YOUTH SOCIAL ACTION: MAPPED
Youth social action in the UK today We know that social action has the power to change lives. Through engaging in meaningful social action, young people can have a powerful positive impact on their communities and the world around them, helping to solve some of the UK’s most challenging and entrenched social issues, while simultaneously learning crucial life skills which enable them to fulfil their potential. We also know that there are many young people in the UK doing exactly that – according to the Campaign for Youth Social Action, around 29% of young people actively and regularly give of their time, via a huge range of social action programmes across the UK. And recent research, conducted by The BB Group for Generation Change, suggests that there are many more that would like to do the same, but face barriers in doing so. In a survey of nearly 900 young people, more than nine out of 10 (94%) thought there should be more volunteering opportunities for young people, and almost half (42%) of those who have taken social action would do more if they could move easily between opportunities. What we don’t know enough about is which young people are engaging in social action, and where they are doing it. In 2009 Demos calculated that just 1.7 million young people between the ages of 10 and 20 engage in formal, structured volunteering. But this research could not, until now, be tangibly demonstrated – or used to show distribution across the UK. Through mapping the distribution of the social action taken by the young people supported by its member organisations, Generation Change is trying to paint this picture for the first time. A better understanding of existing social action opportunities is key to understanding the barriers that prevent young people from taking social action, enabling us to identify gaps, target initiatives for creating crossover, and start to foster collaboration between social action organisations, schools, universities and employers, and begin to truly realise the dual benefit of youth social action.
About the Generation Change social action map Our social action map is based on real programme data from social action organisations – the first time that youth social action in the UK has been mapped in such way. Previous studies have only indicated the extent of formal volunteering done by young people through representative sampling (ONS).
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The map, which can be found online at www.generationchange.org.uk, is also interactive, and will be updated to include smaller organisations across the UK. It is therefore a work in progress, which will change over time. This will allow Generation Change to create the most detailed, accurate picture of young people’s participation in social action in the UK
What our map shows Collating data from our member organisations, Generation Change has been able to show over 20,000 (20,635) locations at which sustained social action takes place – carried out by almost 600,000 11-25 year olds, either individually or as part of groups – in 120 postcode areas across the UK, making it possible to highlight social action ‘hotspots’, as well as areas where less social action takes place.
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Overview of results Unsurprisingly, given the size of the city, its population and the fact that the majority of Generation Change’s member organisations have their head offices there, London is the key hotspot for locations at which social action takes place in the UK (3,149 locations). Birmingham (704) comes second, followed by Cardiff (502) in third. Other large towns found in the top 20 include Manchester (399), Leeds (353), Sheffield (342) and Glasgow (288). Notably, less social action is taken in rural areas than in urban. However, being in a large town is no guarantee of opportunities to take social action, with Liverpool, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Stoke on Trent absent from the top 20. And a number of smaller towns/postcode areas, including Doncaster (412), Canterbury (324) and Peterborough (276) do make the top 20. In terms of regions, from the total list of locations at which social action takes place, Greater London is the area in which most social action takes place (5,018 locations), followed by the South-East (4,026) and Yorkshire and the Humber (1,974).
“What we see is a picture where youth social action organisations deliver opportunities for young people in all parts of the UK, but these opportunities do not reflect the size of the local youth population. This means we are not meeting demand. Local factors massively affect the value placed on social action by a range of stakeholders, and this together with the availability of funding, strongly determines what is available for young people.� Rachel Oliver, Director of Delivery and Development at vInspired and member of Generation Change.
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Top 20 social action hotspots in the UK Town/postcode area
Region
London Birmingham Cardiff Coventry Romford Doncaster Croydon Manchester Bristol Guildford Leeds Leicester Sheffield Canterbury Rochestert Glasgow Peterborough Dudley Brighton Plymouth
Greater London West Midlands Wales West Midlands Greater London Yorkshire and the Humber Greater London North West South West South East Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber South East South East Scotland East Midlands West Midlands South East South West
No of locations at which social action takes place 3,149 704 502 497 437 412 409 399 369 362 353 346 342 324 309 288 276 268 256 247
What we’ve learned zz While there are young people engaging in social action right across the UK, there is currently little consistency in where or how this happens. This suggests that local factors driving the awareness, recognition or funding of social action play a major role in determining whether or not young people are given the opportunity to engage. zz Examples of social action that work particularly well are those that actively involve a range of stakeholders, including local leaders, schools and businesses.
