The Backstop Journals » Third sector issues

Youth sector called on to help with citizen initiative

Backstop — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:26:54 +0000

Children & Young People Now reports that the government is calling on the youth sector to help deliver its flagship National Citizen Service initiative after announcing the ambitious target to get 10,000 school-leavers involved in the pilots next summer. The scheme has been tested on a smaller scale by charity The Challenge in London and Birmingham, but next month the government is to invite other youth organisations to submit bids to run pilots in England in 2011.

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Social housing tenants ‘trapped’ report says

Backstop — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:54:56 +0000

The Independent reports that one in eight social housing tenants are trapped in properties away from their family or work opportunities due to the barriers they face in trying to move, a report indicated today. The report warned that people in social housing faced significant barriers if they wanted to relocate. Part of the problem is due to a shortage of affordable homes available to rent for people trying to move, with a 66% decline in the availability of new lettings to existing tenants during the past 13 years.

Housing minister Grant Shapps said: “It is vital that we ensure council and housing association tenants don’t become trapped, unable to take up job offers, move to more appropriate accommodation or care for loved ones.

“Schemes already exist to help people who want to move, but it’s patchy and so I want to do more so they can take up opportunities anywhere in the country to improve their lives.

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Youth projects lose out on dormant bank account funds

Backstop — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:20:58 +0000

Children & Young People Now reports that dormant bank account assets will no longer be earmarked for young people’s projects and will instead be used to fund the coalition government’s broader big society agenda. The previous government had pledged that youth work would be a chief beneficiary of an estimated £400m worth of unclaimed assets found through the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008. But in announcing details of his big society agenda today, David Cameron said that instead the money would be placed in a big society bank to fund a wide range of charity projects. Faiza Chaudary, policy and communications director at the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, said the organisation was “worried that the existing commitment to young people as priority recipients of these funds was not re-asserted” by Cameron.

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Tories say Sure Start staff could opt out and be in co-operative

Backstop — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:08:42 +0000

The Guardian reports that staff at government Sure Start centres will be the first in the public sector to be able to opt out of their current employment and sell their services back to the taxpayer through co-operatives or as partners with a charity if the Conservatives win the next election. David Willetts, the shadow minister for universities and skills outlined the plan today, claiming public sector employees had failed to help the poor. The “co-operative” message fits a Conservative agenda, he said, to prise control from government and put it into the hands of third-sector organisations which are an attractive source of “competition, innovation and localism”.The Tories said that they were looking at setting up an “early years unit” in government to fund the co-operatives. “I think quite a lot of the early years budget is stuck in the hands of local authorities without ever reaching the hands of the parents,” he said.

National Children’s Bureau launches third sector support programme

Backstop — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:15:19 +0000

In Children & Young People Now, it is reported that the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) has launched a support programme aimed at helping to develop the work of third sector organisations working with children and young people. The Voluntary Sector Support (VSS) programme aims to provide a range of services to voluntary sector organisations, keep them informed on policy and practice and support them with funding. The new scheme will more specifically target health, faith, and black, Asian and minority ethnic organisations that work with children and young people through projects funded by the Department of Health’s Third Sector Investment Fund and the DCSF Children, Young People and Families Fund. Emma Foxall, co-ordinator of VSS said: “NCB is committed to expanding our work with third sector organisations. We hope that the VSS programme will provide useful and practical information and support to children and young people’s organisations.

Small charities need help to measure their success

Backstop — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:44:03 +0000

Children & Young People Now reports that work done by voluntary organisations with children and families could be going to waste because they cannot afford to evaluate their work, charity Action for Children has warned. Kate Mulley, policy development and research manager at Action for Children, said that “Evidence-basing is incredibly important and incredibly expensive,” she said. “What is difficult for smaller organisations is finding the time and manpower to establish and maintain relationships with the academic world.” The warning came as Barnardo’s challenged the Children’s Workforce Development Council to support voluntary organisations in evaluating parenting programmes as it takes over the work of the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners. A spokesman for CWDC said it has been asked by the government to examine the challenges charities face in evaluating programmes.

Government launches youth engagement website

Backstop — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:13:05 +0000

Children & Young People Now reports that the government has launched a website that allows young people to access funding, information and opportunities around youth engagement in response to the Youth Citizenship Commission’s recommendations. The Join website includes information on registering to vote and issues about citizenship. Alex Delaney, British Youth Council chair, said: “An increased role for young people is terrific but must be matched with proportionately more funding for staff, elections and expenses, and certainly not cutbacks to the local youth services, and third sector organisations who support hundreds of youth councils across the UK.”

Unicef campaign to embed children’s rights on a local level

Backstop — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:04:03 +0000

The Guardian reports on a new Unicef campaign called Put it Right, which is an ambitious five-year £55m fundraising campaign that stems from the success of its Rights, Respect and Responsibility Group where young people worked across the country to break down the barriers between local businesses and young people.

Child Friendly Communities, to be launched early next year as part of the campaign, will raise awareness about the rights of young people, promote their participation locally and challenge negative attitudes to children and young people.

The Unicef UK executive director, David Bull, says: “We want local authorities to try to embed children’s rights approaches into their policy and practice. I hope the campaign will be transformative in changing public attitudes to children.”

Inequality gap widens for health of children under five

Backstop — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:43:37 +0000

The Guardian and Children & Young People Now report on the findings from the audit commission study Giving Children a Healthy Start that show that there has been no improvement in the health of under-fives despite government spendng of over £10bn. The most striking element of the findings is that there appears to be a widening gap between the health of children in disadvantaged areas and those in better-off places. Neil Leitch, director of the Pre-School Learning Alliance’s Feeding Young Imaginations nutrition campaign, said: “We applaud the government’s continued investment in and commitment to Sure Start. However it needs to be accessible and targeted for the families who need it most, and accompanied by fuller investment in health initiatives specifically for the under-fives.”

Children say family conflict main cause of unhappiness

Backstop — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:13:25 +0000

Children & Young People Now reports on a survey by The Children’s Society which shows that family conflict is the biggest factor in causing unhappiness among children. The survey found that seven per cent of children were significantly unhappy, family arguments being the biggest determining factor.

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