07/05/04 - Boost for youth work

Youth work in the Barrow area is to be stepped up under a new plan being drawn up by Barrow Local Committee of Cumbria County Council. The committee agreed today to set up a partnership with other organisations and to consult with them and young people on how the youth service should be developed locally.

Councillor Alan Nicholson, chair of the Barrow Local Committee, said:

“Barrow Local Committee had already identified youth work as a priority area. We have found young people have quite a lot to say about their environment and we are encouraging their involvement in local democracy.

“We will be doing our best to ensure that young people are given channels through which they can express their wishes and opinions about the development of the local youth service and we expect that they will have a large input into the local plan.”

The moves follow on from the decision of Cumbria County Council in March to adopt the Developing Youth Work In Cumbria Plan 2004-2005. Under the plan, local committees are responsible for achieving local targets. Barrow Local Committee has been given a budget of £115,632 to spend on its local youth work plan for 13 to 19-year-olds. It also has £11,632 for grants to support work with eight to 13-year-olds.

Barrow Local Committee agreed today to form a strategic Barrow Local Youth Work Partnership, initially with Connexions and the voluntary youth sector. It will also set up ways of consulting youth workers, youth projects and young people to find out their needs. The consultations will form the basis of a local youth work plan for Barrow 2004-2005.

The committee will also continue its successful pilot scheme for youth democracy, Forums For Youth, under which councillors and council officers have visited schools to talk to pupils about the work of the council and find out what their concerns are.

The committee’s youth service working group will host a meeting for representatives of local youth projects and Connexions on May 26 to tell them about the developments and start consultations for the local youth work plan, which will be presented to the local committee in September. The local partnership will be formally established in October.