Founding signatories: The Power of Youth Charter

• AoC Sport will continue to run The Leadership Academy – a project to support colleges to enhance and develop volunteering programmes for their students. The aims of the academy are to get more college students volunteering in sport and physical activity and to diversify the volunteer workforce. Programmes include the Inclusive Ambassador programme and This Girl Can Ambassadors amongst others – more details here.  
• AoC are committed to seeking and working on projects that fund opportunities for young people in colleges to strengthen their skills and employability. This includes working as the Learning Partner for the Pears #iWill Youth Social Action Pilots. Five colleges have designed projects to pilot and embed approaches to Youth Social Action. 

• We will continue to build our Student Governor network and to provide networking and training opportunities to build their confidence and skills to empower them to participate in decision-making, leading and influencing – through targeted Student Governor events, training, networking opportunities and conferences. As part of this commitment we invite Student Governors to attend our flagship Annual Conference, free of charge. 

• We are running our first ever event targeting college students – Colleges Live on 18 November 2020. This is a unique event featuring speakers from around the world, sharing their unique life experiences that will inspire and motivate FE students. We are promoting this opportunity through our member colleges who will provide access to the event for all their students.

• We capture case studies from our member colleges about students supporting their communities, particularly in the time of the pandemic. We shared and promoted these stories as part of Colleges Week (October 2020) and will continue to do so. 
•  Our Student of the Year Awards celebrate student success and awards often go to students who demonstrate overcoming adversity. We have fantastic examples of previous award winners and this year’s awards are already in train. There is more information here. 

• College students and young people more generally are an integral part of our communications strategy. We engage with and support youth-led campaigns (like Votes at 16 and CPAG) and colleges students play a key part in our Love Our Colleges campaign where we encourage all college members to engage and empower students to make the case for change.  

• We will create more social action opportunities for young people to give their time and talents to make a positive difference in their communities.
• We will support youth social action to better connect communities and build resilience. 
• Youth Social action will be a key element of building a #Power of Kindness movement where young people are empowered to act and encouraged to speak up on issues that matter to them.

• We will ensure Young people are able to influence organisational decisions as an important part of our national volunteer representation model.
• We will continue to a support a national Youth Leadership Team of young people representing youth programmes and young volunteers which connects with our Board.
• We will promote and encourage the inclusion of young volunteers on recruitment panels and advisory groups.

• We will work with international, national, devolved, regional and local partners collaboratively to innovate and deliver exciting social action programmes. 
• We will share our learning, contribute to sector developments and be enthusiastic to learn from good practice

• We will report our progress through the Power of Youth index
• We will ensure learning days and evaluations explore the benefits of youth social action. 
• We will understand more about the impact of youth social action on community resilience

• We will promote the opportunity to recognise and celebrate young people’s impact through the Young  Humanitarian Award and Values Awards. 
• We will accredit young people’s successes through the RED (Recognise, Empower, Develop) framework. 
• We will celebrate young people achievements through our internal and external communications channels.

• Co-design and deliver surveys and campaigns around specific sexual health issues as determined by young people.
• Incorporate youth social action into our Education and Clinical work with young people where possible.
• Work with young people to design our annual Sexual Health Week programme and campaign.

• Involve young people in opportunities to influence commissioning and grant application processes.
• Ensure young people are involved in our Clinical and Education services to ensure young people inform service delivery and education interventions, to maintain service user focus.
• Start the process of recruiting a young Trustee under 25.

• Collaborate with diverse youth organisations across the UK to provide opportunities for young people to influence our work.
• Continue our work with schools, colleges, universities and youth organisations to reach more young people.

• Report our progress annually through the Power of Youth Index.
• Provide opportunity to highlight participation work with young people throughout our Annual Report.
• Use findings from research and social action work to highlight concerns/successes relating to young people’s experience of sexual health.

• Provide opportunities for young people to become involved with our communication channels and messaging.
• Celebrate young people undertaking social action projects in their community as part of Sexual Health Week (held annually).

