Local Youth Partnerships (LYP) address the needs of children and young adults locally, through partnerships and collaboration. Robust, inclusive and varied partnerships encourage higher investment and support for youth, resulting in better outcomes for children, young people and communities.
LYPs are cross-sectoral partnerships that are established and led at the local level with the goal of convening, supporting, and sustaining youth work delivery in a specific area. LYPs can be initiated by various local organisations, including charities, voluntary organisations, local authorities, and housing associations, among others. They may take various forms, ranging from informal collaborations to formal partnerships or legally constituted organisations. Ultimately they improve outcomes for children and young people by expanding and shaping local provision, securing new resources, providing training and capacity, and creating spaces for leaders, youth workers, and groups and organisations to come together.
The development, sustainability and growth of Local Youth Partnerships is a high priority for Youth Focus North East and we are involved in developing and establishing these models of localised collaborative working in 6 of the 12 Local Authority Areas within the North East:
County Durham
Gateshead
Sunderland
Stockton on Tees
Middlesbrough
Darlington
Middlesbrough Youth Mutual
The Middlesbrough Youth Mutual (MYM) was formed by Youth Focus North East working in collaboration with three other youth organisations rooted in the area: Actes, the Linx Youth Project, and the Junction Foundation. In addition to these ‘Lead Members’ a number of other organisations have been or continue to be involved, including Middlesbrough Council, Teesside University, Cleveland Police plus a range of local and regional VCS organisations. MYM describes its mission as being to:
The priority has been to develop the following main themes within in the “Gateshead Youth Offer”:
Support the sustainability of high-quality youth provision across Middlesbrough.
MYM has become a space for providers of support to young people to explore how they can work together to better communicate impact, share resources and knowledge, increase the support on offer and work together more effectively. Working together the group has developed a detailed strategy with a common motivation to create a strong and sustainable youth sector in the borough. The strategy sets out a number key priorities reflecting the insights provided by young people themselves, and also the organisations that work with them. MYM have just secured funding from the National Lottery Community Fund of £401,000 to support the partnership,
Youth United Stockton Alliance
Youth United Stockton Alliance (YUSA) was formed by Youth Focus North East working in collaboration with seven other organisations rooted in the area and actively engaged with young people: BCT Aspire, Corner House Youth Project, Eastern Ravens Trust, Hardwick in Partnership (Hype Youth Project), Five Lamps, Catalyst Stockton-on-Tees, and YPFTrust.
YUSA describes itself as ‘an open and transparent strategic working group that works and consults with all key stakeholders to ensure that all children and young people have the very best opportunities in life’. The group has adopted the same language as MYM in describing its core purpose, to:
Support the sustainability of high-quality youth provision across Stockton-on-Tees.
They have established a five-year strategy for Youth Provision in Stockton, supported
by the local authority – the strategy was a direct response to the need for a long-term
high-level vision and strategy, with all key stakeholders consulted and involved, to ensure that there is a sustainable approach to positively impact on the lives of children
and young people so that they can all achieve their ambition, regardless of their backgrounds. YUSA have just secured funding from the National Lottery Community Fund of £276,000 to support the partnership.
Great to see. Each year it gets better and better on current issues within youth work at my organisation – shared experiences”
“Valuable to share experiences and knowledge with other youth workers and young people’s voices and Impact.”
Young people being here - YOUTH VOICE!”
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