YouthLink Scotland
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-08016, in the name of George Adam, on YouthLink Scotland. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates YouthLink Scotland on the publication of what it considers the very positive recent inspection report by Education Scotland; notes the recognition in the report of the high quality contribution that YouthLink Scotland and its member organisations make to the achievement of Scottish Government outcomes; recognises the work that it undertakes in local authority areas such as Renfrewshire, where it considers the YMCA, the Scouts and Play the Game make an important difference on a daily basis to the lives of the young people of Paisley, Renfrew and Johnstone by working with particularly vulnerable groups of young people to provide them with opportunities to undertake new challenges and adventures and, as a consequence, help them toward recognising and fulfilling their potential as individuals and as active members of society, and considers that YouthLink Scotland and its member organisations from the voluntary sector, uniformed youth organisations and local authority youth services across Scotland that apply the principles and values of youth work, have been very successful in their engagement with young people through encouraging them to use a range of life skills, assisting them in their journey to adulthood and successful futures and making Scotland the best place in the world in which to grow up as a successful learner, a confident individual, an effective contributor and a responsible citizen.
18:21
The debate comes on the back of Education Scotland’s very positive inspection report on YouthLink Scotland. One reason why I wanted to have the debate is that that report represents such an improvement on the previous report on our national youth work provider that was produced in 2007.
I have seen the difference that YouthLink Scotland can make to young people’s lives at local level. By working with many vulnerable young people and groups in my area, it gives them opportunities for the future. As well as helping uniformed groups to do some great work in my area, it has worked with various other partner organisations. For example, in the voluntary sector in Paisley there is the street stuff project, which is run by Renfrewshire Council, the YMCA, St Mirren Football Club and McGill’s Buses. That project—which we have discussed previously in the Parliament—goes into areas where there are meant to be police hotspots and puts on street football, among a range of other things. The important thing is that the project works with young people in the area and gives them an opportunity to avoid misbehaviour by giving them something to do and somewhere to go. I have witnessed how getting the opportunity to participate in activities such as street football can make a difference to young people’s lives.
We need more work like that. In my area, the project has brought antisocial behaviour by young people down to 25 per cent. A lot of it has been about talking to and working with young people and doing good old-fashioned youth work. As our national provider, YouthLink Scotland has played quite an important role in that.
As the national agency for youth work, YouthLink Scotland has the role of supporting the youth work sector and playing its part in young people’s rights and wellbeing. The vision of YLS is to have a youth work sector that can help young people to become successful learners, confident individuals and effective contributors. That is one of the most important aspects of the project that I mentioned—the young people get the opportunity to design it and to ensure that it provides something that they want to do, instead of it being something that a bunch of older people such as ourselves thought that we would like to have done when we were younger.
Funding for YouthLink Scotland is obtained from an annual grant from the Scottish Government and through bids to other Government and charitable funding providers. In addition, YLS administers funding programmes such as cashback for communities and directs funds to local areas. This year, it has received funding of £258,420 from the Big Lottery Fund. In the past year, YLS has managed to increase its geographic reach and its ability to deliver programmes throughout Scotland.
I will give some key examples of work that YouthLink Scotland has been involved in. Girlguiding Scotland has developed a range of initiatives in relation to young women and mental health and wellbeing. The Scotland Yard Adventure Centre is an Edinburgh-based centre that is accessed by more than 1,500 children and young people with a range of additional support needs every year. It provides care, support, fun and friendship for all the young people involved.
There is also the Prince’s Trust Scotland young ambassadors programme, which empowers young people actively to work in the Prince’s Trust, engage with public decision making and inspire other young people. Such projects are extremely important. When we talk about young people not engaging in the political process, my answer is always that it is up to us to make ourselves relevant to young people and to make sure that they want to get involved. However, such programmes give them an opportunity and show what civic Scotland can do and what they can do to help and represent it.
One of the high-profile projects in which YouthLink Scotland has been involved nationally is the no knives, better lives education and engagement programme. I have seen how that has worked locally. It is not that every debate that I have goes back to Paisley or to St Mirren FC but, on this occasion, it is relevant. Working as part of the street stuff programme, St Mirren played a major part in the no knives, better lives campaign with YouthLink Scotland and many of the local student associations in Paisley. Because of the pull of St Mirren being a partner organisation, the campaign has been able to attract young people from diverse backgrounds.
