We have a Hunch!

The official launch event

On Thursday 10th November at The House of Lords, we officially launched 'Hunch: a vision for youth in post austerity Britain'.

Growing from our work on gangs and serious youth violence, grounded in experience and rooted in evidence, from labour market economics to neuroscience, our first published report explores how young people become good adults.

Download the full report here.

Hunch had a fantastic reception, with high compliments coming from all directions, including plans for UKYouth to use Hunch as their staff training manual, and one guest spotted making off with twelve copies.   

Key speakers on the night included Lord Victor Adebowale, our host, who spoke of the danger of cuts to youth services, encouraging those present to lobby their local MP and ask them to stand up for the positive opportunities created by youth work. Paul Oginsky, youth adviser to David Cameron since 2006, also spoke at the event and announced that he had read Hunch cover-to-cover twice, inviting other guests to do the same.  

The star of the evening was Francisco Augusto, a member of our Youth Advisory Board, Dare London, who gave a moving speech about the impact of youth work on his life, and was later interviewed by Audioboo. The interview is available here.

The evening continued with full flowing discussions amongst a diverse group of more than 200 passionate guests, which are now continuing on twitter - follow us @londonyouth or use hashtag #hunchLY.

London Youth would like to thank all those who attended the event and supported the production of Hunch.

Media enquiries (including interviews and case studies) should be directed to Shivangee Patel, Communications Manager on 020 7549 8800 or at shivangee.patel@londonyouth.org.uk.

The story behind our Hunch

As we began to unpack the Positive Change programme (which worked with more than 2,000 young people across the capital) to examine what had worked (and why), what we’d do (and not do) again, the deconstruction did not so much unearth new knowledge about how to tackle a particular problem (in this case preventing crime and gang association) as highlight the fundamental importance of developing young people’s social knowledge and networks, their all-round capabilities and character.

Positive Change demonstrated the value of access to adults with the commitment and skills to give independent support and advice to help show how society works and navigate the transition to adulthood. It showed that young people need the opportunity to come together and learn outside the classroom, find the things they’re good at and be part of something positive in order to develop personal qualities and social competence. 

These are simple truths, a benefit to us all and an integral part of a well-functioning society. They are an important way of meeting core policy objectives (including increasing employability and reducing criminality). They are also critical means of building strong communities and national well-being more broadly.

Much of such support will be provided informally (by extended family or friends). It might also be achieved through wider services for young people (including school or vocational training) or as a by-product of a different relationship (with a teacher, sports coach or preacher). It can also be created deliberately by youth work.

Capabilities, qualities, competencies or character. Whichever term we prefer, there is a remarkable degree of consensus that the making of a good life lies not only in our formal skills and knowledge but equally in our wider abilities, ambition and attitude. And if such foundations cannot necessarily be taught, evidence and experience certainly show they can be developed.

Yet in the oceans of ink and days of debate on young people, though we read much about formal education (about schools and vocational training) and hear plenty about particular problems (such as youth violence, or unemployment), we see relatively little reference to the development of young people’s underlying capabilities. Discourse is largely silent on the more fundamental (and optimistic) question of how we develop good and effective citizens. As such, beyond the youth sector itself, popular and political debate consistently overlook the notion of youth work, of broad-based personal and social development, and what it can achieve.

It was not always thus. Speak to men and women born before 1950 and, typically, you find ready acknowledgement that young people grow up in schools and families and communities - and a corresponding sense that the informal education of healthy role models and structured fun is a critical bridge between the perils of adolescence and a successful adult life. Yet such self and societal awareness appears to have waned – at least explicitly.

Implicitly, most of us can think back to a point in our teen years when we learnt something profound about ourselves and the world – a critical point of insight of life-long value. And for most of us this point of reference will recall a time outside of the classroom, involve a sensible adult who was not our parent and include peers. Yet, bluntly, human truth does not seem to be surviving translation from personal experience to contemporary debate.

Our point is this: we fear the simplicity of youth work – the essential proposition that young people benefit from trusting relationships with reliable adults, a positive peer group and the chance to learn from a range of new opportunities – has fallen from fashion at precisely the time we need it most.  Shouldn’t investment in all-round capabilities - as opposed to tackling presenting problems in isolation - form the keystone of public interest and policy? We have a hunch that it should.