Connexions capacity building

Project 1: Developing Young People Through Voluntary Action 2003/04 and 2005/07

Project 2: Voluntary Youth Group Development Worker 

Target group: Voluntary and community groups working directly with young people; specifically those groups focussing on disadvantaged areas or communities.

Project start date:

Project 1: September 2003 - Completed December 2004.
Extended for 2004/05 and 2005/06

Project 2: April 2004 - March 2006

Aim (Project 1):

This project provided training opportunities for 40 community/voluntary groups across South London, and offered some intensive capacity building support to a further 12 groups. The aim was to strengthen the capacity of these groups to provide services to young people; to increase their involvement in the Connexions agenda; and to increase their ability to successfully apply for additional resources to support and develop their work. The main success of this project was that the funding enabled the delivery of a range of training, including basic youth work training for staff and volunteers, which could not otherwise have been offered, and both the take-up and evaluation of this were positive.

In December 2004 a further bid was successfully submitted to develop the work started under the Developing Young People through Voluntary Action project 2003/04. The project will focus on training and in particular will concentrate on risk-assessment, organisational development and project management. Following the success of the basic youth work training for staff and volunteers under the previous programme this will be extended.

Aim (Project 2):

To support the development of voluntary and community groups working with young people in disadvantaged areas of Sutton so as to enable those groups to play an active part in planning and delivering the local Connexions agenda.

To take a strategic lead on behalf of the South London CVS Partnership in mapping voluntary youth groups provision and involvement in Connexions across the six boroughs covered by the South London Connexions Service. To ensure the views of local groups are involved in the strategic planning of Connexions' services and to feedback to these groups about strategic developments within Connexions. To make recommendations for the further involvement of the voluntary/community sector in the Connexions agenda.

Funding (Project 1) ESF/Connexions Co-Financing Programme 2003/4

Funding (Project 2): Connexions Community and Voluntary Grants Programme 2004/05

Key staff: Susanna Bennett: susanna@suttoncvs.org.uk Rob Mobile: rob@suttoncvs.org.uk and local CVS development workers.

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