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In March 2005, the Russell Commission issued their recommendations to the Home Office on how to engage more young people in volunteering. Central to the recommendations was the recognition and accreditation of young volunteers, with UK Youth’s Youth Achievement Awards highlighted as the key route to accreditation.
In May 2006, v was launched- an independent charity set up to ensure that Ian Russell's vision for youth volunteering became reality (www.wearev.com). As part of this v are commited to supporting groups to access the Youth Achievement Awards to accredit young volunteers through their funded programmes. Between October 2006 and December 2008, almost 100 national, regional and local organisations have accessed the Awards via this route and 315 full Awards have been gained by young volunteers on the programme with hundreds more gaining one or more individual Challenge certificates for their activities and achievements.
If you are a v funded project and would like to know more about using the Youth Achievement Awards with your young volunteers, please download the following information pack.
Why choose UK Youth’s Youth Achievement Awards to accredit young people’s volunteering?
- Want to accredit young volunteers’ achievement but not sure how to go about it?
- Confused by the range of different accreditation programmes on offer and unsure about which one might be best for your young people?
Choosing an appropriate route for accrediting young people’s achievements in volunteering can be tricky.First of all you’ve got to set aside the time to research all the options and cost out the benefits. Then there’s getting your head around all the acronyms, names of awarding bodies and different levels of participation. Finally there’s the question of which one most closely fits the activities in which you are engaging young people.At UK Youth we believe we have an award that is so flexible and young person focussed it complements any volunteering activity a young person may choose to take part in. We’re confident that you won’t find another programme that fulfils your needs quite like the Youth Achievement Awards.
But don’t take our word for it. The choices out there are many and varied and should all be explored. However, while you’re weighing up all the accreditation options for young volunteers consider the following key questions:
1) Is the award accessible to all young people?
The YAA is available in 14 different languages, in Braille, large print, pictures/symbols, audio, BSL, in hard copy and on-line. Young people do not have to be linked to any membership organisation. Evidence collected can be in any form – videos, photographs, pictures, questionnaires, testimonies, diary extracts, and emails – in other words young people don’t have to be able to write loads.
2) Can young people achieve the
entire award through volunteering activities? The YAA is a totally flexible award.Young people choose their own challenges which can be focussed on any subject – what is being assessed is the level of their participation and the learning involved.So it’s easy for a young person to complete some or all of the award based on their volunteering activities – and it’s also an ideal way of widening their understanding of, and participation in, community life by introducing challenges based on community awareness, or the recruitment and retention of other young people as volunteers.
3) Is the award flexible?
The YAA is broken down into manageable challenges of 15 hours each making it suitable for part time or full time volunteers.Young people have a choice as to which level they want to engage in from Bronze up to Platinum. There’s no time limit – young people can take as long as they need to finish it. The YAA is transferable – young people can complete challenges in however many volunteering activities they are engaged with – in school, in a youth group, on a short term community action project.The YAA can also be mapped alongside and complement other awards ie: a young person completing her Queens Guide Award can also be working towards Platinum YAA.
4) Will you receive training and support in delivering the award to young people?
All workers supporting groups of young people doing the YAA receive training from one of our Development Officers who then goes on to support agencies with face to face meetings, email and telephone contact, moderation and networking meetings, and newsletters.In addition to this agencies have access to all of UK Youth’s youth work and training programmes and resources.
5) Is the award young person focussed?
The YAA is a peer education approach to recognising and accrediting young people’s achievements. Young people come together to form an Award Group where they, guided by their Award Group Worker, help one another to set and plan appropriate challenges and to identify learning targets within them. When challenges are completed they are reviewed and assessed by the Award Group before being moderated both internally and then externally to ensure that national standards are maintained.
6) Is the award grounded in good youth work principles?
YAA is a group work focussed award. Young people are encouraged and supported in developing key personal and social skills such as team work, problem solving, communication skills, decision making, planning and reviewing.Training and support received from UK Youth Development Officers produce trained award group workers who facilitate youth led activities. In this culture of planning and reviewing overall standards are raised and monitoring and recording systems put in place.
7) Does the award recognise young people’s progression?
Young people can start the YAA at any level – Bronze, Sliver, Gold or Platinum – and progress up the levels of responsibility at their own pace - or simply enjoy the level they’re at.
8) Is the award recognised nationally?
The YAA is accredited by ASDAN and used in 7 countries across Europe. It has a place on the National Framework of Awards in Non-Formal Educational Settings alongside other awards such as the Duke of Edinburgh and Sports Leaders UK. YAA is also the nominated route to accreditation of v, the youth volunteering charity set up following the Russell Commission’s recommendation for the expansion of youth volunteering in Britain.
| For Frequently Asked Questions, please click here |
Past Events
Young Volunteers and the Youth Achievement Awards Seminars
UK Youth’s Youth Volunteering and the Youth Achievement Awards Seminars took place on 24th September & 1st October 2008. These one day seminars focussed on the use of UK Youth’s Youth Achievement Awards as a means of accrediting the work of young volunteers across England.
The target audience for the seminars were face-to-face workers, development officers and managers involved in delivering part time and full time volunteering opportunities to young people and who were completely new to the Awards.
The seminars were attended by 49 delegates and 3 staff over the two events. The delegate list for each seminar can be found in Appendix 2. At the seminars, The British Youth Council, VSU Youth in Action Kent, ICA:UK and Cheshire’s Youth Federation gave a presentation to delegates on how they have used the Youth Achievement Awards to complement young volunteers’ activities.
To download the evaluation of the seminar and read the article from the Source!, please click on the links below:
Good Practice Examples
YAA can add value to youth volunteering projects in many ways. But don’t take out word for it – click on the stories below to see what the young volunteers say themselves.
Further resources
If you’re new to youth volunteering and looking
for a few tips to get you started why not download our free leaflet? 
Familiar with YAA but looking to widen the kinds of challenges you’re offering to young volunteers? Click below for our free booklet with suggestions focussing on community awareness, recruitment and retention, and celebrating and recognising young volunteers, in addition to volunteering activity challenges.
- More Ways To Use the Youth Achievement Awards with Young Volunteers Booklet
Challenge certificates can be especially useful for young people who are not able to complete an entire Award - either because of the time involved or because of the nature of that young person’s engagement with you. They can also be used as an incentive for young people to encourage them to continue on and begin another challenge.Whichever way they are used, challenge certificates have proven to be a valued tool in recognising and celebrating young people’s achievement in the YAA.
Take Up The Challenge is UK Youth's newest resource designed to support the engagement of young volunteers in the Youth Achievement Awards programme by giving them their first YAA challenge in a self contained format which they can take to a volunteer placement or taster opportunity. The booklet (which is now available in a more generic form for use with all young people, not just young volunteers) has been developed following feedback from agencies and takes a young person new to YAA through the steps needed to gaining a Challenge. On completion the young person is issued with a Challenge certificate and an invitation to join an Award Group and go on to complete a whole Award.
Booklets may be purchased in packs of 5 (£5 per pack) in the usual way. A fuller explanation of its use and parameters is included in each pack. For further details contact stella@ukyouth.org
For more information about a range of different Awards for young people available across the country download a free copy of National Framework of Awards in Non-Formal Settings.
