Please see below news from the Welsh Government regarding the Strategic Voluntary Youth Work Organisation (SVYWO) grant
The current (SVYWO) grant round is due to end in March 2025, and we are really pleased to say funding for voluntary youth organisations is likely to continue for 2025 onwards.
Please see the attached guidance and application form for more information. Please ensure you read the guidance carefully before applying. As in previous grant rounds, no decisions on funding will be made until budget decisions are known later in the year.
Closing date for applications is 8 November 2024
We would like to invite you to a short digital workshop to discuss the Strategic Voluntary Youth Work Grant on 17th October at 10:00 am. We will discuss the criteria and terms of the grant and give you the opportunity to ask questions.
If you have any queries, or to register your interest in receiving a link to attend the online information session, please contact us on youthwork@Gov.wales.
Views are now sought from practitioners in the Youth Sector in Wales, including the Voluntary Youth Sector as well as those advocating for the best outcomes for young people.
People will have until the 10th of January 2025 to submit their responses.
At the end of the summer the Education Workforce Council (EWC) published the Annual Education Workforce Statistics for Wales.
The independent, professional regulator’s Annual Education Workforce Statistics for Wales 2024 is the most comprehensive source of intelligence on those who work in schools, further education, youth work, and work-based learning in Wales. The data is sourced from the EWC’s Register of Education Practitioners.
As you may know, for a few years now, qualified youth workers and youth work support staff have been required to register with the EWC, but for the first time this year’s report contains information on teachers and learning support staff who work in independent schools and colleges. Following a new government requirement in May 2023 making it essential that their staff register with the EWC, and thus their conduct and practice regulated.
Effective recruitment to the education professions, and the subsequent retention of these practitioners, remains a priority not only in Wales, but across the world. Workforce numbers in Wales have remained fairly static compared to 2023, however there has been a small decline in school learning support workers.
There are some great events coming up this autumn with CWVYS members.
Next week Urdd Gobaith Cymru are celebrating 10 years of their apprenticeships programme. With 2 breakfast events in the north and south! The first breakfast event takes place on the 24th of September in Llandudno, and the second is in Swansea on the 27th of September, if you intend to attend, please confirm via this linkTODAY (16th of September).
If any other CWVYS Members have anything similar you would like circulated or included in our next newsletter, please send the details to Helen@CWVYS.org.ukby midday on Monday the 23rd of September
You can find details of these events on the Youth Sector Calendar hosted on our website; https://cwvys.org.uk/events/
The calendar is for the whole sector, so members and non-members in the sector alike can add their events to it by sending details to Helen@cwvys.org.uk
Estyn published their Youth engagement and progression lead worker review in July, the report includes 5 joint recommendations for Welsh Government, Careers Wales, local authorities, and all other partners involved in supporting young people through lead workers.
The Welsh Government response to the review has now been published.The Welsh Government will work with partners on taking forwards the recommendations.
At our Regional meeting on the 25th of July, Donna Robins – Welsh Government, presented a paper on the establishment of a National Body for youth work.
As noted in this paper by Welsh Government, the discussions are in their early stages and there will be a full consultation will follow.
At the meeting, Members were invited to share their thoughts to Welsh Government via CWVYS.
CWVYS members Cwmbran Centre for Young People (CCYP) are looking to recruit volunteers for their new exciting inter-generational project Community Coming Together.
You can find all the info in the poster below, or get in touch with; Leila.Long@CCYP.org.UK
This project is made possible thanks to funding from the Torfaen Community Resilience fund, Torfaen County Borough Council and the UK Government Levelling Up Fund.
This September and October, One Million Mentors are setting up their 2nd year of mentoring programs doing just that in a number of secondary schools.
