Governance

The benefits of listening to children and young people are widely acknowledged but taking their involvement to the next step can be hard.  How do you involve them in your organisation's decision-making at all levels?  What involvement is appropriate? This section of Participation Works provides a starting point to fully understanding governance and how you can make it work for your organisation.

Policy Context    

Adults and children and young people can struggle at times to fully understand governance, what it means and how to apply it to the everyday running of an organisation. Governance can mean different things to different people. For some it is how an organisation makes its decisions, for others it is ensuring that an organisation has policies and procedures that set out how it should operate. In reality, both are two sides of the same coin, as governance represents the processes by which an organisation makes it decisions that set out how it operates.

Youth At The Table
Programme giving children and young people the right skills and knowledge to be effective members when involved in decision making and organisational governance.
British Youth Council also created four special guides to support the Youth at the Table training:

What is governance?
This resource booklet is designed to explain exactly what governance means and how its meaning varies in different situations.

The essential information you need to know about governance
This resource booklet looks in detail at some of the essential information that children and young people will need to know in relation to governance. It also looks at the role of trustees and the law relating to them.

What skills do I need to be great at governance?
This resource booklet contains help and advice around important skills that children and young people may need to be involved in governance and decision-making.

How do I get involved in governance?
This booklet looks at some of the many the benefits to getting involved in governance as well as exploring some of the things that prevent children and young people from getting involved.

Do Youth Speak Trustee?
A 2 day Accredited training programme for young people aged 16-25 that introduces a young person to the role of trusteeship, as well as enhancing existing trustees understanding of how they can effectively and confidently speak with purpose, and understand their role within an organisation.

Involving children and young people within the interview process 
DVD resource produced by NCB for involving children and young people in the recruitment of staff.

How to involve children and young people in governance
Governance How to guideThis How To guide aims to assist organisations that are seeking to involve children and young people in their governance structures.It offers some best practice advice and tips, along with comments from children and young people themselves about the best ways to engage children and young people in governance.
Find out more

Young People & Governance
This report details the findings of two online surveys carried out by the British Youth Council (BYC) in March and April 2009.

Whose board? Whose agenda?
A briefing from the Voluntary Arts Network (VAN) on how to include disabled and deaf people on your board, management committee or advisory group. Published Set 2007.

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Related events & training

Building Consortia and Working in Partnerships, Swindon 16/02/2012

February 16th, 2012 09:45am

Find out about forming consortia and partnerships in order to bid for public service contracts.

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Related News

British Youth Council award scheme to boost youth participation

The aim of the awards is for young people to recognise their peers and supporters in youth participation, they are free and easy to apply for.

Engage ‘N’ You Young Persons Advisory Group in Northern Ireland

A new Young Persons Advisory Group recently had a successful second meeting at a residential in Holywood, Northern Ireland.

How do children and young people measure respect? National consultation

CRAE's Children and Young People's Advisory Committee has been working all this year on developing a draft measurement of how well society respects ch…

Children’s rights coalition announces year of action for greater recognition of children’s rights

The Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) is running a nation-wide competition for children and young people to create a universal logo to mar…

BYC launch four governance guides for children and young people

British Youth Council has recently revised and updated four guide booklets as part of their Youth at the Table training programme.

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Related Resources

Involving children and young people within the Interview process

DVD resource produced by NCB for involving children and young people in the recruitment of staff.

How to involve children and young people in applying for funding

This How To guide provides introductory information on how to involve children and young people in applying for funding.

How to involve children and young people in commissioning

This How to guide provides an introduction to commissioning from a variety of perspectives.

How to understand and work with infrastructure organisations

This How To guide offers participation workers an introduction to voluntary and community youth sector infrastructure or network organisations.

Involving Children and Young People in Recruitment and Selection

Everyone needs to learn to conduct recruitment properly and children and young people are no different from the rest.

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Participation Works is a consortium of…
British Youth CouncilChildren's Rights Alliance for EnglandNational Council for Voluntary Youth ServicesNational Youth AgencyNCB

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