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YouthVoice2:
Self Concept and Youth Empowerment Project

Project Background

This project followed on from work begun in the first YouthVoice project in consulting young people about aspects of mental well being, and linked that activity to the self-concept of participants. Building on research by Debi Roker at TSA on the benefits of campaigning and volunteering, 'YV2' worked with groups of young people as volunteer consultants and participants. The work was funded by the Pidem Fund.

The Project

Devising a self-concept monitoring tool

Consultations were held in Glasgow and South East England with young people aged between 14 and 21 on the elements that they defined as influencing their self- concept. From the information a youth-friendly tool for monitoring individual change in self-concept has been devised and piloted with groups of young people.

One Year On: Report on the Coalition 4 Youth: YV2 produced a report on the work of the Coalition 4 Youth, a participation and campaigning group in Brighton and Hove. This report is available on the TSA website - see above.

Young people in Glasgow: In Glasgow a group of six secondary school girls participated in a series of four workshops to explore self-concept and contribute their ideas to the project.

Marilyn McGowan conducted a consultation about self-harm with young people in Glasgow, which has produced a moving collection of personal stories drawing out the views of those who self-harm.

Peer supporters: Young peer supporters in the Midlands and in London have been consulted in workshops and have taken part in the management group of the National Peer Support Network.

Project development

Young offenders: Anita Wilson produced a report after consulting young offenders at Aylesbury YOI about their experience of participating in the Trailblazers mentoring scheme, and how that has changed the way they see themselves. The report is available on the TSA website.

The formation of the think tank Core Advisory Team: Young people aged 16-23 years, from the South East and London, communicated online ,in consultation meetings, and in residential weekends. Drawing on the information gained in the project consultations and their personal experience, they worked to contribute to a resource for school aged young people about mental health. From these participants a group of eight became the Core Advisory Team ( CAT) for the whole project and put forward ideas for a funding application for a new project to facilitate the communication of coping strategies to school aged young people by their peers. Consultations on emotional health were run with young people across England to contribute to this application. Funding was granted by the Big Lottery Fund and the new programme, Youth Voice Peer Power programme began in January 2006.The CAT contributed to material for a DVD/CD training resource Emotional Health which was published by TSA in July 2005.

Project Staff

Dorothy Eddi Piper was the project manager. She worked with Paul Campbell, Marilyn McGowan, Carol Mulineux, Saskia Neary and Anita Wilson.

More information:
Please contact Young People in Focus
Email: info@youngpeopleinfocus.org.uk
Tel: 01273 693311

December 2006