• We will support Careers Leaders in schools, colleges and special schools with resources, tools, and training to empower young people to take part in Youth Social Action projects and initiatives across England.
• Through our national communities of practice, we will promote and share examples of inspiring practice and activity. Young people will be front and centre, whether it’s programmes of support targeting social mobility or vocational education, our role is to encourage impact and empower young people.

• During 2020/21 The Careers and Enterprise Company will deliver a new Youth Engagement Strategy. The company will appoint its first ever Youth Board Member to its strategic board of directors, to give young people a decision making voice.  This role will shape and then be supported by a national Youth Advisory Group, with a remit to drive impact through our company strategic decision making and enable us to lead initiatives to measure the impact of our work through the voice of young people. 

• Through our network of Enterprise Advisers and Careers Hubs we will drive collaboration, working with Careers Leaders, Local Enterprise Partnerships, Cornerstone Employers, stakeholder partners and providers to support and develop aspirational employer encounters and careers guidance programmes, to enable inclusive participation for young people in schools, special schools and colleges.
• We will develop and deliver focussed resources to ensure Careers Leaders can work with young people to empower informed decision making about their futures.

• We will continue to share young people’s career stories through our spotlight Work It film series.
• 2021 will see CEC develop a new national Careers Survey to mobilise  the opinions of young people and we will capture and share best practice from Careers Hubs and Careers Leaders to motivate  and inspire.
• We will report the progress of the Careers and Enterprise Company Youth Engagement Strategy through our board meetings and report evidence through Careers Leader Surveys and Careers Hub Evaluation reports.

• The effect of our work on young people is what matters most. We will include young people and give them a platform in key company events – for example our annual National Cornerstone Employers event in January and in March we will reflect on our progress and partnerships, through the national recognition and celebration of young people’s achievement.

• We will invest in youth social action as part of our commitment to the #iwill fund as well as other proactive initiatives
• Through our wider funding, we will invest in a wide range of local organisations who support young people to drive social action in their communities

• We will recruit two Youth Advisors to help co-produce our youth social action and other funds and to help shape our broader approach to sharing power with children and young people
• We will engage more young people in the decision making panels around our investments
• We will ensure positive, meaningful engagement of young people in advisory groups which help shape our work
• We will involve young people in senior recruitment decisions

• We will work collaboratively with young people and other funders (through the #iwill fund and the collaborative of children and young people funders we are convening) to have a shared vision for investing in young people
• Where appropriate, we will pool or align funds with other funders for the benefit of children and young people
• We will work collaboratively with our grantees and the wider sector to gather and share insights for our funding
• We will have a seat on the #iwill fund Advisory Board and the #iwill partnership Board

• We will gather insights around each of our programmes and funding streams which we will share with partners, delivery organisations and wider stakeholders

• Through our own platforms and the relationship with the BBC, we will work to create opportunities to celebrate the positive impact young people are having on their communities
• Through our annual appeal night, we will showcase the positive impact young people are having

• We will continue to support and fund youth action as part of our strategy, which includes priorities on empowering young leaders and children and young people’s rights.
• Through the Act for Change Fund, we support young people with experience of disadvantage to lead social change. A joint initiative with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, in partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund and the #iwill Fund, Act For Change provides resources for young people to challenge social injustice, find ways of overcoming inequality and give voice to issues they are experiencing

• We have recruited and are working with an Involving Young People Collective. They are helping us to design and test ways in which we can involve young people in our work, in terms of both what and how we fund.
• Ultimately, we want young people’s insights and expertise to enrich and inform decision-making within Esmée to increase the impact of our funding and wider work and are committed to working with the Collective to achieve that. 
• We have seen the insight and expertise our Youth Panel Members have brought to the Act for Change Fund.
• We have also set up the Care Experienced Young People’s Network as part of our Leaving Care Learning Programme.

