Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Children and Families Secretary Ed Balls will today launch a new Young Muslim Advisory Group and unveil the names of the twenty two young people who will act as advisors. The group, who will have their first official meeting in the coming weeks, will work directly with Government to help deepen its engagement with young Muslims. The advisors will talk to ministers and policy makers first hand about the issues affecting their day to day lives. Ranging in age from 16-25 this unique group is comprised of individuals from across England and across denominations and includes students, undergraduates as well as a trainee lawyer, youth leaders, a speech and language therapist.
The Young Muslim Advisory Group (YMAG) will have direct access to senior cabinet ministers and will work with Government departments to find solutions to a range of challenges including tackling discrimination; increasing employment levels; preventing extremism and boosting civic participation. The young advisors will bring a wide range of experience. All are already heavily involved in their local communities through volunteering, youth work or as representatives on local groups. The advisors have a huge reach into communities and this contact will help to generate debate and discussion amongst the widest possible audience.

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7 October 2008
© Communities and Local Government (National)

John Soutar, 15 years old from Lionel, Isle of Lewis, has been selected as the national winner in the 2008 BT Internet Ranger of the Year Awards. The awards are a nationwide hunt to find and reward young people who are playing a crucial role in helping older generations get online.
The BT Internet Ranger Awards, now in their fourth year, celebrate stories of outstanding young people who are sharing their internet skills with others. It forms part of the BT Internet Ranger campaign, set up following research which highlighted that nearly a third of parents and grandparents, 32 per cent, have been taught or encouraged to try the internet by a young person aged between 13 to 16 years. John was presented with his prize of a laptop plus £250 in IT vouchers from Angus McNeil MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar at a special event held today at the BT Tower in London. John, who attends Nicolson Institute in Stornoway, was recognised for helping his mum, Elspeth, start a new life on Hebridean Island after she became a single parent. With a solid understanding of the internet and a natural knack for web design, John designed and built a website for the family business - two self-catering cottages for holiday-makers on the island - from which the entire family income had to be earned. John spent hours teaching Elspeth how to manage the website as well as how to research, advertise and take bookings using the internet. With patience and a level-headed approach, John provided Elspeth with regular refresher courses as the business became more successful and consequently, more complicated. John’s internet-tutoring skills and talent for web design were quickly picked up by the local community, where he has offered his expertise to help teach both adults and children about the internet at an innovative local IT project, for which he has also spent hours building their website.

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7 October 2008
© BT

The IT Diploma Supporters’ Club met for the first time in London recently. The group has been formed to champion the new diploma for 14-19 year olds, and to provide a forum to discuss its development and delivery. Around 70 participants from the IT and Telecoms sector, Higher Education Institutions, schools, colleges and Education Business Partnerships came together to focus on three main areas - employer engagement, higher education engagement and support for schools and colleges. Karen Price, CEO of e-skills UK attended the event and said: “Effective collaboration between educators and employers is vital to the success of the diploma. This club brings together key partners keen to help make the diploma the best possible experience for students.” The Diploma in IT is one of a suite of new qualifications for 14-19-year-olds in England. Developed in partnership with employers and universities, the diploma blends general education and applied learning to provide a motivating and challenging programme of study. For more information about the Diploma in IT, visit www.e-skills.com/diploma

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6 October 2008
© e-skills uk

The results of our Great Rural Debate on Schools poll are in. We asked you if a rural community can thrive without a local school? Just over 60 percent of voters said no. The Great Rural Debate on Schools was launched to tie in with the recent consultation on the Scottish Government’s proposals to change the way school closures are handled. The issue is a complex one - and we recognise that the poll is just a snapshot. To kickstart debate, Dr Kate Braithwaite from Carnegie UK Trust and north-east parent Paulina Johnston gave their views on the subject. Rural Gateway members have been adding comments about the issue. You can read these valuable contributions and comments, and join the discussion at Great Rural Debate on Schools: http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2373&d=11&h=24&f=46

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3 October 2008
© Rural Gateway

The government will this week outline plans to make it easier for more people to volunteer for key roles in their local community, a key recommendation of The Morgan Inquiry that was launched earlier this year with The Scout Association’s support. Launched in February, The Morgan Inquiry found that many young adults would benefit from an extra eight hours leave a year from their jobs for voluntary activities. It also included the recommendation for a flexible day off to encourage volunteering. Later this week, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears will announce proposals to broaden the list of activities that will entitle people to time off work. Magistrates, school governors and members of health bodies or police authorities already have time off entitlements. But the government will be looking at whether this should be extended to other roles to better reflect modern life and the needs of local communities. ‘Nearly three quarters of all adults volunteered at least once during last year, with almost half volunteering at least once a month,’ said Blears. If we value volunteering and community spirit then we have a responsibility to see what we can do to make it easier for more people, from all walks of life to get involved.’

