Big Wide Yin – Youth Strategy Consultation Event 17th

November 2009
Background of structure: “Valuing Young People and Realising Potential: A
Youth Strategy for West Dunbartonshire” was designed and implemented to
enable key developments and approaches to working with and for young people
to come together.

Five Priority Themes & Fundamental Themes:

The Youth Strategy has 5 Priority Themes: Community Safety; Employment,

Training and Learning; Health and Well-being; Housing and Homelessness;
Leisure and Facilities. Underpinning this and supporting all of the Priority
Themes are two Fundamental Themes of Youth Consultation &
Representation and Youth Information. West Dunbartonshire Councils
Community Learning and Development Section (CLD), have responsibility for
supporting and developing the Fundamental Themes of Youth Consultation
and Representation for young people across the area. Y Sort-It has
responsibility of the second Fundamental Theme of Youth Information. CLD
Youth Services currently supports three Youth Action Groups (Bellsmyre,
Drumry and Bonhill) as well as having responsibility for the three Area Youth
Forums (Clydebank, Dumbarton and Vale of Leven). It is members of the
three Area Forums that came together to form the Big Wide Forum.

Current Youth Consultation and Representation Structure:

 ** the West Dumbarton Youth Strategy Group is now called “Big Wide
Forum” as named by young people involved in the structure.

Purpose of night: This event foccussed on the renewal of the Youth Strategy
document 2005/09 “Valuing Youth People & Realising Potential”. The young
people in the Big Wide Forum examined the five key themes in the document to
find out if these themes are still relevant to young people today. Throughout the
evening young people from around West Dunbartonshire took part in the
consultation and fed back some of the information.

Big Wide Forum – links to Curriculum For Excellence (CfE): The 4

capacities are:

• Effective contributors

• Responsible citizens

• Confident individuals

• Successful learners
Importance of night: This was an ideal opportunity for young people to have
their voices heard and to contribute to priorities that matter to them. Young
people across West Dunbartonshire regularly and consistently give up their time
to improve and enhance their local communities and this event canl only serve
to enforce the active role they play. It is important that local services/agencies
value young people’s voice and as a result shape the delivery of services to suit
the needs of local young people. This event allows for issues/themes and
priorities to be identified.

What will information be used for: The Big Wide Forum will be collating all
response from the consultation. This information will then be used to establish
the new Youth Strategy for West Dunbartonshire. The survey will also be
available to complete online via the Young Scot website and will be open until
17th December 2009 for responses. This event was planned, designed and
facilitated by the members of the Big Wide Forum. They have been supported by
CLD Youth Services staff to ensure that this event is a massive success and that
as many young people’s voices are heard as possible.