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Youth Action Network — a brief history |
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Aylesbury Youth Action |
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In December 1965 the Bessey National Report, ‘Service by Youth’ stated, "in the area of every local education authority there should be local machinery designed to enlist co-operation at all levels, in the co-ordination of service by young people". In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s many locally based organisations began to emerge, set up in a variety of different ways – some under the local authority, either education or social service departments and others grant aided. Some were staffed with a small team of specialist workers and others just part-time or voluntary coordinators. In 1970, a group of coordinators formed the National Working Party of Young Volunteer Organisers. They secured funding in 1974, from the Home Office Voluntary Services Unit to establish the Young Volunteers Resources Unit at the National Youth Bureau. For the next 12 years, a thriving national and regional network grew up, both supporting and developing this way of engaging young people in their own communities. A combination of circumstances in the late 1980s led to the fragmentation of the networks. Within the NYB the unit structure was abandoned and although staffing remained, there was no dedicated support. About the same time the NWPYVO took some decisions that prevented it from operating effectively and thus the agencies that were able to keep going survived as best they could within their local areas. In April 1991 the National Youth Agency was launched. The new electoral college system for the Advisory Council provided the opportunity for the representative for ‘locally based young volunteer organisations’, Jane Buckley, to push hard for recognition and a national status. Designated staff at NYA supported regular meetings and annual conferences, starting in 1993, enabled the bulk of the groundwork to be carried out by dedicated coordinators. In April 1995, the NFYAA was launched at Charities Fair in London. However, there was still a tremendous amount of work to be done before the successful application to the NLCB resulted in the appointment of two developmental workers, Sally Loader in the South and Gareth Jenkins in the North. In April 1999, the NYA ceased to provide direct support to the Federation. This latter stage of the development has coincided with the launch of Millennium Volunteers. In the last 3 years, the NFYAA staff has worked diligently both with individual organisations to encourage and support them and through creative national networking and publicity to strengthen the base of the Federation. In 2001, the NFYAA received £596,870 continuation funding from the lottery, and opened a national office in Birmingham. In the following year, they changed their name to "Youth Action Network" (abbreviate it to YAN, and punishment is death!). The staff increased from five to seven, after receiving more continuation funding from the DfES. This year, the Youth Action Network aim to expand its work on Youth Participation after receiving funding from the Carnegie UK Trust. Membership has also hit the 150 mark. The Youth Action Network is thus a first rate example of an organisation that not only serves its membership but has been fuelled and energised from the roots upwards – truly a grassroots organisation that owes a great deal to the commitment of its members. Sue Martin Coordinator, Aylesbury Youth Action (until May 2004) |
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AYA Taking Action in Our Community - Youth Volunteering in Aylesbury |