Knowsley Youth Mutual

Knowsley’s youth services have officially launched as an employee and young people led mutual, the first in the region.

Knowsley Youth Mutual (KYM) has ‘spun out’ from local authority control, to become an employee and young person owned Community Benefit Society. KYM will continue to provide universal open access youth provision, award programmes, peer education and volunteering, outdoor education, engagement and participation, as well as specialist support and intervention schemes.

As a social enterprise, KYM will be able to access a variety of funding sources and trade its services on the open market, allowing it to generate income. In addition, it will be able to invest any profit it makes back into youth service provision. The employee and young people owned mutual was established to protect Knowsley’s youth offer and youth service jobs, from cuts to local government funding.

Sandra Richardson, KYM Chief Executive, said 

"I am overwhelmed by the numbers of young people celebrating the launch of KYM; this is such an exciting time for us all and I want to thank the best staff team ever, who have shown enthusiasm, bravery and commitment to establish KYM. Thanks also to Cllr Eddie Connor, Elected Members and Officers of KMBC who have supported us throughout. We couldn't have hoped for a better start"

Over 400 people attended the KYM launch event, held at OurPlace Youth Facility in Huyton, where more than 350 young people enjoyed activities including skate park exhibition, live music from local bands, graffiti wall artists, fire-eaters and stilt walkers!

Macie Campbell aged 12 from Huyton who attended the event, said

"The launch of KYM is really exciting. I've been coming to OurPlace since it opened and we do brilliant, fun things with the Youth Workers. It’s great that it’s going to continue and will be bigger and better.".

Knowsley Young People's Question Time

Knowsley Young Advisors were proud to take a lead in delivering this year's Young People's Question Time, held in OurPlace on Thursday 27th February.

The event was delivered by Knowsley’s Youth Parliament and Young Advisors as part of our campaign to work closely with Elected Members and decision makers in the borough under the banner ‘If you want us to buy into democracy, you need to talk to us, not about us.’

The panel was chaired by Sheena Ramsey, Chief Executive of Knowsley Council, who was joined by Matthew Ashton, Director of Public Health for Knowsley; Cllr Eddie Connor, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, Community and Culture; Steve Logan, Principal of Knowsley Community College; Lesley Martin-Wright, Chief Executive of Knowsley Chamber; Dr Peter Ayegba, GP and CCG Mental Health Lead and Robyn Dooley, Knowsley Member of Youth Parliament.

Young people from across the borough asked the panel a diverse set of questions on issues including bullying, apprenticeships mental health and Votes at 16.

The event allowed the senior decision makers to hear young people’s views and discuss the following key issues identified by Knowsley’s young people in the Make Your Mark Ballot conducted in October 2013:

• Zero tolerance to bullying in schools / colleges
• Better work experience and careers advice
• Mental health services and education should be improved
• Apprenticeships
• A curriculum to prepare young people for life

Sheena Ramsey, Chief Executive of Knowsley Council, said

“I am delighted that I was once again invited to chair the panel and to discuss the issues that are important to young people, in what was another lively and constructive debate. It was a great success.”
“Many adults presume young people are not interested in politics but that is certainly not the case in Knowsley. I’m very proud of how passionate our young people are about having a voice and holding us to account on the issues important to them.”

         Cllr Eddie Connor, Cabinet Member for Community, Leisure & Culture (and panel member), added:

“The event was a fantastic opportunity to hear what our young people are thinking and to debate a range of issues. I was really pleased to take part and I feel that young people should have the opportunity to get involved in politics as early as possible. The more young people who get involved the better. We want to work closely with young people in Knowsley, after all, they are the leaders of the future.”

Knowsley Young Advisors Annual Awards

It was decided this year that 2013 would be the first ever KYA annual awards ceremony to recognise the hard work members of the team put in and for all of the fantastic ideas we see on a day-to-day basis.

The categories were decided and sent out for members of the team to vote on. Tuesday 22nd October was the agreed date for us to hear the results!

The winners of the categories were as follows:

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS: Elizabeth and Clare

BEST DRESSED: Joanne 

FUNNIEST MOMENT: Jon 

YA OF THE YEAR: Jules

YA WITH THE MOST IMPACT: Leigh

BEST NEW YOUNG ADVISOR: Robyn

Many of the awards were very close between winners and runners up. We hope to make the awards an annual tradition to ensure we recognise and celebrate all of the hard work the team put in. 

Well done, everyone!

Until next time, 

Make Your Mark Ballots

KYA HQ is buzzing at the moment with a sense of Youth Democracy! 

