What is it all about? Youth Participation Car park Help yourselves to drinks Energiser/treat cards Please speak up!

Youth Participation In 2009 Girlguiding recruited members of The Senior Section to form a Task and Finish Group to write a Youth Participation Strategy for the organisation.

Youth Participation These young women consulted with 4,100 guiding members, from five-year-old Rainbows to adult Leaders through focus groups, activity packs and online surveys.

Here are highlights of their findings : Youth Participation Here are highlights of their findings : Over 80 per cent of Brownies say they get to make decisions but 62.5 per cent would like to make even more decisions. 100 per cent of North West England Brownies and Guides wanted to help design their uniforms. Over 45 per cent of The Senior Section members thought that youth participation is an essential part of Girlguiding and more of it should be done at all levels of the organisation.

Youth Participation This is what some of them said : To me, ‘girls in the lead’ means that in anything we do, from zip wires to crafts, we are leading the way as Guides. ~ North East England Guide ‘Girls in the lead’ means taking control and leading the way in having fun. ~ North East England Guide Adults and young people should work together and learn from each other. Youth participation offers young people the chance to identify and resolve issues. Barriers can include decision-making processes, people, location, cost etc. Young people should be involved in the planning, evaluation and delivery of a project and offered feedback from consultation.

Youth Participation And what about our adults… Almost 500 Adults said there were barriers to youth participation in their units, including age, communication, cost and availability of time and adult support.

Youth Participation The strategy aims to: build on what we are already doing integrate girls into our decision-making structures support adults and young people develop the decision-making skills of young people.

Youth Participation So what do we need to do?

Youth Participation ‘There are many examples of good youth participation at every level of the organisation which are to be built upon and learned from.’ Let’s think about how we encourage our young people to be involved and make their own decisions and take it one step further.  

Youth Participation ‘Skills development is important to enable girls and young women to be involved, starting with the youngest age group all the way through to adults.’ What skills can we help them with? Not just cutting and pasting, but decision-making, team leading, negotiation – all through application of the programme with girl-led guiding.

Youth Participation ‘Youth participation isn’t just about democratic decision making – it’s about being able to take part in events and other opportunities too.’ How do we ensure the young people hear about all the events? Do we just give them the choice to go or not? Or do we ask them to join the planning team?

Youth Participation ‘Girls and young women want to know who “runs” the organisation and how they can get in touch and get involved.’ Do we help them meet the District, the Division and the County? The Centenary evaluation told us that girls valued working with their peers – but have we gone backwards?

Youth Participation Let’s do it! In summary : Youth Participation is young members having sufficient opportunities and skills to take the lead by making and influencing decisions and having their voices heard at all levels within the organisation. Let’s do it!