Latest news on youth related issues

New page added - Opportunites for Young People
Young people can take part in national surveys / consultations, find out about training opportunites and events that may interest them. If you ahve anything to add to this page, please get in touch.

Claim back VAT on advertising
Charities often forget to take advantage of the VAT zero-rated releief on the design and display fo advertisements. Charities do not need to be vat registered to benefit. The relief covers all adverts as long as they are displayed in someone else's media including job advertgs, campaigns and events and can be in newspapers, magazines and on billboards,TV, radio and the internet. It also covers the design or production services for the advert. Direct marketing is not covered.VAT notice 701/58 from HM Revenue and Customs covers charity advertising. Download

Funding Central is a free smart website for all third sector organisations, including community groups, providing access to thousands of funding and finance opportunities, plus a wealth of tools and resources supporting organisations to develop sustainable income strategies appropriate to their needs.

StreetMark is the StreetGames seal of approval. It demostrates the holders have a commitment to developing sport in disadvantaged communities and confirms that all the right policies are in place. Forum members have acess to the streetgames network and the streetmark.

Click here to access the streetgames page - Streetgames - for training opportunities and local updates.

A690 Youth Initative revealed at Region’s First Voluntary Sector Award Ceremony

The region's voluntary and Community Sector stars were honoured last night on Thursday 30th October at the inaugural 2008 North East VCS Awards, held at the Quayside Exchange in Sunderland.

A690 won the award for "Most Exciting Project". Winners were presented with awards by Paralympics champion Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson at a glittering ceremony attended by over 150 people. The awards recognise the work of individuals and Voluntary and Community Sector organisations from across the region, in helping to develop our communities. Over 130 nominations were received, ranging from small community groups to large regional organisations and volunteers to paid staff
. Click here to download the press release and Awards Programme

14 -19 Quality Mark
Speaking at the National Children's & Adult Services conference in Liverpool, Fiona Black, chief executive of the National Youth Agency has urged "More must be done to ensure that informal learning is part of the 14 - 19 learning reforms" . She also said " It's not just about academic, vocational and the applied. There is a fourth strand called informal learning, which is about learning the skills of working in gorups, self-reliance, emotional resilience, working with others and communication".

Fiona said the voluntary sector is particularly well placed to deliver informal learning and promised that the NYA would be working closely with the Local Governemnt association to help councils commission informal learning services.

Some SVSYF members are ahead of the game and in prepartion for learning reforms SVSYF are supporting a number of them in achieving the 14 - 19 Qualtiy Mark.

What is the 14-19 Quality Mark?
A quality assurance tool that was initiated by Sunderland Learning Partnership in 2006 to:
1. Establish consistent standards of learning across the City
2. Help to ensure learners benefit from consistent high quality experiences, especially when moving between providers
3. Improve collaboration between learning providers
4. Continually develop and maintain high quality experiences for learners
5. Inspire confidence across providers

Silver standard (achieved)
• Box Youth Project
• Bluewatch Youth Centre
• SNCBC
• Hendon Young People's Project
• Easington Lane Access Point
• Salvation Army
• YMCA Herrington Burn
• Sans Street Youth & Community Centre
•Bridge
• YMCA Herrington Burn
•Pennywell Youth Project
•Oxclose District Young People's Project

The following organisations have assessment dates arranged to take place later this month:
A690 Youth Initative and Lambton Street Youth Centre

SVSYF have been awarded the Streemark standard; the only other organisation in Sunderland to hold this award is the Raich Carter Centre.

StreetGames: changing sport, changing communities, changing lives. LAUNCHED in January 2007, StreetGames is the national charity
dedicated to developing sport in disadvantaged communities. StreetGames promotes doorstep sport: that is sport delivered at
the right time, the right place and in the right style to engage young people who do not warm to more traditional opportunities. It makes sport accessible to those who live in the 20% most deprived areas in the UK.

StreetMark is the StreetGames seal of approval. It demostrates the holders have a commitment to developing sport in disadvantaged communities and confirms that all the right policies are in place. SVSYF have been awarded the "Streetmark" standard, and our members can access the full range of benefits that the programme has to offer, including an excellent training package.

Click here for News of what's happening in our area and watch this space for case studies of street games initatives with our member organisations.

British Safety Council
Level 1 Certificate in Health and Safety at Work
British Safety Council is offering free health and safety qualifications to disadvantaged groups

As part of the biggest-ever drive to promote a healthier, safer and more sustainable society, the BSC is working with organisations to offer free health and safety qualifications to disadvantaged groups such as the homeless, disabled and those not in education, employment or training (NEETs or pre-NEETs).The BSC Level 1 Certificate in Health and Safety at Work is completely free of charge to any organisation supporting disadvantaged people. The qualification is accredited by the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) in the National Qualifications Framework.