• We are committed to the principle of collaboration.
• We are delighted to be working with our partners Paul Hamlyn Foundation, National Lottery Community Fund and #iwill Fund in order to deepen the impact and learning of the Act for Change Fund.
• We also work with a range of other funders in this space, particularly the Blagrave Trust and the other Listening Fund partners. And of course, our partnerships with the organisations we fund are vital to everything we do and we commit to continuing to collaborate.

• Throughout our funding we are committed to learning, and sharing insights. 
• Working with our Act for Change Fund learning partners Renaisi and Centre for Youth Impact, we commit to capturing and sharing learning, as well as supporting organisations in the Fund to reflect individually and collectively on the impact of their work.
• Our Involving Young People Collective are committed to testing and learning about different approaches to involving young people at Esmée.
• We have worked collaboratively with members of the Collective to set the outcomes for this work, and we are committed to working together to review and act on the learning.

• We celebrate the insight, energy and fresh thinking young changemakers bring to the social and environmental challenges we face today.
• We will use our communication channels to amplify the stories of young people leading change through Act for Change and our broader funding as well as sharing the views of the Collective as they work to inform our thinking.

• We commit to Incorporating youth social action into our all our activity: to enable participation in collective action working groups, collective policy and influencing and involvement in the selection and support of our Scaling Award winners
• We commit to making youth social action one of our Alliance’s collective action priorities and convening a group of member organisations in a working group to pursue this priority

• The Fair Education Alliance has a Board of Trustees and a Board of Advisors. We already have one trustee under 25 and commit to opening up and ensuring we have young people on both Boards.
• From early 2021 we will be establishing a Education Youth Advisory Council for the FEA with 50-50 membership between young people and adult sector leaders (this is an evolution of what was the #iwill education advisory council)

• The Fair Education Alliance has ~200 member organisations who we work with and convene to collaborate to tackle educational inequality. Further to our own organisational commitments on youth social action we will be working with these organisations to encourage and share ideas and resources for how more organisations can promote youth social action in their organisations and across society

• We commit to including the evidence and stories of our youth social action reports in our annual reports and other reporting

• We commit to giving young people equal platform to our other member organisations in our comms (bulletin/social media/media etc) and at meetings and events.

• Our programme and operations: We will continue to release activities under one of our 6 core programme themes; Take Action, that enable and empower girls to have a say in the world around them, have the confidence to raise their voice and be inclusive advocates for change. We will continue to support girls to take part in additional activities that involve volunteering and community action, including Duke of Edinburgh awards and our Queen’s Guide award.
•  In communities and society: We will continue to deliver programmes that empower girls to be positive changemakers and influence decision makers, including our UK youth panels. We will continue to build partnerships and create opportunities for girls and young women to fundraise for causes they care about, at UK, national, regional and unit level. We will continue to support girls to make positive change on the issues they tell us they care about most, including as part of our Future Girl manifesto.

• Co-production: Starting in 2021, we will work with our girl insight pool, girl steering group and specialist volunteers to ensure that our offer to girls is co-created and collaborative. We will continue to work with our youth panels to guide us in our research and external affairs work.
•  Voice and leadership: Starting in 2021, we will develop unit level activities that promote and support giving girls voice and decision-making responsibility week on week as they meet in guiding. We will continue to build on our Young Leader qualification, which is designed to help young people take an active, positive role in running a Rainbow, Brownie or Guide unit and give them leadership skills for life.
•  Best practice: Starting in 2021, we will develop our best practice and co-produce new guidance for staff on how to deepen girls’ meaningful engagement in the range of our work in an inclusive way.
•  Governance: Girls will continue to have an opportunity to join the decision-making groups and forums that govern projects and programmes, and we are committed to young people being engaged in the overall governance of our charity, including at trustee board level. We have recruited young women as trustees and will continue to do this in future.

