Social opportunities and activities

The Extraordinary Lives report highlighted the importance of developing social skills, having an adult to turn to and having opportunities to experience activities, adventure, cultural, leisure and sports activities, in helping care leavers to feel more safe, secure and valued.

The national youth work strategy, Moving Forward: a strategy for improving young people’s chances through youth work, also confirms that all young people in Scotland should be able to benefit from youth activities which make a real difference to their lives.

National youth work strategy

The national youth work strategy, Moving Forward: A Strategy for Improving Young People's Chances though Youth Work, emphasises that Scotland should have a youth work sector equipped and empowered to achieve ongoing positive outcomes for young people now and in the future.

Youth work has a key role to play in providing positive opportunities for young people and can provide them with life-enhancing experiences. It can also develop young people’s personal growth and the growth of the communities they live in.

Essentially, youth work must be fun and enjoyable. But it must also engage young people with positive learning activities and help them achieve the best possible outcomes. For example, youth work can provide young people with opportunities to develop qualities (such as self-respect) and life skills (such as communication and social skills). For looked after children and care leavers such opportunities to develop key qualities and life skills are crucial. In local authorities youth work services are an essential part of being the corporate parent.

Youth work also provides young people with the chance to be listened to and actively take part in influencing local and national services and policies. And, importantly, youth work is inclusive of all young people, regardless of background, race, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

Young Scot

Young Scot provides information for 12-26-year-olds in Scotland on all aspects of life including money, jobs, education and health, as well as social activities and relationships.

It also produces a youth opportunities website called WOW - What’s on Where, which has:

• information for young people on youth opportunities and groups in their local areas
• case studies giving young people themselves the opportunity to understand the benefits available to them and their peer group
• user-friendly information for young people who are at risk or have particular problems or needs on opportunities in their own area.

Online networking

Many children and young people enjoy using social networking websites, like Bebo, MySpace and Facebook, to connect with their friends and meet new people.

But everyone needs to be careful about what information they put online and to be wary about who they meet on the internet.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) has advice on protecting children from potential sexual abuse and offers an education programme called ThinkuKnow to give children and young people the skills to protect themselves online.

Volunteering

Building on the commitment in the National Youth Work Strategy, the Scottish Government published Volunteering in the Youth Work Sector: An Action Plan in November 2007.

This aims to support the youth work sector to deliver more choices and more chances for more young people, by strengthening the network of volunteers.

It also aims to support more young people to move from being users of a service to becoming volunteers themselves.

As part of the Action Plan, the Scottish Government has agreed to support local authorities to have a key named Community Learning and Development contact for youth work and for this information to be easily available to volunteers.