Growing Up in the West Midlands is conducting two audits and needs responses from infrastructure organisations. The results will be published. The training audit will be used to develop a regional training and workforce development plan and the Quality Standards audit will be used to create a self-assessment toolkit for VCS CYP organisations.

The two surveys - both brief - are attached.

Thank you for your assistance.

Please return to alistair.fountain@wayc.org.uk

A local environmental group is running a poetry competition with a chance to win £50.

The Warwickshire branch of The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is holding the competition to celebrate the wonderful countryside in the area.

If you are a budding poet and think you can capture the essence of rural Warwickshire, then send your poems to:

CPRE Warwickshire
41A Smith St
Warwick
CV34 4JA

or email: poems@cprewarwickshire.org.uk by Monday 15 February 2010.

Terms and conditions:

October is Black History Month and events celebrating the diverse cultural history of people of African and Caribbean heritage are taking place up and down the country.

Why not take part and use the attached quiz to test the knowledge of your young people, compiled by Solihull Youth & Community Services.

Communitybuilders provides a mix of loans, grants and mentoring support to community groups to improve long-term financial stability and move away from grant dependency.

The three investment packages administered by Communitybuilders are:

11 MILLION is the organisation led by the Children's Commissioner for England. 11 MILLION makes sure that adults in charge listen to the views of young people. They organise the annual 'take over day' to show that young people can 'add value'.

Last year 17,000 children and young people ‘took over’ schools, TV stations, newspapers, football clubs and local MP’s. 

This national event is taking place on Friday 6 November.

Lynne Mackaness, Deputy Director of WAYC and lead worker in the CWDC project that set up this web site is to retire at the end of October.

Already 60, Lynne had hoped to see the project through to its completion in March 2010 before retiring, but a heart attack earlier this year has caused her to bring her plans forward.

With only 5 months of the project left and most of the major milestones fulfilled, she will be handing over the work to Tammy Ballard, Training Manager at WAYC.

Booze Asbos to cut alcohol-fuelled crime.

Two thirds of the public assume young people are involved in criminal activity.

12 Youth Justice Board IT consultants paid over £100k each per annum.

Schools need more support to help low-income families access extended services.

The Government have produced their Third Sector Strategy and Action Plan. pdf attached

Drug driving campaign becoming more prominent as accident rates rise.

The First National Play Stategy is published on the DCSF web site.

There was an Open Weekend - publicised by the Government to showcase weekend activities for young people. Some organisations were not consulted and others lacked the funds to take part. The National Youth Agency (NYA) have produced a briefing paper looking at some of the issues around weekend working. You can find this as an attachment.

The Early Years Sector needs thousands more professionals to be able to meet the Government's 2015 target of having an Early Years Professional in every nursery and children's centre.

Online NHS quiz offers teenagers lifestyle advice
By Ross Watson
Children and Young People Now 9 June 2009
The Department of Health is rolling out an interactive online quiz today, enabling health professionals to help teenagers improve their health and wellbeing.
The quiz, NHS Teen Lifecheck, is currently used in 83 local areas and will be rolled out nationally from 10 June. Using multiple choice questions, it will offer health and lifestyle information to 12- to 15-year-olds.