We are currently working all around Knowsley to ask our young people to vote on the Make Your Mark ballot. The ballot is taking place nationally and young people are voting on the issue they think is most important from a choice of fifteen. These are:

• Votes for 16 and 17-year-olds in public elections and referendums
• A curriculum to prefer young people for life
• Better work experience
• Fund our youth services, don't cut them
• Involving young people in the political system
• Combating youth unemployment
• Improved mental health services and education
• Improve the awareness and prestige of apprenticeships
• Increased awareness of Youth Democracy
• Zero tolerance policy to bullying in schools
• Euthanasia
• A greener future for Britain
• Fair representation for young people in the media
• Introducing a 'Living Wage'
• 16 to 19 bursary fund

After we have reached as many young people as possible, Knowsley's votes and all of the votes from around the UK will be counted and the top five issues selected by young people will be debated by Members of Youth Parliament at the House of Commons!

The UK Youth Parliament House of Commons sitting is part of Parliament Week. It's a great opportunity to find out more about your parliamentary democracy and how you can take part. Parliament Week 2013 will run from 15-21 November. For more information go to www.parliamentweek.org.

For more information, or if you would like us to visit your young people for the vote, please email us.

Until next time!

What We Can Do For You

Knowsley Young Advisors are young people aged between 16 - 21, who guide 

community leaders and decision makers on how to engage young people in 

community life, regeneration and renewal.

Young Advisors are locally recruited and professionally trained by the Young 

Advisors Charity and Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council (KMBC) to provide 

links between professionals, young people and their communities, ensuring that 

plans and delivery are relevant and respected. 

Young Advisors bring unique expertise and knowledge about being young in their area, to influence organisation’s strategic planning, decision-making and budgeting processes. They can also work 

directly with other children and young people to encourage them to get involved in 

their community and issues important to them.

Below is an example of the most popular services we offer. If there is anything in particular you require but which isn't listed here, please let us know as we can create, tailor and deliver in accordance with your requirements.

Action Walks
The results of an Action Walk carried out by Knowsley Young Advisors can tell you everything you need to know about an area through the eyes of young people. We are regularly commissioned to carry out Action Walks in particular areas to evaluate the best things about the area, as well as things we feel could be improved.

During an Action Walk, we can also communicate directly with young residents to find out what they feel regarding certain aspects of the place in which they live.

Consultation

Consulting with young people on behalf of services and decision makers is one of the things that Knowsley Young Advisors do best!

We feel that young people respond best to other young people on a friendly and equal level basis. We are capable of using many different methods to capture the feelings and opinions of young people during consultation and we always try to keep things fun, interactive and engaging.

We feel these qualities are what contribute to a really successful consultation session!

Delivering Training
Whether it’s training other young people, teachers, service providers or just about anybody else, Knowsley Young Advisors can provide tailored training which is sure to be enjoyable, informative and engaging.

We are also able to deliver training which can help with learning how best to consult and engage with young people and how to get the most out of a consultation session with young people.

We can deliver training to just about anybody – be it other young people, teachers, doctors or bus drivers. This can be a package created by us, or we can deliver your in house training on your behalf.

Youth Proofing
There are many things that can be youth proofed; documents, literature, marketing materials, advertisements, poster, an area, services and many others.

Youth Proofing involves making something young person friendly, whether that be creating a jargon buster for a written policy, making a poster more colourful and eye catching, or training service providers on how best to communicate with young people.

Promotion
If you have a website or service which is intended for young people, make sure those young people are aware of it by commissioning Knowsley Young Advisors to promote it on your behalf!

We can suggest what we feel is a good method of promotion, or we can use your method of choice.

Whether we head out into town centres to hand out flyers or hold a promotion workshop with local people, you can be sure the word will be out there!

Service Appraisal
As part of a service appraisal, we assess any service/company which is people accessible. For example, health centres, youth clubs, clinics, GP surgeries, etc. Service Appraisals can be tailored so that we assess certain aspects of a service (i.e. your choice) or we can perform standard Service Appraisals covering aspects we think are most important.

During our Appraisals, we identify areas that a service or company are exceeding in and areas we feel could be improved.
After the appraisal, we can provide feedback in a form to suit you. This may be a written report, a presentation or verbally in the form of a meeting. 

Feedback consists of recommendations as well as where we feel your service/company is succeeding and areas which need extra work. 

Once the feedback has been delivered, we can then work with the service/company to make any necessary improvements. We can offer assistance with training, consultation events, and youth proofing literature, policies or any other necessary actions.

Mystery Shopping
A Mystery Shop involves Knowsley Young Advisors going out to a service/company and assessing them undercover. Staff at the establishment would not know our identity which would ensure a true representation of how customers/service users are treated.

