Leading figures in voluntary and community sector come together for Speaking Out

Over a hundred members of the voluntary and community youth sector were joined by high profile speakers, including Cabinet Office Deputy Director Helen Stephenson at the Speaking Out 2010 annual conference in Westminster on Thursday 9 December.

Speaking Out is a partnership project between the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) and Children England which aims to build a voice for the children and young people’s voluntary and community sector across government. The project, funded by the Office of Civil Society, aims to develop closer links between government departments and the voluntary and community sector.

Addressing the delegates, Helen Stephenson presented on the scope and scale of the Big Society and the opportunities that it presented for the sector. She told delegates that the Big Society was beginning to embed itself as a philosophy in the Civil Service and that they should expect to see a real move towards local decision making for local people in the coming years.

The event explored how members of the voluntary and community sector are coming under increased focus to deliver projects as part of the Big Society. Other speakers at the conference included Fay Selvan from the Big Life Group who spoke about the process of founding a social enterprise and the challenges and setbacks she had experienced along the way.

Tim Davies, Co-Director of Practical Participation spoke during the afternoon about the advantages of using social and digital media to give young people a chance to voice their opinions. Tim warned against assuming that all young people use social media in the same way, explaining that adults would always have a role as facilitators and trainers in developing the message.

Tue, 11/01/2011 - 16:48