When we are dealing with young people in general, we must think about credibility. YouthLink Scotland does that. We must ensure that we have something to which they can relate and which they want to be a part of. We must remember that all the time.
The Education Scotland report says a lot of good things about YouthLink Scotland. It concluded that the national agency for youth work is making a real difference in young people’s lives in Scotland. It praised YouthLink Scotland’s consistency, strong leadership and direction within and beyond the sector, which resulted in a high level of successful engagement with national and local government.
The report also put across how YouthLink has been able to strengthen its position, being the national agency in Scotland, putting it in a unique position. It is the only organisation that represents the needs, views and aspirations of youth work organisations at a national level in the whole United Kingdom.
The highlights of the Education Scotland report are that there has been considerable improvement in YouthLink Scotland since the previous review in 2007; staff morale is high and has improved considerably; and the organisation
“delivers on an increasing number of Government priorities in relation to young people.”
The idea of having a national organisation is to deliver great ideas nationally. When we debate youth work in Scotland, many MSPs get up and talk about programmes that are specific to their local areas. I mentioned street stuff in Renfrewshire and someone else will mention something that has happened in Edinburgh. However, the good thing about YouthLink Scotland is that it should be able to engage in all of that, tap into it and ensure that approaches that work in one area can be used in others as well. That is the benefit of having a national agency.
I congratulate YouthLink Scotland on all the good work that it has done and wish it further success in the future as it works in all of our communities with our children and young people.
18:28
I congratulate George Adam on securing tonight’s debate. It is a real joy to be able to stand up and say that I agree with every word that he says. I cannot say that that happens often.
In my speech, I will talk briefly about three projects of which I am aware that do tremendous work, and then I will make some comments about youth work overall.
The first project that I will mention is the Canongate Youth Project. I know that the minister is familiar with it—certainly Angela Constance has been to it a number of times before. It is based in central Edinburgh.
I was delighted to be able to host the Canongate Youth Project in the Parliament a couple of weeks ago, when it put on a music concert in committee room 3. Never has Taio Cruz been blasted out of a committee room to quite the same degree. I was really impressed by two young people who were both care leavers and had been accessing the project for about a year. They took to the stage and played an incredible song that they had written together. One was rapping and the other was playing the guitar. They were brilliant. They were not just good at what they did; they could be selling the song now. They could be leading, cutting-edge artists and I wish them the very best in doing that.
The thing that struck me was the importance of music in their lives. Through the Canongate Youth Project, they had been able to record a song and that allowed them not only to express themselves and how they felt about the world that they lived in but to realise how talented they were. It gave them the skills and confidence to build on that talent, which they had perhaps been unable to do in any other environment, including at home and at school. I am really grateful to the Canongate Youth Project for the opportunities that it has given those young people.
The second project that I want to talk about is the youth bus, which is a mobile youth work project in the east end of Edinburgh. It moves around different parts of the east end every night and works with dozens of kids. There are loads of different facilities on the bus, including an Xbox where kids can just sit and play computer games, access to Skills Development Scotland advice about employability and, crucially, a c:card service, which is NHS Lothian’s free condom service. It is a real mix of different services, all available on one bus, which moves around the city at night. I put on record how grateful I am to Lothian Buses for its continued support for the project. At the end of the day, it is a bus that moves around parts of the city, and Lothian Buses parks, maintains, funds and secures it every week. The contribution that Lothian Buses makes is probably worth about £15,000 a year. It is worth recognising the important role Lothian Buses plays by doing that.
The third group that I want to mention is Girlguiding Scotland, which George Adam mentioned. I have been really impressed by the work that the girl guides have been doing in the past year on female body image and empowering young women to feel more positive about themselves. The guides are not just giving young women the confidence to speak up on their own behalf but are filling them with a degree of civic activism that is letting them campaign on a national stage. It was the girl guides who took to the airwaves recently to say why they wanted to back the no more page 3 campaign. It was not just about personal body image but about the girl guides turning round and saying to the country: “This is not okay any more in 2013. We are going to stand up for a more equal world.”
