After working with the Canal & River Trust for a number of years on numerous projects, I was asked to work alongside the National Youth Manager and produce a Youth Engagement Strategy. This document would then be used to coordinate internal departments and mobilise & support the delivery of regional youth-facing teams.

I developed a three stage approach:

• Phase 1 – would look holistically at the situation, identify potential issues & blockages, and identify ways to increase the engagement of young people.
• Phase 2 would develop solutions for overcoming the issues & blockages and develop the implementation plan in more detail.
• Phase 3 would then see an execution of the implementation plan.

Phases 1 & 2 took place throughout 2020 with Phase 3 starting in early 2021.

It was essential that the strategy developed was deliverable rather than being a document that gathered dust on a shelf. As a result over 20 interviews took place remotely with senior staff and youth-facing regional team members. These interviews dug deep into the challenges facing staff and outputs that individuals wanted to achieve both personally and corporately (i.e. KPIs they were responsible for).

All this was collected and collated and the final documents have provided a clear and simple roadmap that will be used to underpin a collective youth engagement approach through 2021 and beyond.

For more information or details on how a similar apporach could benefit your organisation,  please contact Graham Sykes on 07890 483966 or use the webform below.