Document Category: Children and Young People

Woodland management and nature‑based wellbeing outcomes in the Blackdown Hills; relevant to forestry practice and land stewardship.

A comprehensive resource which explores the ‘why, what, who, when & how’ of involving children and young people in consultations for service development. While the intended audience is Local Authorities, there is lots of information, activities, practical guidance and case studies which will be useful to the VCFSE sector.

The toolkit is intended for use with Key Stage 2 aged children, in order to support them to conduct a research and action project in their school to make changes on things within their school or local community which matter to them.

This report presents the findings from activity conducted in 2024 by a multi-agency group aimed at understanding the lived experiences of children, young people, parent carers, and those who support them in accessing help for managing their emotions and mental health.
The report builds upon existing intelligence, incorporating local and national data, including insights from prior surveys. By centering the lived experiences of those involved, it
identifies barriers to accessing support and highlights areas for improvement.

The Labour Party National Youth Strategy, which outlines the actions the government are committing to over the next 10 years to secrure the future that young people have told them that they want

A report commissioned by DCMS’s Secretary of State, highlighting current patterns, challenges, and wants that are shaping young people’s lives. It draws together voices of 14,000+ young people aged 10-21 (up to 25 for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)) who engaged in the National Youth Strategy Survey. It also uses insights collated through policy engagement, qualitative data collection and wider evidence collation. The report is partially based on commissioned research that was led by Savanta and their colleagues at My Life My Say and the #iwill Movement (Volunteering Matters and UK Youth) including their Youth Collaborators.

The Power Threat Meaning Framework is an over-arching structure for identifying patterns in emotional distress, unusual experiences and troubling behaviour, as an alternative to psychiatric diagnosis and classification. The project team’s aim was to produce a foundational document which sets out the philosophical, theoretical and empirical basis for such a framework and describes how it can serve as a conceptual alternative to psychiatric classification in relation to emotional distress and troubled or troubling behaviour.

This is an overview. A full 400+ page report is available from the British Psychological Society.

Minehead Eye Impact Report 2020 – 2023
West Somerset Youth and Community Organisation, a look at 3 years of progress.

This document is a report detailing the research undertaken by the HYPE (Hestercombe Young People Evolving) group, which is part of the Hestercombe LCN Children and Young People’s group. This project is part-funded by SALC and the parishes within the Hestercombe LCN.

With the findings from this research, we are now able to plan and deliver youth provision to young people in their communities.

This report provides the first causal estimates of the effects of youth clubs on education and crime, leveraging quasi-experimental variation from austerity-related cuts, which led to the closure of 30% of youth clubs in London between 2010-19. Difference-in-differences research designs and novel data were used to compare neighbourhoods. Teenagers in areas affected performed nearly 4% worse in national high-school exams. Youths aged 10 to 17 became 14% more likely to commit crimes. Closing youth clubs was not cost-effective; for every £1 saved from closures, there are associated losses of nearly £3 due to forgone returns to education and crime costs.

The Trust for Developing Communities developed an audit to help community spaces become more youth-friendly in a bid to combat youth loneliness.

The group explored the barriers that can prevent access to places. They questioned what can be done to make young people feel at ease and what would help encourage them to visit community locations. The resulting document forms a framework to help make community spaces more accessible to young people, including an audit which managers of such places can use to assess and improve their own spaces. An accompanying video is here: https://youtu.be/InW6CWVevUI

In this report, we provide the most detailed ever look at the geography of opportunity and social mobility in England. We closely examine how socio-economic background, geography and opportunity interact, with data looking at both parliamentary constituency and regional level in England. From educational attainment, to opportunities in higher education and employment, the research compares the outcomes of young people across the country, with a particular focus on the chances of social mobility for young people from lower income homes. Alongside the brief, there is an interactive map which can be accessed at: https://www.suttontrust.com/opportunity-indexinteractive-map