• Corporate partnerships: We will continue to work with cooperate partners, funders and expert partners to increase our ability to reach more girls and young women with a focus on reaching girls in areas of deprivation.
• Sector partnerships: We will continue to work with our British Youth Council delegation, supporting young people to have a say and be heard in the UK. We will continue to work with partners, such as the Back Youth Alliance, to raise the profile of the youth sector and its invaluable offer in supporting young people to take action. We will continue to work collaboratively with expert partners in areas we feel are underrepresented within guiding, to ensure we are supporting the needs of all members and to deliver our promise on diversity and inclusion.
• Parliamentary partnerships: We will continue to work with and influence decision makers at Westminster and in the devolved parliaments to ensure girls’ voices are heard on the issues that affect them, including in response to Covid-19.
• Global partnerships: We will continue to work with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) to support girls and young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world.

• Impact: We will continue to track and record social action activity by young members and the impact it has on communities across the UK, and show the power of this youth social action through our communications.
• Survey: We will continue to seek insight into girls’ and young women’s views on social action and the issues affecting them through our annual Girls’ Attitudes Survey.

• Communications: We will continue to provide on- and offline platforms for young people to make their voice heard and tell their stories of social action and change. We will strive to ensure our content is diverse and representative of girls and young women across the UK. We will always celebrate our young members who are doing great work in their communities through recognition in guiding and publicly in the media and online.

• Youth Voice is at the centre of our work. Young people have identified the priorities for our grant making and programmes and new programmes will be developed in response to their expressed need.
• Opportunities for youth engagement will be built into all aspects of our organisational strategy.

• We will recruit a Youth Trustee to the Board
• Our Youth Consultation Panel will advise the JPF Board on development of our programme

• We will work with all schools, colleges and youth organisations to reach more young people through our partner programmes
• We will increase recruits to our Achiever Network and Internship programmes

• We will publicise the many positive stories we receive about young people taking action in their communities
• We will ensure regular and timely reports for the media
• We will develop our work on capturing the ‘difference we make

• We will create opportunities for young people to blog, Vlog and create content to share on our social media channels. 
• We will provide training and support for young people to engage in their communities and through the media

• Put high quality youth social action at the core of the NCS theory of change and service delivery for our network of ~120 providers of social action for 15-18 year olds
• Embed ‘six principles’ of social action into quality framework and programme planning guidance
• Expand opportunities for year-round social action through community action groups
• Trial longer-term volunteering opportunities as an employability pathway (with a focus on low-income & BAME young people)
• Ensure participation in social action for those from low-income & BAME backgrounds

• Embed a Youth Voice focus to ensure our strategy and decision-making, is driven by the voices and insights of the young people we serve
• Embed our Youth Voice Forum (YVF) into NCS Trust’s governance
• Allow young people to shape, influence and challenge our thinking and ways of working, at all levels
• Provide development and learning opportunities for young people within the Trust and our network of delivery partners
• Ensure representation on YVF of young people from low-income & ethnic minority backgrounds

• Create high-quality resources to be delivered by schools and colleges, focused on personal development, volunteering and social action
• Co-create bespoke co-curricular programmes with youth organisations, schools and colleges
• Co-create high-quality digital resources, freely available to all, including younger age groups
• Partner with experts to provide world-class blended personal development & skill building programmes, including for those who cannot access in-person programmes

• Advocate for, generate and share research and evidence around benefits of youth social action
• Support and champion the Power of Youth Index and lead by example to embed it within the Trust and across our wider delivery network
• Evaluate NCS programmes delivering social action to establish the impact and benefits for young people and their communities
• Capture and share stories of positive impact from young people, their parent/ guardians and wider programme beneficiaries

• Put young people at the centre of our brand and communications and campaigns by letting them co-create our campaigns, as a part of their development
• Continue successful Youth Rising podcast, produced by young people, for young people, to ensure they have a voice on issues that matter
• Give young people a platform and a role through our social channels and blog: amplifying positive stories of young people, celebrating our Change-makers and their impact, and highlighting topics that matter most to them

• We will advance youth voice and youth social action across the NHS by supporting our NHS Youth Forum members to engage with and empower local hospital youth forums.

• We will introduce ‘reverse mentoring’ between young people and the NHS leadership. Reverse mentoring is a programme highlighted in the NHS Diversity and Inclusion Strategy as way to create more opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds to influence decision-making.