Whether you are a bank, a sexual health clinic, a transport provider (or just about anything else!), you can rest assured that Knowsley Young Advisors can report back on numerous aspects of your service, including their recommendations to ensure your service is 100% young person friendly.

Kite Marking 

Knowsley Young Advisors can deliver service appraisal and provide a kite mark which tells young people that your service is tailored in order to suit them. 

This kite mark is recognised borough wide and is an easy way for young people to see that the service they are using is young person friendly.
The OK Kite Mark focuses around many different points which contribute to making young people feel comfortable when using a service or visiting an organisation.

For more information on around how to commission us, or if you have any other questions, please feel free to email us.

Until next time!

Team Meeting 25/07/13

We've got a summer filled with work here at KYA HQ! Colin brought the team in for a big team meeting, one of many we will be having over the next six weeks!

As always, we had a couple of hours filled with discussion, debate, laughter and productivity. Everyone is excited to be getting involved in our new pieces of work. There was lots of scribbling in diaries and steam coming off pens, our KYA calendar is well and truly packed for the upcoming next few weeks!

We hope to be able to update you soon on our progress!

Until next time,

Huyton Action Walk 26/06/13

On 26th June, Jules, Matty and Rhianna set out on an Action Walk around the Knowsley area of Huyton. Historically within Lancashire, Huyton is part of the Liverpool Urban Area and has close associations with its neighbour, Roby, having both formerly been part of the Huyton with Roby Urban District. Huyton shares borders with Dovecot, Knotty Ash, Belle Vale, Prescot and Whiston.

Knowsley Young Advisors can be commissioned to carry out Action Walks around any area or hotspot. Their insight to 'see it as a young person' will give an honest and beneficial report which will help with improvements and redevelopment. They are able to provide feedback in a format of your choice.  

Action Walks can help commissioners to establish things such as:

• The points around the area which are to an excellent standard
• The more negative aspects which could use improvement
• How these negative aspects could be improved
• Young Advisor recommendations
• What else the area could benefit from and what is missing
• Reasons why an area may be a hotspot for crime or anti-social behaviour
• Any other aspects you wish to be focused on

Knowsley Young Advisors carried out an action walk around Huyton to highlight the positives and negatives within the community and what changes could be made in order to make the community a better place. Knowsley Young Advisors began the action walk at OurPlace Youth Facility and finished the Action Walk at the same location.

Below is just a taster of an Action Walk report:

OurPlace

 The OurPlace facility is a fantastic building that opens its doors to young people ages 11-19, and up to the age of 25 with additional needs. Its facilities include a dance studio, media suite, music studio, pool tables, table tennis, football pitches and even a state of the art skate park and BMX track. 

The facility offers activities for young people to get involved in such as arts and crafts, Wii & XBOX sessions, cooking classes and even hair and beauty. There are also opportunities for young people to get involved in awards schemes such as The Mayor’s Award and Duke of Edinburgh.

Although Huyton is home to a bus station, very few buses that leave the station pass by the facility, and the ones that do are not very frequent. The youth facility is open to all young people of the stated age, but the borough is so big, it is hard to get from one part to the other.

HASCL

We then progressed to Seel Road, where Huyton Arts and Sports Centre for Learning is situated. 

HASCL is one of Knowsley’s seven Centres for Learning. The CFL’s were built as part of the Building schools for the future programme. Some Knowsley young people were involved in the design of the buildings.
The CFL is at the heart of the community, situated a five minute walk from the town centre.

HASCL is a state of the art building designed purposely to encourage creative ways of learning. CFL’s also open their doors to the community, as they have a gym and state of the art football pitches for residents to use, and also allow “home bases” to be booked out for events and meetings. This ensures that the whole community benefit from using this facility.

Huyton Village

A short walk away from the CFL is Huyton Village. Huyton Village is the shopping area situated in the centre of the community and residents of Huyton benefit from the local amenities they have to offer.

The centre mainly consists of banks, clothes stores, charity shops, discount stores, and food stores. The centre also has a walk in centre, and a one stop shop which all residents can access if and when needed. There are 4 fashion stores and numerous charity shops so residents can buy clothes locally, and do not have to travel far.
The centre is within walking distance of both a train station and a bus station, making it easy for residents and non residents to travel here.
It was noted that within the relatively small centre there were numerous food stores including McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, a chip shop, four pastry shops (including a discount bakery store) and 2 frozen food stores. However, there is only one fresh fruit and vegetable store in the centre. The lack of healthy food stores encourages unhealthy eating and obesity.

Of course, the report above is just a taster of what we can offer!
For more information or to enquire about us carrying out an Action Walk for you, please email us at knowsleyyoungadvisors@gmail.com.

Until next time!