It is important to remember that a lot of youth work relies on volunteers and increasingly stretched public funding. Although the youth workers will do everything that they can to keep things going under the most strained of circumstances, we need to recognise that without core funding, they are fighting a losing battle. If we, as politicians, believe in youth work and its powers, we need to fund it. We cannot just let youth workers go from one bidding process to another and hope for the best.
Another issue is capital investment. The more that youth projects’ budgets are squeezed, the more tatty the minibus will become and the more the paint will fall off the church hall roof or the community centre. That will need to be addressed.
Ultimately, we need to remember about equality of access. Everybody should be able to access youth work whatever their surroundings—urban or rural—and whatever type of community they come from. If we value it, we must ensure that every young person can benefit from it.
Thank you, Presiding Officer, for letting me speak a little bit over my time slot and, once again, I congratulate George Adam on securing the debate.
18:33
I, too, for the first and probably the last time can put on the record that I agree with everything that George Adam said. I congratulate him on securing the debate, which highlights the important role that youth work plays in supporting our young people to develop.
In its role of representing the voluntary and statutory sector, YouthLink Scotland is at the forefront of youth work. As George Adam mentioned, that is why the recent inspection report by Education Scotland makes for such encouraging reading. The “clear direction” that has been exhibited by chief executive officer Jim Sweeney and the rest of the team has meant that despite a decline in overall staff numbers, YouthLink Scotland has managed to forge closer working relationships with local authorities. For that, and for maintaining excellent staff morale, it deserves to be commended.
George Adam also mentioned the success of the no knives, better lives campaign, which has done an excellent job of informing young people about the true risks of carrying dangerous weapons. At the last count, 233 staff and volunteers had been instructed in use of the training resources “Sharp Solutions” and “On a Knife Edge”, with another 102 young people across nine areas becoming peer educators.
Each of the 30,000 young people who cast a vote in the recent We-CTV competition, which was held to select the best short film that was designed to get the no knives, better lives message across, will have received an important lesson in the dangers of crime.
On a related point, YouthLink Scotland has consistently been one of the top beneficiaries—if not the top beneficiary—of the cashback for communities programme. Last year more than £600,000 was distributed to 204 projects. That is very encouraging and welcome news, although I add that the presence of such funding is no substitute for a consistent long-term financial commitment from central Government to YouthLink.
More than 300 volunteers, peer educators and managers attended this year’s national youth worker awards, which speaks volumes for the importance of their work. For too long, the terms “youth worker” and “unsung hero” went hand in hand, so I congratulate YouthLink Scotland on challenging that and on generating some much-deserved publicity via its awards. I note that the nominations for next year close on 19 December, so anyone who has someone in mind needs to move fairly quickly.
The best way to encourage more youngsters into volunteering is to recognise their achievements publicly. That can, in particular, challenge the damaging and wrong assumption that young people are somehow not investing in our communities.
I came across a submission from YouthLink to the Finance Committee that highlighted that young people who live in the most deprived areas are far less likely than their peers to participate in youth work, and in leisure, sport and cultural activities. One reason is the lack of adequate facilities, which is a problem that was also mentioned during this afternoon’s debate on the youth sport strategy.
YouthLink does a tremendous job and deserves cross-party support in Parliament. As I have said, I was encouraged by the Education Scotland inspection, which speaks volumes about the professional and dedicated nature of the organisation.
In the coming years, I fully expect that more will be done to ensure that Scotland’s religious and cultural diversity is better reflected and that self-evaluation will improve.
18:37
It is not insignificant that the debate follows a debate on sport, because sport is, of course, very important for youngsters in our society.
This debate is led by George Adam, so in homage to him I have my Paisley patterned galluses holding my breeks up. I thank him for the opportunity to participate in this important debate.
YouthLink is an important part of the infrastructure that exists to support our youngsters—not just in Paisley, but across Scotland.
