Call for a Citizen Enquiry: Youth Work and Young People Now We propose to host a Citizen Enquiry through the community-based youth work sector concerning what is happening for young people and what is happening to youth work and youth workers now and over the coming months. To do this we will need a) a network of correspondents in all parts of the United Kingdom and b) a network of citizen enquirers willing to join in discussing and analysing what is emerging. The main purpose is to find out What is happening here? And what is happening for young people? We do not only want to document youth work but get a snapshot into the lives of both youth workers and young people during this time and the coming months. So this can include the weather, the atmosphere, the food, the music, the emotions‌whatever you want to include you can. We will be making a contribution to the wider picture of what is happening via Mass Observation (www.massobs.org.uk) We will ask for diary entries each month for at least one day on the first week of the month (starting in May) from youth workers and if possible also with young people they are working with. We will also join the Mass Observation diary project on 12th May. In addition, we invite short reports (memos) on the following themes: Vulnerabilities and Precarious lives Who is missing? How is outreach work happening? Crisis points and meeting basic needs What is happening online? Improvisation?
Emotions?
Community networks? Fears and hopes for the future of your organisation/youth project ? Then a group of citizen researchers from the youth work sector will meet monthly to consider what has been submitted in their area, join a national meeting to see what is emerging and, after 6 months say , decide on what to enquire into further. This will be an independent citizen led research project. Those involved will be invited to submit their diaries via this enquiry to the Mass Observation archive at the University of Sussex who are undertaking a record of everyday experiences of the pandemic. They will be invited to use the ethical processes associated with Mass Observation and guidance of this will be given when people join the project. Janet Batsleer Manchester J.Batsleer@mmu.ac.uk (please contact me to join) Christine Smith Hull Tania de St Croix London Kevin Jones Manchester
Additional Guidance for the Citizen Enquiry Youth Workers and Young People April 23rd 2020
We will collect diary entries monthly between May and December 2020 and submit them together to the Mass Observation archive. Please submit your entries to Janet Batsleer (J.Batsleer@mmu.ac.uk) in the first instance together with your agreement form for Mass Observation. Janet will be available to chat about this usually on a Friday morning during the course of this project. The dates for the diary entries (any day in the week) are: Wb May 3rd Wb June 7th Wb July 5th Wb August 2nd Wb September 6th Wb October 4th Wb November 1st Wb December 6th
We want to have a record of this period for youth workers and young people we work with and this is our chosen method. We will be able also to use this material to give an (unscientific) impression of what is emerging and we will do this by consulting with those who join as citizen researchers on a monthly basis, the week after the diary entries are received. We suggest that for this process the diaries are anonymised, and simply give an indication of geographical location they come from and the age of the writer. This is not necessary for Mass Observation submissions, though it can be chosen. In what we send to Mass Observation, you can keep your own name and share your identity. Just take care about what you are prepared to share in public as this is a public record available to all. It is also possible to simply submit a diary entry and not be involved beyond that. We will build up a portfolio of material to be submitted to Mass Observation on a monthly basis and it will also be retained by Janet Batsleer at Manchester Metropolitan University and made openly available who shares our aims to use. We aim to report on this process in January 2021 and review the project at that point.