Tag: youth

Search is on for top youth worker

YLSBanner960Scotland’s National Agency for Youth Work is looking for the very best work being done with young people in and around Edinburgh. Youth workers and volunteers in the local area are being encouraged to nominate entries for the National Youth Worker of the Year Awards 2015 organised by YouthLink Scotland.

The 8th National Youth Worker of the Year Awards will be an outstanding showcase of the remarkable work that is being done right across the nation. We are searching for a wide range of entries and it’s not just traditional youth workers we want to hear from.

In every local area of the country there are countless examples of people paid and unpaid who do great work with young people. The parent who runs a youth work project on a Friday night, the local Girlguide leader, the student who helps younger pupils who are struggling with bullying or a respected youth work manager at a local council or voluntary organisations.

Aileen Campbell, Minister for Children and Young People, said: “Every year the National Youth Worker of the Year Awards rightly celebrate the often-unseen heroes who do valuable work in our communities.

“In the past, these awards have recognised a very broad range of individuals who have shown a true commitment to youth work. I encourage everyone in the Edinburgh area to consider people in their community who could be nominated and I look forward to hearing more about the nominees and winners.”

Jim Sweeney, Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland, said: “These awards are a true celebration of our unstinting belief in our young people. I would love to see each category packed with nominations as there is so much life changing work going on.

“Right across the country in clubs and organisations, on the streets and in the great outdoors, youth workers give of their time to help young people achieve their potential and be all they can be. Youth work is a wholly positive experience that changes lives and adds to the commonwealth of Scottish society.”

Each of the 10 categories for the 2015 Awards will see three finalists chosen with the winners being presented with their award on the night of the Awards Dinner in March, and the overall Youth Worker of the Year will be chosen from across the individual category winners.

The deadline for nominations for each of the 10 award categories is Thursday 18 December 2014. An Awards Dinner to announce and celebrate the achievements of the finalists will be held on Thursday 12 March 2015 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow.

The 10 categories for the National Youth Worker of the Year Awards 2015 are:

• Youth Worker of the Year (Full-time or Full-time equivalent)
• Youth Worker of the Year (Sessional paid/part time)
• Volunteer of the Year
• Innovative Practice ¬– Team of the Year
• Youth Worker of the Year (Uniformed Organisations)
• Youth Worker of the Year (Intergenerational)
• Role Model/Mentor of the Year
• Youth Work Manager of the Year
• Agencies and Partner Organisations (Worker of the Year)
• Lifetime Achievement Award (Fellowship of YouthLink Scotland)
• Overall Winner (selected from winners of other categories)

To find out more information about the National Youth Worker of the Year Awards 2015 and to download a nomination form, visit the YouthLink Scotland website at www.youthlinkscotland.org

 

 

Broughton’s Good Samaritans!

DSCF2187You never have to look too hard to find articles critical of young people, so it’s always nice to be able to tell the other side of the story. Step forward Comely Bank woman Helen MacDonald. 

Helen, who is 76, was clearing up following a family birthday party at LifeCare House. Whilst leaning over to dump bags of rubbish in a big bin in Comely Bank Street she took a dizzy turn and fell. Disorientated, Helen was confused and unable to get back to her feet.

“To be honest I wasn’t sure what I was going to do”, she said. “It all happened very quickly and it was a bit of a blur. One second I was putting bags of rubbish in a bin and the next I was on the ground. I felt a bit daft!”

Help was at hand, however. Three S2 Broughton High School pupils were on lunch break when they witnessed the accident, and in the finest tradition of the Three Musketeers  Justin Youngs, Mason Harrison and Reece Head leapt to the aid of a damsel in distress.

The boys quickly got Helen back on her feet again, and, having been reassured that Helen was none the worse for her mishap, the students headed back to Broughton.

That may have been the end of the story, but for Helen’s daughter – another Helen. When she heard her mum’s story she felt that the schoolboys deserved some recognition for their prompt actions so she embarked on some detective work. Young Helen – it had been her birthday party, incidentally – contacted the Head Teacher at Broughton and the three students were soon traced.

Last week Helen – who has made a full recovery – was reunited with Justin, Mason and Reece at the Inverleith Community Conference at Broughton High School. The boys remained modest about their actions, but Helen gave the lads small gifts to show her appreciation and said: “I am really happy to have the chance to say a proper ‘thank you’ to the boys. I really don’t know how long I would have been there if they hadn’t come to help me. You do hear lots of awful things about young people but these boys are a real credit to their families and their school.”

Broughton's Good Samaritans!

DSCF2187You never have to look too hard to find articles critical of young people, so it’s always nice to be able to tell the other side of the story. Step forward Comely Bank woman Helen MacDonald. 

