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!

Social Networks Update

After speaking with young people about the best methods of communication, we have made some changes to make it easier for you to find the information you need and to stay updated with what's happening within our service. 

We have been busy at KYA HQ, updating and improving all of our social networks! Below, we will provide an exhaustive list of our Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

Shout 4Knowsley (Knowsley Youth Parliament)

 @Shout4Knowsley  www.facebook.com/shout.knowsley

These Twitter and Facebook accounts will keep you updated on what our Youth Parliament and other groups of young people are involved in, and will also be the best place to keep up to date for information on how you and other young people can get involved in your communities, regionally and nationally.

Knowsley Young Advisors
 @KnowsleyYAs        www.facebook.com/KnowsleyYoungAdvisors
These Twitter and Facebook accounts will keep you up to date of the world of Knowsley Young Advisors, what they are working on and who they are supporting.

Rights and Participation Service
 @RPSKnowsley
This is the team's official Twitter account which will keep you up to date with everything the team are getting up to and working on!

All the accounts above are monitored and updated by @PaddyRPS and @ColinRPS from the Rights & Participation Service, who for the first time are now also going to be updating what they are up to and working on...

...So if you're not already, give us a follow or an add and say hello! 

The Big Move

This week, it's all systems go with our big move to a new office approaching! We're filling boxes, sticking labels and definitely having a good old spring clean in the process!

They say that moving house is one of the top five most stressful things you can do in life. We wonder if moving offices is up there on the list too?

We hope to update you in the coming week with how we're settling in to our new office.

Wish us luck!

Technology Will Save Us

It's been a busy week at KYA HQ! We've been getting out into the community for a piece of work called Technology Will Save Us.

We visited a local primary school here in Knowsley to chat to some of the young people about their ideas around technology. We had a fantastic response and we came back with hundreds of post-it notes (they love those!) and sheets and sheets of flip-chart.
We are so lucky to have the opportunity to work with such enthusiastic young people who are always happy to have us visit their school to carry out our sessions. Not to mention the fact that they always remember our names!

We asked the young people questions such as:

• What is your idea of technology?
• What is your favourite piece of technology?
• How often do you use technology?
• If you could invent a piece of technology, what would it be?
• Do you enjoy creative things such as Lego, Play-Doh or Scalextric?  

 Jules

Sophie

We had a big task on our hands when it came to compiling the data and putting it into the report, but we enjoyed reading the responses and ideas of such creative minded young people.

We hope to be able to update you soon on what's going on at KYA HQ.

Until next time!

New Stuff!

It was an exciting day at KYA HQ when two big boxes arrived containing our official new hoodies and polo shirts!

Jules modelling our new uniforms!

We can't wait to get out and about in Knowsley wearing our new hoodies; if you spot us, come and say hello (and tell us how lovely they are!!!)

Hello, World!

Knowsley Young Advisors' blog is now live! We hope to bring you everything you need about what work we're currently involved in and our general activity in our day-to-day lives as Young Advisors.

Some of us at our recent training residential

If you have any questions or you are interested in learning how to commission us, you can check out our website by clicking here.

You can also find us on Facebook or Twitter. If you want to find out more, or if your question isn't answered, drop us an email.

Check back soon for more updates, or feel free to follow us!