The Centre for Young Lives outlines a vision for transforming youth provision in the UK, emphasizing safe spaces, engaging activities, and trusted adult relationships. ​The proposed Young Futures programme includes 1,000 youth centres, year-round activities, and 10,000 trained youth practitioners. This investment, costing £1.46 billion over three years, aims to address challenges like youth crime, mental health crises, and educational disparities. ​Alma Economics estimates a £2.40 return for every £1 invested, with benefits in education, mental health, and crime reduction. The report calls for sustainable funding and a coordinated national strategy to ensure equitable opportunities for all young people. ​

Research exploring the needs and preferences of young people and youth practitioners in England

National Citizen’s Service (NCS) want to understand the latest perceptions, needs and preferences of young people and youth practitioners across England, in relation to youth provision. In January 2024, NCS commissioned UK Youth to undertake qualitative research to explore this topic. Insights were gathered through mixed methods, with a strong focus on an innovative approach to soliciting and analysing audio-recorded testimonies.

As the national body for youth work in England, the National Youth Agency exists to champion the value of youth work for young people, for local communities and for society. We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work.

A Youth Evidence Base report by SQW and the University of Warwick for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

This review located and screened over 25,000 studies from across 22 major research databases and repositories. A total of 77 studies met the review criteria for relevance and suitability. Studies were quality assessed, organised within six activity areas, and analysed in-depth by area to better understand the impacts of open access youth activities

A Youth Evidence Base report for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Our research used five datasets to explore the effects of weekly participation in youth clubs on outcomes later in life. Four of the five datasets were longitudinal studies; the fifth was a rolling annual survey. The studies covered different generations of young people from the 1970s to 2000s, and the timing of outcome measurements reflected this.

A Youth Evidence Base report studying the local impact of youth clubs.

The goal of this research was to understand what impact the presence of youth clubs have on local areas. Data sources were predominantly official statistics relating to national and local government. Some data were unavailable for all areas of interest, or were reported inconsistently across different local authorities. We encountered data shortages relating to the numbers of youth clubs, and youth workforce headcount including volunteers, and participants. Interviewees said that the trends revealed in our analysis nevertheless broadly reflected their experiences.

Youth work can transform lives. It provides a safe place for young people to find their place in society and learn practical skills to help them realise their full potential. In these difficult times, this is more important than ever. New research by UK Youth and economics consultancy, Frontier Economics, has found that annual investment in youth work saves the government as much as £3.2 billion.

The results highlighted in this report are the result of the hard work and effort of our team. Their interactions with young people and preschool children would not have been as successful as this report demonstrates, had it not been for their excellent commitment to providing opportunity and challenge to young people and working together to achieve this common objective.

The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people (CYP) has been investigated both nationally and regionally. There is a wealth of data and
many reports that demonstrate the effects on CYP over the course of several years.

We received a multi-year grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation in 2021 to support the work our charity delivers in communities with young people and for families. This second report highlights the impact this grant has made during 2022/23, the second period and details regarding our participants, the outcomes of our work, case studies and what we are proud of achieving during this period.

This review outlines our wide range of services and projects delivered in 2022. It explains our impact as we fulfil our charitable objectives to be responsive to needs and improve the lives of children, young people, their families, and local communities.

Delivering inspirational mentoring to Somerset’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.

Hidden Somerset is a series of short reports looking at aspects of life in Somerset that are often hidden from view. By lifting the lid on the experience and insights of frontline grassroots charities that work at the heart of our communities, we aim to stimulate debate and understanding across a wider audience, helping to inspire new and more impactful philanthropy.

Using ActiveWalls to run fun activity sessions with pupils, pupils of other local schools, and families of pupils. These walls are located indoors and outdoors (in a sheltered spot).

We review our aims, objectives and activities each year. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the previous 12 months. The review looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people we are set up to help.

Infographic style report that summarises the centre’s activities and impact between April 2023 and March 2024