  Young people told us why they do and don't take part, what they like best - meeting and making friends, interesting activities, supportive workers - and what they'd like to change - better venues and opening times, better publicity.  Young people want to be informed through schools, face to face and through social media. They want better links between youth clubs/work and schools.

We did

Along with a group of young people who have been trained in action research, we analysed the findings and came up with questions for follow-up focus groups.  These took place in December 2015 and January 2016 and were jointly delivered by Council staff and young people.

Both the survey and the focus groups have generated a significant amount of feedback which will ensure that young people's priorities and concerns are a key part of future funding decisions.  Youth agencies bidding for future funding will have to show how they will address these priorities and concerns.

Overview

This survey aims to find out what young people think about youth clubs and youth work. It is for young people aged from 11 to 25, whether they currently take part in youth clubs/youth work or not.


The feedback will help us to know what young people want from youth work. This will help us to decide how we fund youth work in the future.

The young people’s survey is part of a youth work services redesign which is being carried out by Children and Families in relation to contracts with a number of organisations which come to an end in March 2016.  We are keen to base future youth work contracts on a co-production process which involves young people and other stakeholders and which builds on the recent Youth Work Statement of Intent.  This survey is part of that process.

Why your views matter

We want to make sure that the voices of young people are heard and that they play a big part in decisions about youth work funding in the future.

What happens next

After the survey is closed, we will be organising a number of focus groups with young people to explore the findings in more detail.

The results will feed into a new specification for youth work from 2016 onwards.  This means that young people's views will be central to funding decsions about youth work in future.

Areas

  • All Edinburgh

Audiences

  • Children & Young People

Interests

  • Youth clubs and participation