Introduction

Young person’s event on the 6th of May 12-4 at Dudhope Park.

The aim of this event was to gather young people’s views on the Young Person’s Guarantee (YPG), what it means to them, and what their understanding is of it. We were keen as we come out of Covid and were able to work face to face to have an exciting and empowering day for our young people. The day was organised to show them that their views and opinions matter and that they can shape the future of how the Scottish government supports young people.

Activities

We wanted to create an event that gathers young people’s views and opinions ensuring inclusivity and full participation. We decided to ensure inclusivity that we will gather data in several ways to suit all our different learners:

Kinaesthetic

We organised activities to get our young people active and moving.  We gathered data through a game of Rounders. During the game we asked young people questions at each base before they move on to next. We also organised a game of Corners. Young people were encouraged to go to the red corner if they feel the current YPG supports their aspirations.

Visual

We organised a large-scale art activity where we made a mural with the question “What does your future look like”. Young people were encouraged to use different materials to create images and words of what they want to achieve from the support of YPG.

Auditory

We planned a nail stall. It was planned that a young person would be doing nails along with the help of a young person and having informal conversations with young people around YPG to gather data.

For the young people that do not want to get their nails done but that would also like to give auditory data we planned a song writing workshop and a focus group.

Reading and Writing

For reading and writing we created an online survey that our young people could use anonymously in the run up to the event to share their views on YPG. This was easy read and made in such a way that we really allow for a depth of data from the young people and without leading their opinions or creating bias. We also offered sessions for young people who needed support to complete a form in the lead up to the event. We additionally had staff available to support with forms on the day and an anonymised suggestion box.

Other Activities

Most importantly we wanted this event to be fun for our young people! Our kickstart project worker took a lead on this and planned several activities. These included a scavenger hunt and a dance off. A photo booth with props was also planned to be used to film young people answering questions about YPG. We also played music throughout the day too. Additionally we ordered food for all staff and young people to enjoy together.

In terms of paperwork, we tried to keep this to an absolute minimum. We did this as it can be a barrier to participation for many of our young people. Additionally, to get a rich level of qualitative data, we required this event to be fully inclusive of all young people.  We advertised this event by having informal conversations with our young people about what the YPG is and how they would like it to look.

Data Gathering and Common Themes

Overall we felt we had a fantastic event with lots of our young people participating. We managed to gather a wide variety of data. From analysing the data, we identified some common themes:

• Many young people felt supported by their Barnardo’s project worker’s. Young people would like more support with mental and physical health and/or disability. They would also like support from schools especially during 4th year. Other young people felt they would benefit from support from employers and the job centre
• Many young people were unaware of YPG other than through conversations with their project workers. They feel that schools and the job centre did not make them aware of YPG, what this is and how it affects them. They felt there was not advertising and information about YPG that they had seen.
• The main barriers identified by young people were Mental Health, Disability and Physical health. Also identified as barriers were living rurally and age. Many young people felt a barrier for themselves was not being supported by school when transitioning from school to post school activity.
• Young people would like more opportunities in “things they like” and “interesting” careers. Such as construction and childcare, more volunteering and work placement opportunities and practical experience.

We have then used this data to feed back to the Scottish government. We have also used the data gathered to inform our practise in terms of how we support our young people into positive destinations.

Jenny Stewart