I noticed a brief article on the Youth Work Now website about the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) looking to develop an accreditation system for voluntary youth workers.

Under the system volunteer youth workers would take part in training to develop skills, with successful candidates getting a certificate or card to show they are a recognised volunteer youth worker.

Although the details are pretty sketchy at this point, I believe this could be a fantastic opportunity. I’ve been looking at ways to develop and train our Children and Youth Leaders (ChYL) at the church. Each week we have over 20 volunteers who help deliver a variety of activities and a basic foundation in youth work theory could benefit them greatly.

One of the existing options that I’ve examined is running the YMCA Introductory Studies locally. It’s a VRQ Level 2 (considered equivalent to a GCSE) and is competence based so students must provide evidence for their learning during their normal volunteering. Ideally, I would hope to start it in Littlehampton some time later in the year.

However, if the NCVYS do develop an accreditation system, I would seriously consider adopting it with our team as a way of validating their skills and experience.