Youth Commission report launched
9 July 2010
Last year we commissioned 4Children, a national children’s
charity, to establish a Knowsley Commission into the lives of young
people.
The Commission was chaired by Phil Redmond and was overseen by a
panel of expert commissioners including national commentators and
broadcasters; academics and sector professionals.
The Commission has found that young people are positive about
their futures but need help from their families, communities,
teachers and other professionals to succeed. The Knowsley
Young People’s Commission has set out to help make this happen;
putting forward far reaching recommendations in its new report
Working towards unlocking the potential of young people in Knowsley
at which was launched today at The Youthy.
Recommendations include:
1. Building aspiration: A new promise to all young
people in Knowsley to raise young people’s aspirations through
schools and youth clubs with mentors and young people’s champions
drawn from the local community.
2. Broaden horizons: An offer to young people of a range of
activities designed to help them understand their learning / work
options post 16 and open opportunities for their futures.
3. Inspire self-empowerment: A step change in supporting
young people to become agents of their own destiny by putting them
at the heart of local authority decision-making and budget
allocation regarding the planning and delivery of services and
activities.
4. Positive parenting: Helping parents to become positive
influences in supporting young people in their education and life
choices.
5. Harness entrepreneurial skills: Local authorities should
establish a bold youth enterprise strategy, bringing together
schools; enterprise organisations; local businesses and young
people to create a comprehensive programme of support for children
of primary school age onwards.
6. A new focus on measuring success: Develop a new range of
non academic indicators to unveil a story that current statistics
don’t tell, eg achievement in social skills, music, arts,
entrepreneurship and community involvement.
7. Knowsley to become a blueprint for other areas around
the country: The Commission believes that recommendation within
this report can be successfully applied to other areas across the
country.
Knowsley is committed to putting the needs of children and young
people at the heart of local policies. Knowsley is the first area
in the country to carry out such a major, independent investigation
into the lives of young people, listening to their voice and
understanding the lives they live. We will take these findings
forward and work on the recommendations in preparation for a ‘Next
Steps’ Conference in the Autumn.
View the Knowsley Young People’s Commission report on the
4Children website.