The North East Youth Alliance (NEYA)

The North East Youth Alliance (NEYA) has been set up in partnership with Youth Focus North East and NE Youth. The alliance has been set up to support the development and sustainability of individuals and organisations who are working to improve the lives of young people across the North East. The North East Youth Alliance is enabling young people to meet with influencers and decision makers from a range of sectors to discuss their views on the things that matter to them with a goal of influencing change. Youth voice is at the very heart of this project, we want young people to be involved at all levels and stages. Although the NEYA is still in its very early stages, young people have already shared their voice by helping us design our wonderful logo. Through this Alliance young people are improving their confidence, communication, decision making and influencing skills to have greater knowledge of local services and the decision-making processes that regulate them. As a result of this organisations will gain new understanding of the needs of young people at a local and national level.

 

The alliance is split into two main strands – workforce development and community based provision all with young people at its heart.

 

Workforce Development: We will develop thematic hubs, aimed at tackling the challenges in the sector we all face. We will focus on supporting organisations to come together in order to identify and respond effectively to those challenges. The first thematic hub will be focused on workforce development – it is something we always talk about but have rarely found the time or the resources to address properly. The workforce development project plan will be informed by the sector, but a few of the areas we are looking at are; delivering, and supporting access to, good quality training and qualifications; supporting effective continuous professional development – these could take the form of communities of practice, action learning sets or more informal local networks; developing leadership and management skills.

Community based provision: The first two years of the programme will see the North East Youth Alliance working in distinct geographical areas: Birtley in the north of the region and East Cleveland in the south. Work will be focused on supporting local organisations to develop, sustain and grow a youth offer which matches the aspirations and needs of local young people. Years 3-5 will see us widen our number of areas using the learning we develop over the first two years. The approach will be a grassroots up one – driven by young people and members of the community – rather than a top down strategic one. Local people will set the direction and focus of the work; the North East Youth Alliance will support them to do it.

 

If you would like to get involved or require more information you can email [email protected]