The last 15 years have been tumultuous for the youth sector, characterised by significant cuts and a realignment of the world order. This keynote will explore how the youth sector, funders, government and young people can work together to secure a brighter future for everyone. As the government formulates its first National Youth Strategy, how can we collaborate and innovate to provide every young person with the best life opportunities?
This session will explore the latest evidence on the impact of youth work. It will examine:
• The state of the youth sector and the context in which young people are growing up
• New studies on the impact of youth work and implications for practice
• The future of youth work and what the new National Youth Strategy can achieve for young people
Young Futures Hubs are being described by government as a flagship new youth initiative to improve mental health support and reduce crime. What could these hubs achieve? What should the sector be hoping for from them? This talk will cover best and worst-case scenarios for this new, high-profile form of youth provision.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS (choose 1A, 1B or 1C)
This session will explore how video games created an entire new strand of digital youth work for Essex Youth Service. It will cover its work with the National Youth Agency, which recently launched digital youth work standards, and lessons learned on its journey towards creating a Virtual Youth Centre.
The government’s Young Futures hubs aim to provide open access mental health support. Young people are navigating increasing obstacles in their transition to adulthood so how can these hubs best meet their rights and needs? This session will explore how hubs can integrate effective young person-centred mental health support with other support services.
This session will consider the role of youth work in preventing child sexual exploitation by looking at:
• What is going on for our young people: scanning the landscape
• What youth work is going on: too little and too much
• What youth workers can do: preventing the grooming and exploitation of young people through ensuring young people have the 3Ps – good People around them, a safe Place to live and a Purpose
This presentation will assess the changing shape of open access youth work and highlight what is unique about this type of youth provision. It will discuss how open access youth work has been undermined in the UK by recent policy interventions, then propose what can we learn from other European contexts to help rekindle this vital provision for young people.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS (choose 2A, 2B or 2C)
This session will explore current workforce development challenges and how youth work apprenticeships can develop the workforce and strengthen organisations. Drawing on multiple perspectives it will look at how to embed apprenticeships, ensure effective training and work successfully with training providers.
In a world where youth work can feel unrecognised and undervalued, this session will investigate how local authority youth services can meet their statutory youth service duty and work towards sustainability by focusing on:
• Shared funding with others including town and parish councils
• Shared outcomes
• Workforce development, including revitalising the JNC Youth Work Qualification
How the charity Young Devon – which won the CYP Now Awards Youth Work category award in 2024 - designed and developed an approach to reduce A&E visits and hospital admissions among young people. It will cover:
• Differences in language and approach taken in clinical models and social models
• How the charity is promoting relationships-based practice
• Young people’s experiences and challenges and the isolation they often feel in health services
Youth services are designed to support young people but do they meet their needs? In this powerful closing session, young people will take the stage to share their unfiltered views on what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to change. Facilitated by Antonia Dixey, chief executive of Participation People, this candid discussion will challenge professionals to rethink youth services from the perspective of those who use them today and tomorrow.