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1 October 2008
© Scouts Association Website

Rural children are disadvantaged by a lack of public transport and rising fuel costs, reveals a study. More than 70% of teachers believe transport problems mean children have difficulty getting to and from school or college. The situation has left pupils unable to get involved in school sports, choirs and orchestras or plays. The Association of Teaches and Lecturers questioned 475 teachers in schools and colleges earlier this summer. Some 77% of teachers said transport problems prevented children from taking part in after-school activities. Over 50% said a lack of transport prevented parents from attending school or college parent meetings to discuss their children’s progress and seeing their children perform in school events. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers is an independent, registered trade union and professional association, representing approximately 160,000 teachers, lecturers and support staff.

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29 September 2008
© RS Online

A £136m youth volunteering drive is today relaunching in a bid to get more young people in England involved in charity work. The organisation V was set up two years ago with the aim of getting a million young people to give up some of their free time - but it has been accused of failing to boost volunteering figures. V’s own research revealed the majority of young people (66% of those questioned) find the term “volunteering” off-putting – and 21% suggested volunteering had a boring image. V’s new campaign, Favours, aims to transform the way 16- to 25-year-olds in England perceive volunteering. Favours is so-called because in the V survey, 80% of young people said they had done a favour for someone outside their family and friends.
Terry Ryall, the V chief executive, explained: “We think volunteering is as simple as doing someone a favour.” The purpose of Favours, says Ryall, is to “surprise, shock, excite and engage” young people with schemes they normally “wouldn’t expect” from a volunteering body. “We want to show people volunteering is interesting, relevant, credible and has innovative opportunities in the areas they are passionate about” says Ryall. V needed to “start talking to the 16-25 age group in a way that resonates with them”. Despite the survey’s findings, says Ryall, “there is a growing appetite for volunteering”. The organisation, she adds, now wants to turn this interest into “actual activity by making the offering so compelling young people can’t resist it”.

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29 September 2008
© Volunteering Merseyside

Young Londoners explained their fears about violent crime to Met officers at the MPA’s Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board (EODB) on 25 September 2008. Kirsten Hearn, chair of the EODB, said: “I welcome and thank the young people from the North East London College, Hillingdon Youth Service and the MPS Corporate Advisory Group who have come here to tell us their fears and concerns about youth crime in London. Knife related crimes are the Met’s top priority and I also thank DAC Alf Hitchcock, who leads on this issue, for taking part in our debate. Only by working together can young people and police find solutions to the terrible violence that is blighting our communities.” The young people’s concerns were wide ranging and included being afraid to go out at night, worries about disproportionality in the use of stop and search and the effectiveness of search arches.

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26 September 2008
© Metropolitan Police Authority (National)

A new scheme to encourage young people to experience live theatre was unveiled today by Culture Secretary Andy Burnham. A £2.5 million programme - funded by Arts Council England, who will manage the scheme - will be focused on some 95 venues all over England. Each will offer a proportion of the tickets for arts productions on the same night every week - free - to anyone under 26 years old. The scheme will start in February 2009 with an initial goal of providing a million free tickets by March 2011. Theatres taking part will have to guarantee free seats for young people across the whole two-year period.

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23 September 2008
© Department for Culture, Media And Sport (National)

The British Red Cross is to support a two-year partnership to improve first aid and citizenship skills in young people. Involving 18 charities, Girlguiding UK’s Changing the World scheme will see young girls work to learn more about issues facing today’s communities. The British Red Cross is to contribute a series of eight downloadable resources, entitled The Power of Humanity, which will cover topics such as responding to emergencies, first aid skills and humanitarian citizenship. Mairi Allan, head of schools and community education at the charity, commented: “We want to mobilise the power of young people to be humanitarian citizens wherever they are - and the Girl Guides share our vision.” Charities which are involved in the Changing the World programme include Asthma UK, Friends of the Earth, the National Deaf Children’s Society and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Each organisation will supply Girlguiding UK with activity packs to educate them on a topical issue and teach them ways to take more effective action.

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22 September 2008
© RISE