Helen, who is 76, was clearing up following a family birthday party at LifeCare House. Whilst leaning over to dump bags of rubbish in a big bin in Comely Bank Street she took a dizzy turn and fell. Disorientated, Helen was confused and unable to get back to her feet.

“To be honest I wasn’t sure what I was going to do”, she said. “It all happened very quickly and it was a bit of a blur. One second I was putting bags of rubbish in a bin and the next I was on the ground. I felt a bit daft!”

Help was at hand, however. Three S2 Broughton High School pupils were on lunch break when they witnessed the accident, and in the finest tradition of the Three Musketeers  Justin Youngs, Mason Harrison and Reece Head leapt to the aid of a damsel in distress.

The boys quickly got Helen back on her feet again, and, having been reassured that Helen was none the worse for her mishap, the students headed back to Broughton.

That may have been the end of the story, but for Helen’s daughter – another Helen. When she heard her mum’s story she felt that the schoolboys deserved some recognition for their prompt actions so she embarked on some detective work. Young Helen – it had been her birthday party, incidentally – contacted the Head Teacher at Broughton and the three students were soon traced.

Last week Helen – who has made a full recovery – was reunited with Justin, Mason and Reece at the Inverleith Community Conference at Broughton High School. The boys remained modest about their actions, but Helen gave the lads small gifts to show her appreciation and said: “I am really happy to have the chance to say a proper ‘thank you’ to the boys. I really don’t know how long I would have been there if they hadn’t come to help me. You do hear lots of awful things about young people but these boys are a real credit to their families and their school.”

Get LOUD over homophobia!

North Edinburgh Young Peoples Forum member LAURA says we must speak out when we encounter homophobia …

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How are the LGBTQIA* community portrayed in the media?

Society has certainly progressed in the acceptance of people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex or asexual, but how do we portray them in media?

Many people are still offended by people identifying as LGBTQ, but with same-sex marriage being legalised in many countries and states, the media is starting to recognise and portray more LGBTQIA people in films and TV Shows.

However, if a character in a TV show is portrayed, for example, as being lesbian, their sexuality is almost always a huge part of the plot and they are commonly shown as having had many girlfriends just to prove that they are lesbian. The same goes for people being portrayed as gay.

But TV shows are reluctant to feature transgendered people, whether they are trans-male/trans-female or simply non-binary, and asexuals/aromantics are normally shown as people who haven’t ‘met the right person’.

However, while TV Shows and films are certainly improving the way they portray LGBTQIA people, some channels are still portraying them negatively.

Stonewall, a charity for LGBTQIA people, discovered that “Gay people and their lives are five times more likely to be portrayed in negative terms on the BBC” and that “BBC programmes frequently use gay sexuality for making jokes or as an insult, and rely heavily on clichéd stereotypes”.

In July 2010, Stonewall published research about representation in youth television: 49% of portrayal was stereotypical and 0.6 of the content they viewed portrayed LGBTQIA people ‘positively and realistically’.

So what is there to do about negative portrayal of the LGBTQIA community in media?

Obviously, you can complain to the television companies, but not a lot can come from a single complaint letter or e-mail. The key to making a difference is to get LOUD.

You can get into contact with various different charities, Stonewall is an excellent example of one of them, and organise a protest or campaign. You can get your friends and families all to write letters of complaint – the more the merrier. You can put what you’ve seen on the internet for the world to see. There are countless other ways to stop discrimination against LGBTQIA people, and its easy to get involved.

Whether you’ve read something homophobic in a newspaper or magazine, seen stereotypes of LGBTQIA people on TV, or heard something offensive on the radio, it’s easy to get involved, and it’s your responsibility. If everyone waits for somebody else to do it – nobody will.

You can see Stonewalls page about the portrayal of LGTQIA people in the media at: http://www.stonewall.org.uk/what_we_do/research_and_policy/2875.asp

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Laura, North Edinburgh Young Peoples Forum

Pictures by Nicki and Josh (NEYPF)

* Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex and asexual.

Youth Parliament Chair encourages candidates to stand for election

 ‘grasp this opportunity to ensure young people are continually at the forefront of shaping our society’ – Louise Cameron, Chair SYP

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The Scottish Youth Parliament elections will be held in March next year and the call is now open for young people all over the country to register their interest and stand as candidates to represent young people in their area.

The Scottish Youth Parliament is the democratically elected voice of Scotland’s young people and campaigns on a wide range of issues, and represents young people all over Scotland. It gives young people a national platform to voice their issues, turn them into positive actions, and influence Scotland’s decision makers.

To register interest to represent a local constituency, young people aged 14-25 should complete a Candidate Expression of Interest Form by Friday 31 October. Further information is available atwww.syp.org.uk/elections.

Louise Cameron, Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, said: “During what is such an exciting time to be involved in the heart of Scottish politics, I am delighted to announce that the call for candidates is now open for the SYP Elections 2015.