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zz Social action opportunities are not joined up, and scope for young people to move between programmes is currently limited. This means that social action organisations are having to go out and find young people in isolated regions. zz The organisations which offer the broadest reach across the UK are those that have a digital aspect to their programmes, such as vInspired and The BB Group, or make use of the media, such as Fixers. The exception to this is The Scouts, which has over 7,000 registered Scout groups in communities across the UK. zz There are currently not enough social action opportunities to meet the demand from young people – and those that exist are not well publicised enough. zz Schools, colleges and business have a key role to play in making local social action programmes successful. zz There is a pressing need for greater cohesion within the youth social action sector and, in turn, the way the sector works with other sectors and stakeholders.
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Case study: Envision’s Community Apprentice High rates of participation in the city of Bristol demonstrates local factors coming together to create the right conditions for social action. “Bristol has been hugely successful in building on the community pride and personality of the city to mobilise different parts of the community to take or support social action. Social action programmes in Bristol have been enabled by local champions, including the Mayor, South Bristol Consortium for Young People, and Destination Bristol, which have created powerful partnerships rooted in the local region. More than this, Envision launched its new Community Apprentice schools-based competition in Bristol because it was able to benefit from a strong culture of recognition of social action from businesses, local leaders and schools. Gaining this level of support within wider communities and key stakeholders really helps drive the provision of meaningful, high-quality opportunities for young people.” Rachel Adams, Envision’s Regional Manager for Bristol.
Case Study: Fixers Fixers, a charity which supports young people to campaign on any issue they want, has worked with over 10,000 16 to 25 year olds scattered across the UK. Due to the unique set up of having a team of 18 Young Person Coordinators working patches the length and breadth of the country – from the Highlands and Islands in Scotland down to the far tip of Land’s End, as well as across Northern Ireland and Wales – there is not a single postcode Fixers cannot reach. The project has operated in England since 2008 and was able to roll out across all regions of the UK with funding from the Big Lottery in April 2012. Fixers’ staff travel to where the young people are and they organically grow their project around them. Every Fix is tailored to the needs of the young person, not bolted onto a pre-existing project. “Fixers are motivated from the heart and use their own past to fix the future. Because they are acting in real time on real life issues, they learn new skills and their confidence soars.” CEO Margo Horsley Fixers are committed to working with a further 15,000 young people by 2016.
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Case study: The BB Group The BB Group is an international charity based in the UK. We build communities of support, connecting people in need with those who can help. We inspire social action and create long-term change on an individual and societal level – and young people are key to making this happen. Using safe social networking technology we provide vulnerable, isolated and disempowered children and young people with the support, guidance and counselling they need – whenever they need it, wherever they are. We train peer mentors and volunteers to support others, both on- and offline, through three main programmes: 1) Main MindFull landing page; with mentoring, counselling and self-help sections
zz MindFull, a national charity helping young people to improve and sustain positive mental health, emotional resilience and wellbeing. zz BeatBullying, an international bullying prevention charity working and campaigning to make bullying unacceptable, on the ground in the UK and Europe. zz FutureYou, a national programme enabling young people to overcome the barriers they face in accessing and succeeding in education, employment and training.
Case Study: The City Year 2020 vision City Year is a leading youth and education charity and a beacon for a year of voluntary service. We recruit 18-to-25-year-olds for 11 months of full-time volunteering as near-peer tutors, mentors and role models in schools in deprived areas. The organisation aims to raise the attainment of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and give its volunteers the skills to make a success of their lives after City Year. City Year was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1988 and since then has grown to 25 US cities, and Johannesburg, South Africa and since 2010, London. This year, we have launched in Birmingham, taking our programme to our second city in the UK. City Year UK has an ambition by 2020 to be operating in five cities, with 1,000 corps members, reaching more than 70,000 children.