• We will increase our efforts working alongside our partners, to significantly expand youth volunteering opportunities for example by growing the number of NHS Cadets sites.

• We will collate and share evidence about the impact of youth volunteering programmes delivered in partnership with the voluntary and community sector, and highlight the benefits to the young volunteers, patients and healthcare staff.

• As part of our support for youth social action for example through the NHS Youth Forum, NHS Cadets and youth volunteering programmes across health and care settings, we will celebrate the significant and positive contribution of young people to the NHS.

• To open up our decision-making structures and to ensure that our grant-making reflects the needs and experiences of young people, we have appointed young people as advisors to our Act for Change Fund and as members of our Migration and Youth Grants Panels. 
• As we consider the impact of the pandemic, we want to ensure that young people are at the heart of building back better. This means we aim to support the next generation of young leaders, acknowledging the challenging context of young people’s identity and lived experience. We will support organisations that work with young people so that power is shared.
• We are also part of a group of funders supporting the Young Trustees movement to ensure that young people have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives, and to invest in the next generation of leaders.

• We believe in the power of working together to achieve a greater impact. Through the Act for Change Fund we work with Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the National Lottery Community Fund and #iwill to support young people to lead change. With the help of our our learning partner Renaisi and The Centre for Youth Impact, we want to bring the organisations we support and the young people they work with together to share learning, support one another and find opportunities for collaboration.
• We have also piloted the Opportunity Fund, with the Blagrave Trust and in partnership with Peer Power and Launch It. This programme provides a part-time basic income, as well as support for project costs, directly to aspiring young activists, campaigners or social entrepreneurs.
• In response to Covid-19, we’ve contributed to several Emergency Response Funds and worked alongside fellow funders to make grants to organisations affected by the pandemic, many of which work with young people in an asset-based way. 
• We have recently renewed our partnership with Unbound Philanthropy which aims to help young people who do not have permanent immigration status or are undocumented to access the advice they need.

• We support those we fund to collect, share and use evidence in order to generate quality learning. Working with our learning partner Renaisi and The Centre for Youth Impact, we hope to capture and share learning from the organisations supported by the Act for Change Fund. 
• We will convene funded organisations and partners, and ensure that the experiences and reflections of young people inform programme learning.
• We have also commissioned Cloud Chamber to develop case studies of several organisations supported through the Youth Fund. We will share learning to help other youth sector organisations understand how they can work in a way that recognises and builds on young people’s strengths.

• We want to celebrate the impact of young people as changemakers.
• We will use our communications channels to amplify the work of the young people we support through the Act for Change Fund and our other programmes.
• We want to show how the work of those we support makes a difference, and to share learning to support others to drive positive change.
• In our communications, we will pay close attention to the language we use when describing young people and focus on supporting, developing and championing asset-based approaches.

Pears Foundation will continue to fund and support organisations providing inclusive, high quality, Youth Social Action opportunities, including:

• First Give, to enable them to grow their whole-year youth social action programme into more schools and colleges across England and Wales.
• The Duke of Edinburgh Award, to enable them to reach more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Pears Foundation will work through its Partners to integrate authentic youth leadership and decision-making into governance and management structures including:

• the appointment of young Trustees, eg by Young Citizens and Girlguiding UK.
• the creation of Youth Boards or Advisory Panels, eg by The Woodland Trust and First Give.
• the inclusion of young people on grant-making panels, eg by Leeds Community Foundation for the Pears Youth Fund.

Pears Foundation will work collaboratively with its Partners, their beneficiaries, and other funders to create opportunities and to share learning, including:

• Continuing to support the collaboration and shared learning of NHS Trusts offering youth volunteering.
• Joining the #iWill Partnership to maintain and develop the legacy of the #iWill Campaign.
• Supporting the Fair Education Alliance to champion high quality, inclusive youth social action across the education sector.

Pears Foundation will continue to support research and learning, to build evidence and examples of the power of young people, including:

• Working with fellow funders through tools eg 360 Giving and the #iWill Fund Learning Hub to understand the impact of our funding.
• Sponsoring a special Youth Social Action edition of the Chartered College of Teaching’s Impact Journal.

