Step Up Step Up - December 2013 | Página 13

STEP UP PAGE 13 POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION Croydon’s youth offer These are challenging times but the council believes it is ‘…it is essential that young people are at the heart of this process...’ possible to have a ‘Croydon youth offer’ that is fundamentally pioneering, flexible and responsive to the needs and aspirations of young people. Over the next few months, two new groups will be established to help define and prioritise the services, activities and programmes that young people want to access. To ensure success in the creation of a dynamic and relevant youth offer for Croydon it is essential that young people are at the heart of this process and are encouraged to commit and participate in this exciting new task group. Therefore, the membership of the first group will include young people from Croydon’s locality area youth forums, school councils, the Croydon Youth Council and any voluntary sector youth councils, as well as individuals who are interested in representing Croydon’s diverse youth population. The second group will bring together professionals and practitioners from the local authority, local community, and charitable and voluntary sector groups. The main purpose of the two new task groups is: ? To explore how the voluntary, charitable, community and statutory sectors can work in effective partnerships resulting in better outcomes for young people. ? To create a clear definition of what is meant by the term ‘youth offer’. ? To develop a youth offer for Croydon that is effective, innovative and fit for purpose, ensuring a ‘joined-up’ approach to implementation and delivery across Croydon. ? To identify specific outcomes that enable young people who live, attend school or college, or work in Croydon to experience a good adolescence. ? To identify new sources of funding and, through the borough commissioning process and partnership working, procure or develop play and youth provision that meets identified outcomes. For further information about the work of these task groups, email [email protected] .