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What do young people think about social action? Our results are supported by the views of young people themselves, further highlighting the need to raise our game in the provision of opportunities to engage in social action: zz Young people are clear on the dual benefits of social action: of a survey of 826 young people surveyed by The BB Group, 86% were motivated to get involved by wanting to help people, but they also benefited personally, with 66% learning new skills and 69% gaining confidence. zz Over half (53%) said they would get involved in more social action if opportunities were publicised more. zz Of those not involved in social action, over half (55%) would like to get involved, but do not know how, highlighting the need to increase awareness of social action opportunities. Young people also believe that schools, colleges and businesses have a key role to play in increasing the amount of social action taking place in the UK: zz Almost one in six (57%) of those surveyed who do not take part in social action would be more likely to if given the opportunity through their school or college. zz Nearly nine out of 10 (86%) of all young people surveyed said schools and universities should recognise volunteering activities more. zz Of those who have taken social action, over half (54%) would do more if it led to a job or training. zz The prospect of a job or training would also motivate nearly half (46%) of those who are not currently involved in social action to start taking part.
“The young people from Generation Change organisations are exceptional. Their engagement in social action is inspiring and incredibly beneficial – to them and the communities they’re impacting.” Nick Hurd Minister for Civil Society
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How to increase participation in social action We know that our young people are exceptional in what they do – but we want participation in social action to become the norm for all parts of the country. To achieve that we need to rethink the way we approach provision in order to realise the double benefit of social action on a wider scale. With existing programmes, we can use the data presented in our social action map to highlight gaps in provision, and to collaborate in the areas where we currently work. Young people completing a programme at one age group should be able to easily progress to the next opportunity if there are other projects happening in their area. This will require funders to recognise the importance of targeting the gaps and initiatives that link up existing providers. But to really drive engagement in social action, we need to establish a shared understanding of its value both for young people and local communities. We know that local factors strongly influence whether or not programmes are able to establish in a region – and this means that stakeholders in local government, education, and businesses need to recognise and support participation to create the right conditions. As Generation Change, we are committed to being part of this solution. As Generation Change we will: zz Catalyse an improvement in the quality of youth social action and help organisations to demonstrate the value of their programmes. zz Enhance understanding of youth social action, including levels of activity, gaps and opportunities for further impact, and share this knowledge with funders, policy makers and education providers. zz Provide a platform for collaboration between youth social action organisations and partners in related sectors. zz Draw attention to the youth social action agenda in the media and with policy makers.
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About Generation Change The CEOs and Directors of 18 youth social action organisations have come together to form Generation Change, a new sector body aiming to achieve a bold vision for society Generation Change brings together leaders of the UK’s national youth social action sector in one independent voice. Our current member organisations support almost 600,000 young people to achieve social change in over 20,000 communities and schools across the UK. Our shared mission is to embed social action into all young people’s experience of growing up in the UK. The UK has high levels of inequality, decreasing community cohesion, and an ageing population, whilst economic challenges are making it ever more difficult for young people to succeed in life. We believe that the double impact of social action has a vital role to play in providing solutions to both sets of problems, by simultaneously giving young people a pathway to leadership and self-discovery, and helping them to drive tangible social change. To achieve our vision of all young people engaging in social action, Generation Change will create a knowledge hub for our sector, facilitate collaborative initiatives between organisations, and lead initiatives to increase the quality, quantity and impact of – and draw attention to – youth social action opportunities. www.generationchange.org.uk Follow us on Twitter: @GenChangeUk E: enquiries@generationchange.org.uk Our secretariat is hosted at City Year UK’s national office in London A: 58 - 62 White Lion Street, London, N1 9PP T: (+44) 0207 014 2694
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