Pears Foundation will champion and celebrate young people, encouraging our Partners to use their platforms to give young people a voice, including:

• Supporting and amplifying awards recognising the contribution of young people eg in NHS Trusts and education.
• Encourage Partners to prioritise the voices of young people at events and ceremonies eg #iWill Ambassadors.

• We will support and promote social action opportunities for young people through the Premier League Primary Stars, Premier League Inspires and Premier League Kicks programmes.
• We will identify and encourage opportunities in educational and community settings for young people aged 5-25.

• We will work with Club Community Organisations (CCOs) to identify young people that are highly motivated to be involved in social action. This group will be used by the PLCF as a sounding board to provide ideas and feedback to inform decision making.
• The PLCF General Manager will have a ‘reverse mentor’ who will be a young person, and PLCF will facilitate other opportunities for reverse mentoring for senior leaders in CCOs.

• We will create resources and host training opportunities to support CCOs to empower young people.
• We will collaborate with different organisations to tackle issues raised by our young beneficiaries across our funded programmes. 
• We will take a seat on the #iwill Fund Advisory Panel to ensure more young people get involved in social action through well-targeted collaborative funding.

• We will gather evidence and capture case studies to showcase the impact youth social action on our beneficiaries and communities.

• We will provide a platform for young people to be recognised across our programmes by hosting events to celebrate their achievements. 
• We will support Club Community Organisations to raise the profile of young people across their programmes. 

• Using the appeal of the Premier League and Club badge, we will continue to support and empower young people from every section of the community, to take action and have a lasting impact.

• We will develop a youth advisory group to consult young people on Premier League programmes and initiatives, ensuring their ideas help to shape our decision-making. This group will be representative of the communities we serve.

• We will work with our clubs and our partners to reach more young people and provide them with opportunities to bring about positive change on the issues that matter the most to them.

• As part of our national community programmes, we will capture and showcase high quality case studies to demonstrate the benefits of youth social action.

We will continue to use Premier League and Club platforms to promote the positive difference our young people are making in schools and communities across England and Wales.

• We will continue to invest in and co-create, social action opportunities with young people from diverse backgrounds and charity partners, that are rooted in our 6-25 programme.

• We will continue having young people, under 25, at the heart of our decision making processes; on our board of trustees, programmes of work and other national decision making groups.

• We will continue to work with other organisations in the charity sector to create social action opportunities, through our work on ‘A Million Hands’ and other campaigns. We will continue to create resources that support adults to empower and support young people.

• We will work with our A Million Hands partners on how to evidence impact of the campaign and continue to report on the number of our young people taking part in social action opportunities and how this has developed them.

• We will continue to celebrate the achievements of our young people who take part in our social action opportunities and ensure young people and their achievements are at the heart of our events and communications.

• Spirit of 2012 is committed to funding projects that support and empower young people to make a positive change to society.
• We will continue to fund innovative projects that inspire young people to play an active role in their communities, such as EmpowHER, Breaking Boundaries, Creative Minds and Bay Create.

• Spirit of 2012 has had a Youth Advisory Panel for six years, which has involved 30 young people in our decision-making processes
• Our Youth Advisory Panel has researched, designed and awarded £300,000 of grant funding through their own, Youth Advisory Panel Challenge Fund. This year’s award to Whitley Bay Big Local’s Bay Create, focusses on supporting younger and older people to create together.
• We will continue to include members of our Youth Advisory Panel on the interview panels for all our major grant awards, and invite and encourage them to participate in our project strategic steering groups.
• The Chair of the Youth Panel has always been a full Board Director to put young people at the heart of our decision making, and we are recruiting a young trustee to the Board in January 2021.

