Yesterday I was at the NVYO (national voluntary youth organisations) chief officers meeting. Not because I am a chief officer, but more because I am closest and those senior to me can’t get there.

The day was hosted by NCVYS which YFC are members of. Their website is fairly useful and saves me a lot of time when looking for info.

It was a valuable networking experience and I met up with my friend Yvonne Criddle and met others.

There was a packed agenda and I think the best part of the day by far was an hour when Marcus Bell from DfES chatted about the Youth Green Paper. This has not been published yet, and he apologised for that. It should have been out in October, then December … maybe June now!

I was encouraged by 2 things Marcus said at the beginning. First, the green paper would be positive about youth. This was welcome in the light of current government comments (all brought about I think because John Prescott tripped over a lad in a hoodie!). Secondly, it was going to be a green paper, meaning this was going to be a truly consultative document with 12 weeks to make comments.

Marcus then asked 3 questions (something else encouraging from the dfes!!):

How can we make young people’s voice count?
How can we ensure provision for young people is a priority?
What is the best way of involving young people in the consultation process.

It is encouraging to see the DfES asking this, and these are good questions to ponder for those of us who are in youth work of any kind.

I’ve got to end with a bit of a moan and exasperation though. For a change, at the these meetings, my exasperation is not with ministers or civil servants but with a practitioner! I won’t name this person but this person spoke of playing golf at the weekend. She came across 2 lads on her golf course who had not paid, had borrowed a couple of clubs, ‘because they could not afford any of their own’ ho then spent 2 hours on the golf course, causing no problem for others.

In response to question 2 on youth provision this same woman said ‘it’s easy … give them all free golf and free equipment.’

I started to smile, but then had to stifle a laugh as I realised she was being serious …. if only it was that simple ….. or maybe it is and I should have spent my budgets of past years very quickly!

“ends with deep sigh of resigned shock”