“The Scottish Youth Parliament is an entirely youth-led organisation, and Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament represent the views of young people across Scotland and strive to make a real difference by campaigning on the issues that matter the most to young people.

“Being a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament is a truly life changing experience. I would like to encourage young people from all over the country to consider standing as a candidate and to grasp this opportunity to ensure young people are continually at the forefront of shaping our society.”

Current Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) have produced a promotional video to encourage others to get involved in this opportunity to stand as a candidate and potentially become an MSYP.

The SYP Elections promotional video can be viewed at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdPFjHPgD6Q&list=UU3lS9jY21U4jVSnhYkAK3kw

Be honest: what do you think of our young people?

NEYPF

Hi All,

We at North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum are carrying out a review of our group/projects/service.

The reason for our review is so that ourselves and others can see what we have achieved and what we haven’t managed to achieve, whilst also paving the way forward. Therefore, we are asking for 5 minutes of your organisations time to complete a short questionnaire (attached below) and then all you have to do is send it back to us.

NEYPF Organisations Questionaire

Please be honest, your feedback is important to us.

We would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone for their help and support, and an extra thanks to everyone who completes our mini questionnaire as part of the review and send it back over!

You can email it to neypf@hotmail.co.uk 

Thanks

Kind Regards

North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum

Scottish Youth Parliament needs YOU!

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Hello YOUNG PEOPLE! 

The Scottish Youth Parliament elections are being held in March 2015 where all Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) will be elected from across Scotland openly, democratically, and at the same time between 2 – 11 March 2015.  

Do you have the next Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament in your class, school group, community centre or youth clubs?   Or could it be you?  

All young people between the ages of 14-25 have the right to stand for election and so we’re hoping to capture input from young people willing to speak up and play their part in what’s happening around us! 

Standing as a candidate is an opportunity for young people in your school and community  to make a difference to their  local area (and the country) and to ensure young people’s voices are heard by Scotland’s decision-makers.

If you know of any young person who might be interested in being elected as an Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, the deadline to register an interest in standing for election is 31 October  2014.    

If anyone would like to get involved and/ or want to find out more,  please contact Mary Mitchell from the Young People’s Participation Team via mary.mitchell@edinburgh.gov.uk or by phoning 529 2131.  Or if you’d prefer to an informal chat on “your turf” before you progress anywhere please call me on 332 6316.

More information can also be found on the web at www.syp.org.uk, by tweet @Official SYP, or by visit syp.org.uk or a video promoting being a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament on the same website. 

Callum McLeod

Broughton Community Learning & Development team

Your challenge: ‘make Scotland the best place to grow up’

Children & Young People’s Summit  to build on referendum energy

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Communities up and down the country have a role to play in truly making Scotland ‘the best place to grow up’, Education Secretary Mile Russell said yesterday.

Speaking at Education Scotland’s two-day Scottish Learning Festival at the SECC in Glasgow, Mr  Russell announced that a Children and Young People’s Summit is to be held, to build on the “reaffirmed desire of millions of Scots to participate in democracy”.

Mr Russell said: “The people of Scotland have shown overwhelmingly that our community spirit and our desire to participate towards the betterment of the nation are stronger than ever.

“If the grassroots movements of the last two years – people of all parties and none – have shown anything, it is that what unites us all is a fervent wish for a better future for our children, our families and our communities.

“We have two things to do. We have to make sure – all of us – that promises made to the people of Scotland are honoured in full, within pledged timescales. Also, we have to move forward involving the whole of Scotland in decision making, including decisions that will improve life for children and young people in our own communities and beyond.

“To help that process on, today I’m announcing a Children’s Summit for Scotland. Bringing together children, young people, those who support them and wider civic society, this gathering will, I hope, be the beginning of a process that will see a Children and Young People’s Conversation take place around the country – harnessing the renewed interest in positive, energising, consented improvement that we’ve seen over the last two years.

“The Scottish Government will convene the summit but the participants will determine the most effective way to involve interested citizens at grassroots level in improving services for children and young people. Ultimately the Children and Young People’s Conversation will inform Ministers and drive improvement in community services for children and young people.”

The Education Secretary has asked Schools Minister Alasdair Allan and Children’s Minister Aileen Campbell to oversee the process.

Mr Russell added: “Right now our schools benefit from the participation of parents and teachers. Sports teams and youth clubs rely on dedicated volunteers and parents everywhere are active in their communities.

“But the reaffirmed desire of millions of Scots to participate in democracy could help transform our country for the better – and Scotland’s children and young people are rightly the main beneficiaries of this reawakened desire among the public to shape our national life.

“The challenges we face – and the obstacles to overcoming them – didn’t change last week. Our ambition remains undimmed and the challenge to our communities is clear – do your part to help make Scotland the best place to grow up.”