• Spirit of 2012 places high value on our partnerships with organisations like UK Youth, One Million Mentors, and the Youth Sport Trust who work to improve opportunities for young people, regardless of background, ability or ethnicity.
• We continue to cultivate strategic partnerships whose values on youth inclusion align with our own and those of the Power of Youth charter.
• Supporting local sports, cultural and voluntary organisations throughout the UK who give young people the opportunity to make friends, and improve their own wellbeing and that of their peers is embedded into everything we do.

• We commit to sharing learning, both from young people and from the organisations supporting them, about how we can improve access, and create better opportunities that lead to better outcomes for young people.
• We aim to disseminate these insights with others, so that they too can remove barriers to engagement and deliver effective programmes.

• Focus on creating more social action opportunities through our programmes
• Create opportunities for young people who’ve been through our programmes to become leaders in their communities
• Identify and understand the barriers that prevent some young people taking part in social action
• Develop inclusive and accessible opportunities to ensure that all young people have the chance to take part in social action

• Involve young people in all key decision-making in our organisation including; grant-making panels, recruitment, and setting strategic priorities and campaigns
• Co-design and create programmes/content to youth workers and young people based on their needs
• Create a variety of ways for young people to have a platform to share their voice including; story-telling, themed networks and projects, UK Youth Voice (national youth steering group)
• Recruit young trustees under 25

• Work with a diverse range of organisations to increase reach to more young people across the UK
• Support more organisations to undertake the Social Action Quality Mark enabling them to provide a high-quality experience to young people
• Work with funders and decision makers to secure more investment and support for young people
• Create opportunities to bring different sectors together to create more opportunities to empower young people
• Co-create resources with young people and youth workers that support others to create opportunities for social action and empower young people

• Build the evidence base of social action through our programmes and content to young people
• Report progress annually through the Power of Youth Index
• Share and embed learning through the UK Youth Movement and cross sector
• Using digital story-telling, share the positive impact of social action on young people and communities

• Celebrate the achievements of young people at our annual UK Youth Awards
• Recognise the progress and development of young people through the UK Youth Achievement Awards
• Create opportunities for young people to share their stories and use our communication channels to amplify them, also ensuring the voices of young people are on amplified in press opportunities
• Give young people a platform to share their story and experience in all of our events
• Create opportunities for young people to ‘takeover’ our communication channels on a regular basis
• Train and support young people to become ‘Young Reporters’ in our network to share their own stories and their peers

• Prioritise funding for Young Change Makers in our forward looking strategy.
• Launch the Youth Fellowships programme offering Fellowships to young people from low income backgrounds.

• Continue to support our Young Board Attenders to develop and contribute to Board level discussions.
• Continue to work with the Foundation Youth Advisors in Youth Social Action programme development.
• Continue to involve the Youth Advisors in grant making decisions for upcoming Youth Social Action programmes.

• Continue to support our Youth Advisors and Young Board Attenders to contribute in decision making meetings.
• Youth Advisors to host events during the Young Change Makers Fellowship residential.
• Our Chief Executive, Nancy Doyle-Hall, together with Laura Christer, one of our young Board members, will work together as members of the #iwill Fund Advisory Panel to ensure more young people are able to get involved in social action through well-targeted, collaborative funding.

• Share impact and learning through the Foundation’s annual Impact Report.
• Continue to share the learning from our evaluation into the Foundation’s #iwill Take Action Fund Youth Advisory Panel.
• Commission an evaluation on the importance of place in youth social action.
• Continue to use our social media platform to share stories.

• Continue to support our Youth Advisors and Young Board Attenders to contribute in decision making meetings.
• Youth Advisors to host events during the Young Change Makers Fellowship residential.

We will create opportunities for young people to get involved in social action with Volunteer Now so that more young people have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

• We will work with our two new Trustees to ensure a youth voice within our Board and to support our youth forum to shape our internal offer to young volunteers and to share the good practice with other youth involving organisations.

We will encourage organisations to involve young people in meaningful volunteering opportunities so that they can make a positive difference.

• We will share our learning in our annual reports, programme evaluations and internally with our youth forum and Trustees.

• We will celebrate young people’s positive impact through our social media channels, our website but also through encouraging and supporting recognition events.

