At the invitation of the then Chairman of the Youth Justice Board, Lord Warner, the Youth Charter was invited to deliver a sport intervention strategy and method of approach to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and London. Other areas of support to young people caught up in the negative cycle of anti social behaviour and crime were assisted with services and support ranging from mentoring, court appearances and letters of reference as to their good character and potential to make a positive contribution not only to themselves, but in helping young people who were tempted into similar lifestyle choices.


Social Impact The Youthwise© module and programme was piloted at Wetherby Young Offenders Institution (YOI), Barton Moss Secure Care Centre and Thorn Cross YOI. Upon release, inmates would visit the Youth Charter HQ seeking advice, support and work experience to go on and gain social and vocational training and employment opportunities.


Lessons learned The challenges of maintaining a quality provision of multi agency services was considerable. Whilst the individuals were consistent in their aspirations and problems, other agencies failed to use sport, arts and technology to reflect and meet the diverse, social, cultural and emotional needs of the young people the Youth charter was aiming to assist.


Summary The Youth Charter delivered a social coach seminar to staff of HMPYOI Thorn Cross and developed an ongoing relationship which saw inmates visit the 2002 Commonwealth Games. HMPYOI Thorn Cross also produced the ‘Globe of Hands’ which was the centre piece and symbolic artistic sculpture at the Moss Side Millennium Powerhouse, in Moss Side, Manchester. A proposal is currently pending with regards to developing a long term and sustainable programme of work to compliment their existing work with professional soccer clubs and community groups.


What we inspired The Youth Charter contributed to the Prison Officers Physical Education and Education & Skills curriculum planning day which led to the formulation of a national pilot. The Greater Manchester Health Action Zone ‘Let’s Get Serious’ programme was also inspired and developed as a result of the Youthwise in Institutions programme. Youthwise© in the Community was also utilised in assisting the Government’s Drug Action and Youth Offending Teams in developing crime prevention an anti social interventions through sport and the arts. Positive Futures was also inspired by Youthwise© in Institutions.


Agencies National Probation Service, Group 4, Department of Education and Skills, Youth Justice Board, Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester Police, Merseyside Police, West Midlands Police, Association of Chief Police Officers, British Transport Police, Crime Concern, Home Office, Rugby Football Union, NSPCC, Smart Justice


3.6 Youthwise© to Work


Youthwise© to Work was developed as a result of the ongoing inability to place young people that we had successfully engaged through our programmes once sport and the arts had acted as cultural tools of provid- ing the confidence to pursue or re-engage with vocation, training and employment opportunities. Youthwise© to Work was delivered in three ways, firstly we provided social coach training to school leavers, unemployed and probationary young people as part of our everyday office management and operation. This was challenging, but rewarding as it provided invaluable insights as to the social strengths and weaknesses of the young people we were assisting. The consistent areas of development that required specific focus were; communication skills, punctuality and enthusiasm. Other educational/vocational skills were then developed around a ‘work/life plan’ for the duration of the work placement/experience training.


Exclusion by any part of the community from the opportunity to public & private services leads to:  downward spiral of poverty  poor living conditions  demoralisation  ill health  exposure to (and involvement in) crime and violence


Or in other words social exclusion.


For a community or society to improve it must move through stages commonly described as: Exclusion - Inclusion - Cohesion


Exclusion comes from discrimination and/or multiple disadvantages and can only improve by focusing on the problem. Once the problem has been identified solutions can then be sought. Social inclusion tackles not only exclusion but also the wider community. The economic input, in the form of resources, not needed for exclusion problems can be redeployed benefiting the included as well as the excluded. Cohesion focuses on the whole community, participation & governance, as well as helping the excluded.


Social capital is the value created by the whole range of social institutions. These bring people together to create resources and assets for social renewal and development and hence increase the quality of life for people in the local community. Economic regeneration and the development of social capital are mutually re-enforcing objectives. The development and maintenance of social capital is a fundamental building block of employment, services and a sustainable living environment.


A stable and sustainable economy can only result if organisations are successful and individuals are both employable and personally fulfilled; the key to both these objectives is having the right skills. This was the premise for the 2003 government publication 21st Century Skills: Realising Our Potential. Given that unemployment is one of the indices of deprivation, much of the deployment of 21st Century Skills: Realising Our Potential has focussed on developing the national skills base.


Reflecting a global change away from a ‘job for life’ the government focus was on employability for life; this phenomenon had even been seen in Japan with perhaps the most loyal workforce in the world. At all levels and ages of society programmes and services have been developed from nursery to higher education; some more successful than others.


Since 1997, the Government has developed policies based on the interdependence of social justice and economic success. Record low levels of unemployment have been achieved, with low inflation, and high investment to modernise public services. Nonetheless, our economic productivity and competitiveness remain well below those of major competitor nations. One reason is that there are some serious gaps in our national skills base.


Competing on the basis of low wage costs is not an option. We must compete on the basis of our capability for innovation, enterprise, quality, and adding greater value through our products and services. All of that is dependent on raising our skills game. (Cm 5810)*


Social (or community) enterprises can be differentiated from the rest of the third economy in that they engage in trading. Pearce (2003)* suggests that it accounts for roughly 20-25% of the economy and will rise to prominence achieving proper recognition in 10-20 years. The modern social enterprise movement originated in the UK during the 1970’s and grew steadily until experiencing a decline following the economic downturn of the early 1990’s. Interest in social enterprises was re-invigorated by the introduction of SRB and EU funding.


Many social enterprises are autonomous organisations whose governance and ownership structures are normally based on participation by stakeholder groups (e.g. employees, users, clients, local community groups and social investors) or by trustees or directors who control the enterprise on behalf of a wider group of stakeholders. They are accountable to their stakeholders and the wider community for their social, environmental and economic impact. Profits can be distributed as profit sharing to stakeholders or used for the benefit of the community.


The Social Enterprise Coalition’s (SEC 2004)* view is that a social enterprise is not defined by its legal status but by its nature: its social aims and outcomes, the basis on which its social mission is embedded in its structure and governance, and the way it uses the profits it generates through its trading activities.


Fig. 3.5 Overview of the economy


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The references underlined in this report can be hyperlinked on the electronic version via the Youth Charter website: www.youthcharter.co.uk


*Refer reference pages 45 - 46


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