The North East Youth Alliance (NEYA) has been created to support the development and sustainability of the people and the organisations working to improve the lives of young people across the region.
Our ambition is to support a culture shift across the sector – to get people in the youth and community sector thinking and working differently.
The overall outcomes for the NEYA are:
Improved capacity, collaboration and co-ordination in the youth sector leading to improved youth provision in the region.
Increased influence of young people’s voices in shaping of services.
Increased sustainability of services and support for and with young people.
In order to achieve our ambitious aims and outcomes it is important for people to understand:
With these questions in mind we have produced the following description of our functions, values and approach.
Broadly speaking we are a Backbone Support Organisation for the youth sector in the North East. By Backbone Support we mean we exist to serve a common purpose – to ensure that youth sector organisations get the advice, support and representation they need to improve the circumstances of the young people and communities they work with.
Functions of the NEYA
Policy & Influencing
Influencing practice and policy on behalf of the youth sector and young people.
Advocacy, Lobbying, Networking, Strategic planning
Learning
Collect, analyse and disseminate data and research to inform, develop and support the youth sector and young people.
Evaluation & Impact, Service design & Improvement
Championing
Embedding youth voice and leadership across the organisations and communities.
Celebrating good practice, Advocating through the media
Capacity Building
Enabling and supporting collaboration, income generation and workforce development.
Training, Support aligned activities at a local and regional level
Qualifications
Helping the youth sector to ensure high quality environments and relationships, through a highly skilled and qualified workforce.
Training, Accreditations, Career development pathways
Policy & Influencing
Influencing practice and policy on behalf of the youth sector and young people.
Advocacy, Lobbying, Networking, Strategic planning
Learning
Collect, analyse and disseminate data and research to inform, develop and support the youth sector and young people.
Evaluation & Impact, Service design & Improvement
Championing
Embedding youth voice and leadership across the organisations and communities.
Celebrating good practice, Advocating through the media
Capacity Building
Enabling and supporting collaboration, income generation and workforce development.
Training, Support aligned activities at a local and regional level
Qualifications
Helping the youth sector to ensure high quality environments and relationships, through a highly skilled and qualified workforce.
Training, Accreditations, Career development pathways
Values & Approach of the NEYA
Ambitious
Commitment to high quality provision and continuous improvement.
Purposeful
Commitment to collective and collaborative working and generous leadership.
Youth Led
Driven by inclusive, equitable and meaningful youth voice.
Evidence
Needs driven and informed response.
How do you become a member of the NEYA?
The NEYA is not a membership organisation.
We feel people and organisations themselves will determine if they are part of the NEYA. We do not want this to feel like a closed shop or that people feel obligated to join.
We would rather create a culture where people can say they are ‘allies’ of the NEYA as opposed to having a formal membership structure. We want to people to engage with us for ‘what they can bring’ to the NEYA rather than ‘what they can take’ from it.
That is not to say that there are no benefits from being an ally.
In the first year alone we have delivered the regions first coordinated workforce development offer, commenced work on two Local Youth Alliances, secured over £400,000 of additional funding for the sector and put in place the foundations for an ambitious programme of work to establish an effective model for young people to have their views heard, and acted on, within the North East.
We know creating a culture shift will not be without its challenges and we will not achieve this alone. The more allies we have the more chance of success, and positive change for young people, we will have.
Even if you have your doubts, you have nothing to lose by becoming an ally of the NEYA.
JOIN TODAY and see where the journey may take you
The NEYA Allies Network for Organisations is completely free to join.
By signing up to becoming an ally, you are pledging your support of the aims and values of the North East Youth Alliance and are committing to work within the principles below. More information can be found here.
- We have as our focus supporting the needs of young people.
- We actively encourage and welcome their participation, perspectives and views into the development of the services and products we deliver.
- We believe every young person deserves the best possible chance to realise their potential, irrespective of who they are, or their circumstances.
- We are committed to being available to young people when, where and how they need us.
- We value partnership and collaboration between organisations.
- We are active in developing relationships, and working together with others to ensure we deliver the best possible outcome for each young person.
- We are committed to high levels of quality, reliability and continuous improvement in all we do.
- We are active and dynamic, a positive agent for change, confronting barriers that constrain and limit with a ‘can do, will do’ attitude to get results.
Once your information has been received, you will receive an NEYA Allies logo which can be added to email signatures etc. and shared with your colleagues. #youthstartshere
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