The motion refers to a number of other organisations and, in particular, to the scouts. I spent probably something of the order of a year of my life under boy-scout canvas. If I benefited from that it is to the credit of the scouts; my faults are entirely my own. I acquired important skills in the boy scouts; I learned how to burn baked potatoes, which I did instead of chasing girls, so it probably was not a terribly bad thing to be doing at the appropriate age. Certainly my mother preferred me to be burning potatoes to carrying out other activities in which I might have indulged.
Alex Johnstone and I visited the conclave of the great and the good in the scouting movement in the north-east of Scotland recently, which was quite an illuminating experience. They had in the room a wide range of projects. Some were outdoor projects to do with self-development, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, for which people were working. Others were community-based projects in which the young people were learning to support people in their communities. I thought that it was a very good mix of projects indeed.
Alex Johnstone and I both left very much enthused by what we had seen but—this is important—there was clearly a lack of people who wanted to step forward and provide the administrative leadership that is necessary to make that infrastructure of grass-roots volunteers work. There is a clear role for organisations such as YouthLink that operate at national level and which can think about how we do that sort of thing.
In the town of Buckie in my constituency we have what is probably Scotland’s biggest Boys Brigade group, with 250 members, so it is not just the boy scouts that are doing well in the north-east.
YouthLink also organises its own interventions, in particular among those who are in areas of significant disadvantage, and—as the inspection report confirms—it does well.
When I was a youngster—I will not be alone in this—I wanted desperately to be an adult, but now that I am an adult I wish that I was a youngster again. There is not much chance of that happening. However, if YouthLink and other organisations can tap into adult experience—good and bad, as it will inevitably be—to aid today’s youngsters to make a successful transition to adulthood, it will absolutely deserve all the plaudits that we can give it.
George Adam talked about engaging young people in community decision making and Kezia Dugdale talked about civic activism. I will give a small example of something that happened in the little village of Maud, which was in my constituency for the best part of 10 years, until the boundary change took it out. A “planning for real” exercise on how the village would be regenerated was structured in order to allow eight-year-olds whom I saw there to go up to stick on a map of the village little Post-it notes with the things that they thought could happen. Old people—people who would not speak at a public meeting in a month of Sundays—were also able to participate. We can often learn ways to do things that we can take to others, especially to help the young. That is very important because, after all, today’s youngsters will decide how I am looked after in my dotage, which some say is coming rather more rapidly than I would wish.
18:41
I am delighted that we have had the opportunity to debate the exceptional achievements of YouthLink Scotland and the youth work sector more widely, and I add my congratulations to George Adam on securing the debate and on securing such agreement across the chamber. As Mary Scanlon noted, the motion rightly highlights YouthLink’s absolutely glowing recent inspection report and points to the huge and wide range of activity that YouthLink and its many members undertake to help to improve the lives of young people. I am very pleased to see that some members of YouthLink Scotland are in the gallery.
I cannot emphasise enough the strength and significance of the contribution that youth work and community learning and development have to play in making Scotland the best place in the world to grow up. YouthLink Scotland and its 100-plus members are crucial partners in helping us to realise that ambition and vision, and in enabling our young people to be the successful, confident, effective and responsible individuals that our nation needs. Its members use their skills as youth workers to help young people to realise their own talents in many ways, including through music, as Kezia Dugdale pointed out when she talked about her experience of working with the Canongate Youth Project.
YouthLink’s most recent survey highlighted that national voluntary youth work organisations work with a phenomenal 390,000 young people approximately at any one time. When we add the wider voluntary youth work sector and local authorities, the numbers are even greater.
Youth work represents great value and embodies the ethos of preventative spending and early intervention that is a hallmark of this Government. It helps young people to make positive choices in their transition to adulthood and it builds capacity and skills for further learning and employability.
It also enriches childhood and adolescence. The young-at-heart Stewart Stevenson talked about burning baked potatoes at the scouts instead of chasing girls. My experience of youth work includes being a member of the Girls Brigade. My mum and others ran the local club, supported by Youth Scotland, which was then Youth Club Scotland. I also attended a couple of young farmers club meetings, so while Stewart Stevenson burns the baked tatties, I can help with the stock judging, if he wants me to.
