Youth Social Action Starter Pack
This YSA starter pack contains the key resources needed to plan and deliver YSA in your setting.
This YSA starter pack contains the key resources needed to plan and deliver YSA in your setting.
Young Enterprise help teachers to widen opportunities for young people.
This YSA starter pack contains the key resources needed to plan and deliver YSA in your setting.
Did you know that it takes 10–20 years for a plastic bag to break down and 450 years for a plastic bottle to do so?
Project Pristine is a youth-led litter picking scheme in which volunteers travel to beaches and collect litter in rubbish bags. There are three core aims: to protect marine life, clean beaches, and explore the ocean, as well as raise awareness about the issue. Other key partners were involved who helped with publicity and schemes like ‘Adopt a Spot’ where Project Pristine adopted and committed to regularly cleaning a beach with one of the worst litter problems.
11 young Traveler peer researchers were trained in basic qualitative research skills and assisted in creating a questionnaire. The peer researchers interviewed 44 x 15 - 25-year-old Travelers in London about the barriers they have faced around education, both in school and at home. They were also asked for their recommendations for improvements to the education system. The research found that the experience of bullying in school is more of a norm than an exception for young Travelers in London.
Hosted by Headliners, #DigitalTransitions is a youth-led programme using media and journalism engagement alongside employability programmes to give looked-after young people a safe space in which to work together to creatively explore and address the issues that matter to them. This promotes their resilience and helps them reimagine a more positive future. In June 2023, they produced their own podcast called the ‘Owt or Nowt Show’.
Newham-based School 21 strives to develop young people who are thoughtful problem solvers, creative innovators, and confident communicators. In this new take on traditional work experience, Year 10 students work with local businesses and the community to provide meaningful experiences that change lives. Over several weeks, every student spends half a day each week in the workplace, solving an authentic problem for a real organisation.
Previous project examples include a ‘how to’ computer guide for a local elderly home and a film on life in the community for a social housing organisation.
Advice, tips, and essential support for under-25s in a non-judgmental, safe space with lots of peer input. The Mix’s aim is to ensure that every young person feels supported and empowered with the decisions they have to make. Young people can get involved in many different ways – from helping develop useful apps (by young people, for young people), having a voice (stories, experiences, and life hacks), or volunteering (general volunteering for young people aged 13–25; peer-to-peer in-person or online). Check it out and explore the site to see how you can get involved!
Refers to activities that young people do to make a positive difference to others while developing key skills and attributes and having fun. YSA can take place in various contexts (i.e. at home, schools, youth clubs etc) and can include volunteering, fundraising, campaigning or supporting peers. We believe social action can play an essential role: in young lives, the success of a school, the local community or more.
Our Resource Hub aims to act as a Youth Social Action search engine, offering tailored results to inspire and guide. The hub hosts a wide variety of resources, including our own Youth Social Action Toolkit, case studies, research reports, and helpful resources from other reputable organisations in the sector.
Our Resource Hub aims to act as a Youth Social Action search engine, offering tailored results to inspire and guide. The hub hosts a wide variety of resources, including our own Youth Social Action Toolkit, case studies, research reports, and helpful resources from other reputable organisations in the sector.
To find appropriate resources, use the filter feature to select the relevant options. You can filter by key stage (1-5), YSA theme (e.g. poverty), or a particular skill (e.g. communication). You can also filter by resource owner (Ormiston Trust or external organisation) and resource type, such as lesson plans. If you know what you are looking for, you can use the search bar.
To save or download resources, please sign up for a free account. In your user area, you can organise your saved items for quick and easy access. On the resource results page, you can save or download multiple resource quickly by using the tickbox feature.
Our Youth Social Action Toolkit has been carefully developed by industry professionals with input from young people to guide school leaders, support staff, and young people through a Youth Social Action project. Our curriculum guides clearly outline how YSA can be integrated into the curriculum of schools with limited time.
We don’t gatekeep – by sharing our sector knowledge and resources, we aim to enrich the lives of all young people by fostering skills development, improving agency and wellbeing, and promoting active citizenship.
The first step of the YSA process is to be inspired by an issue you care about! Check out our inspirational case studies on what you could do!
The second step of the YSA process is to explore your options! You‘ll need to research the issue that inspired you to take action to understand how you can help.
Ready to start planning your project? Access our Youth Social Action Toolkit here.
The third step of the YSA process is to plan your project! Lucky for you, we have a Project Planning Template for that.
The fourth step of the YSA process is to carry out your plan! This is when the physical activities involved like fundraising, campaigning, and volunteering kick off.
The fifth and final step of the YSA process is to reflect! Looking back at your plan, did you achieve your aims? What went well and what didn’t go so well? Can you sustain your project? Or did you take steps to ensure further projects aren’t needed?