LYA E-Bulletin June 2005

LYA News

Hopefully you will have all received the latest edition of Grassroots in the last few days; spelling out the message contained with our proposed vision statement, and if you did not receive a copy please let the office know.

Thank you to everyone who has renewed their membership with the Association, we hope you have a prosperous and fulfilling year. If you have renewed your insurance through BJK Insurance, please remember you must also renew your LYA membership; otherwise your insurance cover is invalid.

The Association’s youth projects are going from strength to strength and we only wish we could secure more funding to provide similar opportunities in all the towns and villages across the county. Alas, the majority of the large funding required to appoint workers and trainees appears to be focused mainly on the east of the county and, as could be expected, those neighbourhoods which are the most disadvantaged. However, we are acutely aware, that does not mean that other areas do not need extra support and we are constantly on the look out for ways to bolster our ‘core’ funding to secure extra resources across the network. Indeed, one of our current plans is to develop a new social enterprise entitled Aspire which is set to provide coaching for young people in schools to improve attendance, behaviour and performance. Our ambition is for this not-for-profit trading arm of the Association to provide a regular source of income in order for us to sustain, develop and extend the core services to our network of voluntary youth groups. Watch this space!

Please forward this email to anyone who you think would like to know more about our work and activities for young people across Lancashire. Ask them to click the subscribe link (below) so that they will receive all future editions automatically.

Thank You

Funding Opportunities for Members: Click the link to go to this month's funding update. http://www.lancs-youth.org/cgi-binlya/news.pl?RecordNumber=19

LYA Bursaries: Individual grants for young people involved in the LYA network of groups and projects “to do something you really want to!”. This bursary fund is supported by the Association's very own funding pot. For an application form please click http://www.lancs-youth.org/clientimages/1059396827.pdf

Events and opportunities for Youth Group Members:

MirrorImage: A UK Youth Conference for Young People,Date: 22 - 24 July 2005, York. Young people from around the UK are organising the annual UK Youth Conference for Young People, a fun weekend of workshops exploring the theme of “image” – how we see ourselves and others - run by young people for other young people aged between 15 and 25. Under the banner of ‘MirrorImage’, young people will take part in workshops organised by young representatives of UK Youth, helping other young people to recognise who they are, explore the things that influence them and expose and dispel prejudice. Three workshops will explore how our lives are shaped by reacting to - and conforming with – images, and give young people the opportunity to come together to have fun, share ideas and help each other learn more about themselves and the wide set of influences that shape each and every one of us. The cost of the conference is £100 including food and two nights’ accommodation. For more information or to book, please email tracey@ukyouth.org or call 020 7242 4045 ext 28.

Voluntary conservation work camps for young people: Summer 2005, France. Organised by Union REMPART, these camps encourage young people to get involved in heritage conservation and to become familiar with traditional restoration techniques, as well as providing a unique opportunity to practice French. For more information about the organisation’s activities and summer work-camps programme, please visit http://www.rempart.com/

LYA NEWSFLASH

Updated Quality Standards: now available directly via our website click this link now to download your copy http://www.lancs-youth.org/clientimages/1114615422.pdf

Proposed vision and mission statements get the thumbs up from key stakeholders: I am pleased to report that the Board have agreed to propose our new statements to the members at this year's Annual General Meeting, due to take place on 28th September, and I am delighted to report that the results of our recent stakeholder questionnaire, sent to over 100 colleagues across the county, show that over 80% of respondents believe that our vision, mission and strategic priorities are either good or fantastic! Click http://www.lancs-youth.org/cgi-binlya/news.pl?RecordNumber=18 to see a copy of the proposed statements.

PARLIAMENTARY NEWS: For a comprehensive round up of all the current topical news from Parliament, click the following link http://www.lancs-youth.org/cgi-binlya/news.pl?RecordNumber=20

CONFERENCES: For news about up and coming conferences for young people and youth work click the following link http://www.lancs-youth.org/cgi-binlya/news.pl?RecordNumber=21

OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES

Budget Yourselves: Budget Yourselves software, designed to help smaller voluntary and community groups create and use budgets has now been refined and brought up to date with Version 2. It is now easier to link budgets together or create cost centres or project columns within an overall budget.

It runs on any Windows machine from Win95 onwards. Download it for free from the website http://www.funderfinder.org.uk/budgetyou.php

Making Equality Simple: A free guide for voluntary and community organisations: Employment equality regulations relating to sexual orientation, religion and belief came into force in December 2003. All employers, including voluntary and community groups, must comply in all areas of the employment relationship. The Regulations cover applicants, selection criteria, interviewing, policies, benefits, employment rules or other practices and vocational training. For a jargon-free guide to implementing the Regulations within your organisation, call 0800 2798 798 or download your free copy from www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/makingequalitysimple

Fruitful funding: A free guide produced by NCVO has recently been launched: Fruitful Funding - A Guide to Levels of Engagement. It examines what the relationship between funder and the recipient of funding should be. For a pdf copy visit http://www.ncvo-sfp.org.uk or call 0800 2798 798 for a paper copy.

Lancashire Youth Association compiles this bulletin. If you forward the bulletin to other people or use information from it in your own publications, please make sure that Lancashire Youth Association is credited.

In compiling this Bulletin, we use material from numerous sources. In particular we would like to credit the following organisations: UK Youth, NCVYS (bulletin@ncvys.org.uk), NCVO (deborah.turton@ncvo-vol.org.uk), CEE (info@cee.org.uk) and LCVYS.

While reasonable care has been taken in the compilation and editing of this publication, UK Youth shall not be liable for any loss howsoever arising which is associated to any person who places reliance upon any editorial material, and in particular (but without limitation) for any loss occasioned by factual changes which have occurred since this publication went to press.  (Acceptance of advertisement does not imply recommendations by the publisher.)

LYA Contact details:

Membership and Quality Assurance Services: Erika or Shelley on 01772 556127

Huncoat Youth Project: Sharon on 01254 389417

Volunteer Youth Support Services: Julia on 01772 208594

East Lancashire Community Cohesion Project: Rehana on 01282 411183

Youth Action@Hyndburn: Thom on 01254 398609

Youth Action@Pendle: Abbie on 7985 634117

Youth Action@Burnely: Brian on 01282 411183

Trainee Youth Worker & Accreditation Services: Tracy on 01772 208597

All other Association matters, Chief Officer: Graham Whalley 01772 208598