• Placing the voices and lived experiences of children and young people at our heart
• Incorporating youth voice and social action into our organisational wide strategy
• Embedding youth social action as a core approach of youth and play provision through our funding

• Recruit young people to our board as trustees
• Young Ambassadors are involved in grant making panels and co-design of new funds
• Young Ambassadors sit on interview panels

• Providing a clear partner offer and framework for collaboration that supports children and young people
• Funding and supporting the work of strategic leads across the sector
• Coordinating opportunities for training and capacity building

• Gather evidence from partners on impact of youth social action on projects we fund
• Incorporate evidence of impacts of youth social action into our annual reports

• Create opportunities for social media takeovers
• Use our platforms to celebrate young people across the city, through our own youth voice work and the social action/voice work of our partners

• As the national youth work agency we will continue to encourage and support the youth work sector in Scotland to champion the #PowerOfYouth by offering meaningful youth social action and volunteering opportunities to the young people they work with.
• We will champion the importance and value of youth volunteering and social action through our national youth work outcomes framework; national programmes; workforce development; funding; policy; research; networks and in our communications.
• We will strategically drive the #IWill movement forward in Scotland beyond 2020 through the Scottish #IWill Advisory board, Scotland’s #IWill Ambassadors and our National #IWill Development Officer post.

• We will recruit young people to our board of trustees and recruit an #IWill ambassador to co-chair the Scottish #IWill Advisory group from 2021.
• We will continue to involve Scotland’s young people in our decision-making for the future of youth work in Scotland for example, helping to shape the next National Youth Work Strategy; National Youth Work Awards, Participatory Budgeting and our Funding Assessment processes
• The #IWill movement in Scotland will be built on the voices of #IWill Ambassadors and other young people as was our new five year strategic plan. Our values for #IWill include it being youth-led and young people will be at the core of our future activity and decision-making.
• We will continue to play an active role in encouraging and championing youth voice and participation both within the youth work sector and beyond.

• As a membership organisation we are committed to working with our youth work members across both the voluntary sector and local authorities in Scotland.
• We will continue to connect youth work with other sectors and key stakeholders in Scotland through our vast range of networks and will seek partnership opportunities to grow opportunities for young people to volunteer and participate in social action.
• We will continue to work collaboratively with young people and promote the benefits of doing so through our programmes, research and communications.

• We will share impact and learning of the #IWill movement in Scotland annually through the Scottish Power of Youth Charter and Index.
• We will promote Scotland’s National Youth Work Outcomes Framework as a method of measuring and demonstrating the impact of youth social action and volunteering.
• We will work with the youth work sector and other partners to demonstrate the benefits of youth social action and volunteering and showcase this through our publications and communications.
• We will work with partners to highlight research findings from national surveys e.g. Young People in Scotland Survey & Scottish Household Survey and work with university partners to commission research projects relevant to volunteering & social action.
• We will continue to represent Scotland at UK wide data and research meetings as part of the #IWill Partnership and Collaboration.

• We will continue to celebrate the difference that young people in Scotland are making through YouthLink Scotland and #IWill Scotland communication channels.
• We will continue to demonstrate and advocate the benefits and values of youth work award programmes to both youth work members and wider sector organisations and signpost them to the Awards Network in Scotland.
• We will continue to promote celebration events e.g. The Young Scot Awards through our membership and communications channels.
• We will continue to seek opportunities to formally recognise young people and nominate for awards as appropriate.

• We will focus on creating more youth social action opportunities through our funding programmes

• We are recruiting a young trustee, and our youth panel will be involved in funding bids. The Youth Panel will help to develop the YUF strategy and influence the way we work

• We will actively seek partnerships that benefit, support, and empower young people

• We will report our progress annually through the Power of Youth Index and incorporate evidence into our annual reviews and evaluation reports

• We will facilitate social media takeovers for our youth panel, feature blogs and vlogs from young people on our website and social media channels, and provide young people with opportunities to represent YUF and young people at relevant meetings, events and functions.