It is time that young people had their say on Brexit
We know the UK isn’t great at asking young people their views under Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), or more generally in upholding our responsibilities under the UNCRC. In fact in the most recent KidsRights Index, the UK had dropped from 11th best to 11th worst performing […]
To Consult or not to Consult?
When and how is it OK to consult with children and young people? This may seem like a straightforward question but actually, as these things often are, it is a little more complex than on first sight, as it involves balancing the rights of the child with our responsibilities for safeguarding children. It is also […]
We all need to be resilient
Last week I co-facilitated a session on resilience at the wonderful CreativeCollisions conference. Way over 100 youth professionals and young people spent nearly 2 hours engaging with the subject, focussing on the following question: • How can we increase resilience in young people and communities? This is a critical question and gets right to the […]
Kaizen and the Street Focus Group
Kaizen is a Japenese word that means continual improvement through small incremental steps. We chose the word Kaizen for our organisation because we believe that it is a great fit for our work in the community sector, where we should always be looking to improve what we do. No matter how successful something is, we […]
Where is the good news?
“Youth is disintegrating. The youngsters of the land have a disrespect for their elders and a contempt for authority in every form. Vandalism is rife, and crime of all kinds is rampant among our young people. The nation is in peril.” Quote from an Egyptian Priest, circa 2000 BC It is all too easy to […]
We Must End This State Sanctioned Child Abuse
I have been working in the youth sector for over 20 years and am not easily shocked. But I am truly stunned and sickened by the news that I read yesterday, that there have been 43,960 strip-searches of young people in custody, in a mere 21 months. This is institutionalised child abuse on an industrial […]
Gamesmakers, Olympic Ideals & Legacy
Everyone is in agreement that the London 2012 Gamesmakers are doing a sensational job. They are a fantastic tribute, to themselves; to the British and non-British people who live in this country; to the spirit of volunteering and to the Olympics itself. To set the context for this blog, I have been managing Olympic programmes […]
Some thoughts on community participation
Everyone wants to involve the local community in services, projects and local initiatives. But… What does this actually mean in practice? How can we, as professionals in the sector, ensure that we are providing an effective and attractive menu of participation options for people to take up? And How can we measure the effectiveness of […]
A torch to host, not to own – how the Olympic torches could bring a lasting legacy
I have to admit to feeling pretty upset, reading the stories of Olympic torches being sold. This not only feels totally out of keeping with the spirit of the London Olympic bid, which was rooted in the concepts of community and regeneration, but is also an incredible missed opportunity to create a significant legacy for […]
When is cyber-bullying in fact online self-harming?
The world we live in is rapidly changing due to the digital revolution, but human beings are not changing so fast, and what seems clear is that we are taking the same patterns (healthy and destructive) from the non-digital world and adapting them to the online sphere. Over the past year, I have asked a […]