Our proposed Youth Work Bill
Girlguiding Scotland has responded to MSP Martin Whitfield’s proposal for a Youth Work Bill. Here’s how you can get involved…
We are delighted to see the proposal of a Youth Work Bill to make access to youth work protected by law. We know that from being part of Girlguiding Scotland, our girls are 26% more confident than the average Scottish girl. We know that the experiences that our 40,000 girls have, and the skills they develop are vital for their futures. So, we support a Bill that would make it possible for more girls to have access to this.
The Key Objectives of the proposed Bill include:
- Universal Access: mandating that youth work services are available to all young people aged 11-25, with particular focus on targeted support for disadvantaged groups.
- Equity and Fairness: breaking down systemic barriers to ensure youth work is inclusive and accessible, regardless of geography or background.
- Sustainability: establishing a dedicated Youth Work Fund to ensure consistent, high-quality service delivery across Scotland.
There is still time to make your voice heard!
The consultation is open for responses up until Monday 31 March.
YouthLink have created a guide to responding, and you can access the survey template, the online link and a young person-friendly guide to be used with young members.
We’ve included our response in the document linked below, but here are our key points to think about:
- Children’s Rights – how does this Bill support young people’s rights under the UNCRC (Scotland) Act.
- Universal Access – how will universal access to youth work help member organisations like us raise awareness about the youth work we provide.
- Funding – making sure that member organisations have accessible funding, particularly at unit level to support our youth work
- Impact – how will this support young people’s development, skills, wellbeing, and access to youth work.
- Volunteers – how can this help us to spotlight the amazing work of our volunteers. Showing that voluntary youth work comes from highly skilled and trained volunteers, and the benefits that volunteering can bring.