The benefits of achieving this qualification are threefold:
1)       Makes people more aware of health and safety issues
2)       Helps build people’s confidence and self-esteem by providing them with a qualification they can use in the workplace
3)       Makes people more employable by providing them with a nationally-recognised qualification

A range of charities have registered for this initiative including Crisis, Centrepoint, First Step Trust and the Salvation Army. To date, over 5,000 people have benefited from free Level 1 examinations. We are aiming to increase this figure to 20,000 in 2009. How it works If your organisation is interested you will need to complete the Level 1 registration form

Research Opportunity
The Community IT team here at the Council have been asked to participate the scoping and shaping of National Projects based on our knowledge of ICT, our trusted partnerships with the community and voluntary sector, the passionate about technology e-Champions Project and the wide ranging networks with which we engage and work together to support empowerment of Communities in Sunderland.

I have been approached by my colleague Conn Crawford, who works here at the ICT Unit on the Smartcards and secure services projects (you may be aware of the Letsgo Card (http://www.letsgosunderland.com/ )currently being used by young people in Sunderland as part of the Empowering Young People Project).

Conn is currently working with a group of Academic researchers to work on a National Project which will look at the issues of security, privacy and trust when using digital technology. The researchers are designing the research project and would very much value your input on who, what and how we engage with various groups of potential users; e.g. Women, older population, youth, BME, Asylum Seekers & refugees, geographical areas of deprivation etc etc.

I must stress that at this stage you are not asked to take part in the Research but merely to influence how it may take place or if, indeed you can assist us in identifying key groups with which to engage.

I would like to invite you along to meet with the researchers for a working lunch on Thursday 11th December, Swan Street Centre, Sunderland SR5 1EB at 12.30pm until approximately 3.30pm

As the key practitioners working in the hardest areas to reach, your views are particularly important to ensure that this research is as representative as possible, and I am hopeful you will be able to come along to give your advice and opinions on how Sunderland can continue to lead the way in cutting edge projects whilst remaining close to the communities and people for whom we are all working.

I would be most grateful if you could confirm with me your availability to attend. If you are unable to attend and would like to send along another colleague or representative in your place please forward their details to me.

Contact Debbie Ross, e-Neighbourhoods Programme Manager Tel No. 0191 5614216 Blackberry: 07788615548

Supporting Charities and Worthy Causes throughout the UK AT NO COST TO YOU OR YOUR CHARITY

Our Price Records has a private collection of ‘Personally Signed’ Original LPs, Gold Discs and Sporting Items. This collection has been made available to the Charity Support Team to help support Charities and Worthy Causes throughout the United Kingdom. If you are holding an event which has an Auction, a Raffle, or a Grand Prize Draw and you would like to include one of the unique pieces from the Our Price Records private collection please www.ourprice.co.uk

The "Buzz Off" campaign aims to draw attention to the use of ultrasonic dispersal devices. The device is audible to people up to the age of 25 years when our ability to hear high pitch noises fades.

Manufacturers claim that it is an anti-social behaviour deterrent, but children spearheading the Buzz Off campaign strongly refute this. The device simply moves groups of youths on and doesn't tackle the problem.

If you want to support the campaign read more here

click here to go to the site

Update Participation Fund Pilot from 1st Jan 09 - 31st Mar 09. which will enable common barriers that can prevent disabled children participating in a short break activity to be removed. Applications can be made on behalf of children in the 5 Aiming High priority groups The fund is not designed to pay for the activity itself but will fund the removal of the barrier that is preventing the child joining in the activity. More information available in the Terms and conditions of the attached application pack. Sunderland has been selected by the Government to be a pathfinder in the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme which will transform services for disabled children and young people and their families. How will we do this? giving more families the type of short breaks they want giving families better information about the support they can get being open and up front about which children and young people can use each service really listening to what disabled children and young people and their families want and acting on this.

Alcohol Awareness Campaign 15 - 21 December 2008 "Know your limits"

In the countdown to Christmas, and with the party season in full swing it may be difficult to keep an eye on how much we are drinking. The Government Units campaign aims to raise awareness of how many unties there are in typical alcoholic drinks and was launched in May 2008. For further information on Alcohol - Know your limits click here.

If anyone would like free posters, leaflets and free alcohol unit calculators please contact the Public heath Improvement Information Team on 2831124 / 2831125 / 283126.

26 young people were killed in gun or knife crime in London in 2007
Many people are putting the blame on gangs. So the question is why are so many people interested in joining gangs today?

Peer pressure and wanting to look 'bad' are two of the reasons, but during our investigation, one thing seemed to standout. Young people are searching for some kind of family unit.

Chris Saed is a youth worker at Sulgrave Youth Club, a place that gives young people something to do during the weeknights and keeps them from falling into things like gangs.
View more here > http://www.headliners.org/storylibrary/stories/2008/gangs

www.gotateenager.org.uk

Sometimes it may seem as though you need a translator to understand what your teenager is talking about...

With a new slang word seemingly invented every week; many parents find it difficult to keep up with the latest phrases and sayings. This is why we've come up with a teen-speak jargon buster. Put together by teenagers and parents, this dictionary of 'teenglish' (complete with definitions) should help break down the language barrier.

We know that teen-speak is forever changing and we need you to help us keep this jargon buster up-to-date. If your teen is using a new word that you want to share with other parents, registered members of the site can update this page themselves. Click here for information on adding a word to the jargon buster... Click here for the teenage jargon buster