YOUTH CLUB OPERATION

Question

Can I ask how other PCs run their youth clubs.  Ours opens perhaps 7 hours a week over 3 nights and operates through a foundation model charity who receive a considerable grant ,with a PC Councillor taking the lead role  The charity then employs the  services of a CIC whose members are the Councillors wife and sister.  They draw dividends as salary.   All of the foregoing is declared but to me nearly £20k a year seems an awful lot for7 hours.    Do any Councils say share a Youth  worker and are there any appropriate qualifications one should look for

Answer 1

Proper youth work is a serious profession that requires training and qualifications. Free or cheap baby-sitting for middle class parents is something that most people could undertake and requires little more than a bit of common sense and a DBS check. The correct policies and procedures are important to safeguard all participants. Many county or district councils will provide a package of support for community led youth work, including resources such as training, mentoring, occasional visits from a qualified youth worker etc. As with any such activity, the insurance company might impose specific requirements, so it's always worth checking.

I haven't employed a qualified youth worker for a few years now, but you'd probably be looking at a rate of around £25 per hour for this sort of casual leader role.

Answer 2

Sorry Just doing the sums. 3 staff @ 7 hrs each = 21 hours per week. Assume closed for 4 weeks a year = 1008 hours.

Divide the £20,000 by 1008 = £19.841 per hour per employee. Taking on boards Dave comments are all three Trained Youth Workers ?

My Wife spend 3 years training to be a Youth worker (with applied theology) - she does mentoring in Schools , runs two youth clubs , Sunday school etc - She is a paid worker 21 hours a week and gets £18k per annum. The rest of the staff are all volunteer .She reports to a Line Manager to pick up any issues with Child Safeguarding .

Definately take advice and even salary match with City / County / District Councils and they will have some great support.

End of the day its all about the service and what the youth members get out of the projects.

Answer 3

We ran a youth club for over 10 years and as a Councillor I tried to find out how much it cost but eventually had to use the FOI it turned out it cost £18 for each child for a 2 hour session, it’s now been shut

My inclination is to supply premises to voluntary organisations even if the Parish Council pays the running costs for the building and doesn’t charge rent we’d still be better off

To employ relatives leaves the Council open to claims of nepotism
Do what I did get all the running costs and divide it by the number of attendances as you might be in for a shock

Comments

This is not at all unusual. I was a member of a team that undertook a review of the maintained youth service of a London Borough nearly 30 years ago and we were finding unit costs of over £20 then. Highly qualified youth workers were banning any young person who stepped out of line and running sessions for all the nice youngsters, mainly comprising their own offspring, family and friends. More than 100 staff on the books and a range of buildings, some of which were only used for 10 hours per week. The annual budget was over a million quid!