Communities and neighbourhoods

What do Young Advisors do?

Locally

Young Advisors show adults how to discuss, design and consult with young people and local communities more widely throughout the decision making process at all levels of governance. They are trained to 'youth proof' policies and practices to ensure they take account of the aspirations and needs of young people, and to check that they are not excluded or put at risk by local decisions and budget allocations. They will show how best to engage with young people and teach adults how to attract the interest of young people in the planning, managing and reviewing of community affairs.

Examples of successful local projects Young Advisors have been involved in include:

In Southwark, they have worked with the police to improve how stop and search is conducted in their area. Their inputs are now used in police training
In Middlesbrough, they have developed a training resource which is now used in induction training with Government Office staff to demonstrate the importance of involving young people
In the Wirral, they have conducted a community health survey for the Primary Care Trust
In Knowsley, they have supported the development and promotion of 'The Knowsley Participation Standards', a performance framework for all Children's and Young People's Services to ensure the implementation of effective participatory practices
In Hull, they have worked with architects to plan and design a Youth Facility building
In Bristol, they have been employed by Avon and Somerset Police to complete 100 questionnaires around young people's perceptions of the police.

Nationally

Although Young Advisors primarily work at a local level, they also work at a national level, usually for specific projects or meetings commissioned by central Government Departments. Some examples of work they have been involved in on a national level include:

Research on behalf of the Councillors Commission, regarding young people's perceptions about engaging with local councillors as well as incentives and barriers to becoming a local councillor
Advising CLG on taking forward the recommendations from the REACH report - an independent report to Government on raising the aspirations and attainment for black boys and young black men
Research commissioned by DCSF on young people and drugs which fed into the recently published Home Office Drugs Strategy
Regular attendance at DCSF stakeholder groups on the implementation of the 10 year youth strategy
Involvement in the planning and delivery of 12 seminars on 'How To Engage Young People' for local authority practitioners and councillors

For each project or piece of work, Young Advisors are paid directly by the organisation commissioning their work.

Evaluation

The first four Young Advisor pilot schemes were independently evaluated by Social Development Direct. It was noted in the evaluation that the Young Advisors model offers a solution to moving away from engaging with children and young people through consultation to achieving more effective participation in the decision making processes. The evaluation report is available under Related Publications below.