The UK Parliament All-Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs (APPG) has recently published a highly significant report on the future of youth work. At the same time, the government has announced the development of a “Youth Charter” to support young people “over the next generation and beyond”. At a time when youth services have been severely cut and when youth workers are under unprecedented pressure, it is encouraging to know that there are new initiatives which could re-establish the importance of youth work as a form of non-formal education, instead of just a crisis response to social and security issues. There is widespread political support for new policy and funding ideas for the youth sector.
