Young people's organised activities

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About this service

The Youth Development Service offers young people aged 13 to 19 a wide range of social and educational activities and experiences.

Whether it's activities based at one of our 23 youth centres throughout the county, working on projects in the community or residential and outdoor activities, our aim is to enrich the lives of young people in Wiltshire - getting them included, involved, interested and inspired.

To improve the opportunities and quality of life of everyone who lives and works in the County, and to help make Wiltshire a 'County fit for our Children', the Youth Development Service designs and delivers, with young people, programmes of informal educational activity that provide opportunities for them to:

• develop their physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, social and emotional capabilities;
• identify and accept their responsibilities as individuals, group members and citizens;
• understand and act upon the personal and social issues which affect their lives and those of others and the communities of which they are a part.

Activities

The service’s activities provide informal learning through high quality youth work designed to achieve the standards and targets identified within Transforming Youth Work: Resourcing Excellent Youth Services.

Its activities are:

• To use a range of youth work methods and settings, to be accessible to all young people aged 13-19 years and target those who are at risk of exclusion by social or economic factors, having ‘contact’ annually with at least 25% of the 13-19 year olds;
• To engage young people in learning which is relevant to their developmental needs through a diverse and challenging youth work curriculum;
• To contribute to the work of Connexions and work in partnership with those agencies working with and for young people of the target age group, to increase provision and bring added value to services for young people;
• To promote and provide opportunities to celebrate and accredit young people’s learning and achievements;
• To deploy staff who are appropriately trained and qualified and for whom there is a continuous professional development programme of nationally recognised accreditation;
• To enable the engagement of young people in democratic processes, ensuring that young people have ‘voice and influence’ within the Service, Wiltshire Council, local communities and the broader communities of which they are a part;
• To advocate on behalf of young people and present positive images of young people;
• To respond effectively to the changing demands and needs of young people;
• To provide a clearly defined quality assurance process.

Facilities

• 20 Youth Development Centres
• Two sports centres, at Pewsey and Amesbury, that incorporate youth development work.
• One Mobile Youth Work Unit-ROMP bus
• Six mini buses 8 M.P.V.s 1 Outdoor Education Centre.(Oxenwood)
• One freephone information and advice line
• One young people’s counselling service
• Eight Streetwork projects: one in each locality
• One Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme engaging 3,000 young people
• 129 days of Summer Challenge activities Splash (programme involving 1,500 young people aged 13 - 19

Related documents

• Learning for Life - a youth work curriculum framework

Related links

• Wiltshire Youth Arts Partnership
• The Duke of Edinburgh's Awards
• UK Youth Parliament
• Connexions
• ask
• SPLASH
• DB8 Mag
• Sparksite
• Wiltshire Pathways - positive activities for young people

Last updated: 30 September 2010