It is important that we recognise the importance of the uniformed groups that were mentioned by Stewart Stevenson and Kezia Dugdale, who highlighted the phenomenal work of the girl guides.
Members have enjoyed talking about youth work in their own constituencies. Youth work and community learning and development happen in almost every city, town, village and community in Scotland. I am grateful to George Adam for highlighting excellent practice in his constituency. Despite being a St Johnstone fan, I am happy to endorse the work that St Mirren Football Club carries out in his area.
I am delighted that we have been able to support in some way the three groups that George Adam’s motion refers to. We are supporting Renfrew YMCA, which is creating an exciting social enterprise project that is being developed and led by young people. We are supporting the 20th and 74th Renfrewshire scout groups to provide activity weekends for about 30 young people, who will learn new skills and gain qualifications in various outdoor challenges. The play the game initiative in Paisley has also received funding to develop the skills of vulnerable young people through a range of theatre-related activities. That is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the innovation, creativity and passion in the youth work and CLD sector, as supported by YouthLink.
During my time in my ministerial role, I have never ceased to be amazed by the talent of the sector and its ability to enhance young people’s outcomes. In my constituency, I have seen first hand the excellent work of the universal connections programme, the uniformed groups, the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, Covey Befriending and Biggar Youth Project, which deliver services that contribute to young people’s wellbeing, confidence and life chances.
Let us not forget—from the comments that members have made this evening, I do not think that we will—that such opportunities for Scotland’s young people are often delivered by a talented army of volunteers, who give up their precious time to support and nurture our young people. Some of those volunteers are young people who are supporting their peers and giving back to their communities. Mary Scanlon noted the importance of highlighting such work through our yearly celebration at the youth work awards.
The Scottish Government is committed to helping youth work and CLD to thrive. Over the next two years, we are providing grants that total about £6.9 million to national youth work organisations. That will support them to build capacity and improve outcomes for young people.
Since 2007, the cashback for communities programme has invested more than £74 million in projects and facilities for young people and the communities that they live in. More than £10.9 million of that has been channelled to youth work through YouthLink Scotland and Youth Scotland.
This year, the young start fund has allocated more than £3 million to youth projects from an indicative budget of £5.5 million. We continue to work with the youth work sector to deliver programmes such as active girls, stand up to sectarianism, the no knives, better lives campaign and activity agreements. Education Scotland also distributes small grants for implementation of the CLD strategic guidance for community planning partnerships to a range of organisations, including those that deliver youth work.
At the heart of the draft youth work strategy, which will be published this week, is a desire to empower young people—such as those in Maud who were engaging in the planning process and whom Stewart Stevenson mentioned—as well as to respect, recognise and promote children’s rights and to get things right for every child and young person. The launch will mark the beginning of a national discussion on the strategy’s implementation with the youth work and CLD sector and—importantly—with young people.
The strategy will determine how best to realise our ambitions to maximise young people’s life chances, to harness the value of youth work and to demonstrate how it contributes to the national outcomes and many policies across the Government. The strategy recognises youth work as a key and distinctive component of our present and future agendas for young people. The Government recognises that universal youth work and more targeted specific programmes have equal validity and importance.
We recognise that—in line with the Christie commission recommendations—more and more youth services are being delivered through partnership. As George Adam pointed out, in recognition of YouthLink’s national role, I have asked it to lead the national discussion, in partnership with Education Scotland and the Government, and to work with us to develop an implementation plan.
Scotland’s future and the future of its young people are bright. We are introducing new legislation to strengthen services for children and young people. We have a raft of exciting events next year to inspire and engage young people, such as the homecoming, the Commonwealth games, the Ryder cup and, of course, the referendum on our future, in which young people who are aged 16 and 17 will for the first time be able to vote.
We have a strong and imaginative youth work and CLD sector that supports and empowers young people. One of its leaders is YouthLink, and I congratulate Jim Sweeney and the entire YouthLink team on their recent Education Scotland review.
It gives me great pleasure to lend my whole-hearted support to the motion and, in doing so, to recognise the invaluable contribution that YouthLink Scotland and youth work more generally make to the wellbeing and prosperity of Scotland’s young people. I thank everyone for their comments.
Meeting closed at 18:49.