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Youth Voice: Peer Power
Emotional Well-being and Participation Programme
Background
This programme (2006-08) is funded by the Big Lottery Young People’s Fund builds on TSA’s previous Youth Voice projects .
The first project (1997-2000) involved young people across the UK to develop creative ways of training adults in areas of emotional health. The second project (2002-2006) focused on issues around self-concept and participation and is now drawing to a close. Both projects developed a range of resources for adults.
Youth Voice together with Creative Partnerships is also currently working with young people in Southampton and the Isle of Wight in devising creative learning methods in schools related to the citizenship and PSHE curriculum.
The Youth Voice: Peer Power programme
This three-year emotional well-being and participation programme began on 1st January 2006. The programme was developed from discussions on emotional health with the TSA’s Youth Voice Core Advisory Team (CAT) of young people who wanted a project in which young people helped their peers by passing on experience of how to cope with distress.
"Youth Voice believes that young people can pass on their knowledge of how to make the best of their lives to other young people, and that when they do this they learn useful skills, improve their self-esteem and increase their confidence."
Core Advisory Team Minutes
The programme aims to help vulnerable young people improve their ability to cope with adversity by bringing them together with peers who have positive coping experiences. They will participate in creative activities to explore positive life skills for coping with emotional health issues. The programme will empower young people to collect, analyse and disseminate information from peers about ways in which they cope with difficulties in their lives. They will use peer mentoring skills to pass on this information through creative and youth-friendly activities.
The programme will enhance the current work of existing agencies in 4 regions of England: North Yorkshire, East Midlands, West Midlands and the South East. It will support the sharing of skills and information across these 4 regions via online communication and meetings. Throughout the programme, participants will have the opportunity to be in contact with other young people through a dedicated website and via email. Central staff will provide training and ongoing support for adults working with these vulnerable young people and maintain communication across the programme.
The programme will work with five existing local agencies across the regions. These may include a substance misuse project in an Arts Centre; a school Pupil Inclusion Unit; a youth centre mental health project; a peer support project; and a drama project for those in danger of offending. Each agency will be assisted to set up and maintain a Regional Advisory Team (RAT) of young people (11-18 years) who will contribute to the planning, development and management of their own project. The RAT will take part with other young people in creative activity workshops about issues of emotional health and will collect information about coping strategies. The information will be recorded and disseminated across the regions.
Project team
The National Core Advisory Team of young people (16-21 years), who provided the initiative for this programme, will support the RATs by sharing skills and experience via meetings, email and the web site.
The project’s staff team (Project Manager, Development Worker and Participation Worker) will provide support and training for staff and young people in each agency and will have input involving consultation work and peer support and mentoring techniques for young people.
Two sessional workers, who have been involved with the Youth Voice 2 programme, will also input to the new programme by providing training and supporting the Core Advisory Team. TSA’s website administrator will be responsible for the design and maintenance of the programme website and will provide technical support.
Monitoring and evaluation is an essential part of each stage of the programme and includes self-monitoring of self-concept change with a range of tools devised within the programme. At each stage evaluation results will be collated by the central staff.
As consultation with young people is at the heart of the programme planning, action and monitoring, there may be changes when the programme begins.
Project staff
Dorothy Eddi Piper is the project manager, the Development Worker and Participation Worker post-holders should be appointed by the end of February 2006. Saskia Neary and Marilyn McGowan are the project’s sessional workers and Anita Wilson is carrying out the evaluation.
More information:
Please contact Young People in Focus
Email: info@youngpeopleinfocus.org.uk
Tel: 01273 693311