These schools are:
Cardiff
Mary Immaculate High School (hybrid)
4th September (11:20 – 12:10pm) – (DBS checks)
16th October (11:20 – 12:10am) – (First meeting)
Cardiff West High School – October
St Illtyds High School (hybrid) – September
Cathays High School (in – person) – September
Willows High School (hybrid) – September
Newport
St Joseph’s High School (in – person) – October
Newport High School (in – person) – October
Bassaleg High School (in person)
10th October (1:30pm – 3pm) – (DBS Checks and First Meeting)
Llanwern High School – September
Caerleon High School – September
What is 1MM?
1MM mentoring empowers young people to become the best version of themselves: building relationships – free of assumption and judgement – where they benefit from another’s experience and perspective and can think bigger, find their own answers and take the next meaningful step into their future.
We recruit, train and deploy volunteer mentors, matching them with mentees and providing high quality support to both so that they are well prepared and can have an effective and impactful mentoring relationship. Our mentoring is one to one, for young people aged 14-25 years old, for 1 hour, once a month, for up to a year.
Here you can find our poster and here is a QR code to sign up;
All we ask of our volunteers is to sign up to our platform at www.1mm.org.uk and complete some mandatory online training.
There are plenty of ways of how you can help but here is a step – by – step guide on how!
Sign up on our platform on www.1mm.org.uk. Sign up as a mentor.
Complete your Online Profile and Training – This will take approximately 1 hour
Attend a Mentor Induction Workshop (optional). After completing the training, you will be sent an invite for one of our monthly Mentor Induction Workshops. You can attend either before or after your first session.
We will match you with a Mentee. Once all training is completed and you have registered for a workshop we will match you to a mentee.
You will be in a school supporting a Young Person!
Socials: We are on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to find out on the latest news and powerful stories that we encounter everyday at 1MM.
We also have our own podcasts to listen to! Here we discuss the mentoring journey from both mentors and mentees from 1MM!
In – person school programmes: This would mean that commitment to the programme is important in order to meet with your mentee. As this is a school programme, a timetable will also be created to ensure your mentor sessions are on school sites where teachers are available to supervise.
You can contact us for further information :-
Raman Purewal (the Programme Administrator for the Cardiff Capital Region): raman.purewal@1mm.org.uk
A message from the Marketing and Communications Team for the Youth Sector in Wales;
Youth Work Week has been an incredible journey filled with amazing experiences, and we hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have!
Now is your chance to offer feedback!
Your feedback is invaluable in helping the sector improve and make future Youth Work Week events even better. Whether you engaged with #YouthWorkWeek24 online, led events, or followed along, we want to know your thoughts.
Please take a few minutes to fill out our feedback form. Your insights will help us understand what we did well and where we can grow.
Thank you for being a part of Youth Work Week and for sharing your thoughts with us. If you have any further questions or wish to get in touch, please contact manon@cwvys.org.uk or branwen@cwvys.org.uk
Based on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, our aim is to gather together the incredible stories of the amazing people that have changed our society for the better, so that we can create a living archive that serves to educate and inspire others about the impact of charity and civil society on communities throughout our nation.
We are now open for nominations for our inaugural class of 2025 – with the closing date for nominations being Friday 20th September 2024.
Charity Hall will Induct people under the following categories. You may nominate someone for one category only, and they must be based within the UK.
• Community Impact: For those who’ve made a big difference in their field, especially in service settings, whether by helping people directly, bringing communities together, or driving significant community change.
• Social Pioneers: For those – such as social leaders or founders – who were the first to tackle an issue or bring about change in their field or community.
• Justice & Equality: For campaigners or policymakers who have worked hard to fight inequality or injustice, leading to changes in laws, policies, or to raising awareness.
• Philanthropy: For outstanding funders and donors who have made significant changes through their donations or funding, supporting causes in innovative or collaborative ways. We’re including donors of time, skills and resources in this category too.
Charity Hall wants to inspire the next generation of community changemakers, so each category will also recognise:
• Young Changemakers: ideally aged 11-25, but up to 30 years old considered.
Historical/Posthumous nominations are welcome in each category.
Before you nominate, please read the Criteria and its accompanying Q&A.
The closing date for nominations is midnight on Friday 20th September 2024 – we look forward to hearing from you!
