Youth and community work

Stroud District Council deliver youth and community work with and for young people across the district.

A small team of specialist youth and community workers deliver a youth service, mainly focusing (but not exclusively) on youth participation projects and programmes with and for young people in their communities. This team typically works in partnership with various SDC officers, including Neighbourhood Wardens, plus many other community stakeholders across the district.

SDC has been involved in the delivery of youth and community work since the late 1990’s. Initially we supported local youth projects through community safety initiatives then, in March 2000 we established Stroud District Youth Council.

In 2006, we gained our own professional youth and community work post to further develop our services, whilst continuing the aforementioned support. The post still exists today managing the strategic and operational aspects of the SDC Youth Service. We adopted the national Hear By Right standards in 2008 to support organisational change with the Council.

A strong culture of youth participation has emerged over time and is now a unique feature for young people in the district. Since 2012, the Council have formalised this work through a youth work strategy.

SDC has overseen Stroud District Youth Council’s (SDYC) growth into an award winning, diverse and highly respected organisation that acts as the recognised voice for young people in the district. SDYC is complemented by nine local youth forum groups that make up the Stroud Youth Voice Vehicle.

Impact and Outcomes

Young people engage voluntarily and through a community development based youth work approach laid out by the service. They typically work in small groups, with a variety of opportunities to collectively influence changes in the following:

• The services they receive
• The communities where they live
• Their own personal, social and educational development 

The outcomes which young people can expect from there involvement, feature in seven 'clusters of capabilities' as defined in the Catalyst Framework of Young Peoples Outcomes - the clusters are broadly described as:

• Communication
• Confidence and Agency
• Planning and Problem Solving
• Relationships and Leadership
• Creativity
• Resilience and Determination
• Managing Feelings