YouthLink Scotland facilitates the Local Authority Youth Work Managers (LAYWM) Network, bringing together managers responsible for youth work in every local authority. The network supports leaders to influence national youth work policy, share expertise, strengthen local delivery, and shape workforce and practice developments.

Network activity in 2024/25 included:

• Three meetings held in May, September and February.

Focus areas included:

• Local authority CLD Plans
• Practice sharing on the Youth Work Outcomes & Skills Framework
• Input and discussion on CLD Progress Visits with Andrea McMillan HMIE
• Discussion and support for the Scottish Youth Parliament review and working groups

This network continues to act as a vital space for professional dialogue, consistency and sector-wide leadership.

The NYVOS Network brings together CEOs of national voluntary youth organisations for peer support, strategic discussion and proactive collaboration around national policy issues affecting young people and the voluntary youth work sector.

Network activity in 2024/25 included:

• Four meetings held in April, August, October and February.
• Inputs from external stakeholders, including:
  • Gerrard Murray, Disclosure Scotland
  • Rebecca Spillane, Improvement Service, on UNCRC incorporation
  • Jason Henderson / David Livey, SCVO, on Fair Funding research
• Practice-sharing from members, including:
  • Scouts – Introducing training opportunities for young people
  • Scottish Youth Parliament – The Right Way
  • A Member Spotlight on Impact Arts

This network continues to provide a trusted forum for strategic leadership, shared problem solving and collective action across national voluntary youth work.

The Scottish Youth Work Leaders Forum champions the value of youth work and represents the interests and aspirations of the sector. It plays a key role in shaping national policy, supporting senior leaders and influencing government.

Network activity in 2024/25 included:

• Two meetings held in June and December.

June residential highlights:

• Strategic communications and framing – Frameworks UK
• Navigating the post-16 landscape – YouthLink Scotland
• Refreshed National Youth Work Induction Checklist – YouthLink Scotland
• UNCRC incorporation – Together, Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights
• Self-care for leaders – Ceannas

December meeting highlights:

• Input from Martin Whitfield MSP introducing the proposed Youth Work (Scotland) Bill
• Discussion on the Youth Work Manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections
• Practice sharing sessions, including:
  • How we came to love our EDI Action Plan! – Youth Theatre Arts Scotland
  • Youth Workers in Schools and Mental Health – Dumfries & Galloway Council
  • North Ayrshire Council – Modern Apprenticeship programme

The forum remains a key national leadership space for strategic direction and shared sector ambition.

The Outdoor Learning Network brings together third sector organisations and social enterprises providing outdoor learning and residential experiences for young people. The network strengthens collaboration, champions access to quality outdoor learning and supports the development of shared approaches.

Network activity in 2024/25 included:

• Four meetings held in May, August, November and February.

This network has been created following the receipt of funding  from Corra Scotland to help support youth workers who are regularly working with young people facing racism and antisemitism. It will focus on what it is they need to best support their young people and also allow them a space to influence policy and strategy locally and nationally. Strengthening Black-Led Youth Work in Scotland.

The network now has 42 member organisations, all Black-led and working with young people across Scotland. Members shared the value of the network:

Activity and Engagement

• Held four network meetings.
• Delivered two mental health workshops for young people.
• Provided 40 one-to-one support sessions for member organisations.
• Supported young people to speak directly with senior officials, including a 2024 event with Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhian Brown MSP.

The Youth Work and Schools Collaborative provides opportunities for discussion and response to policy and practice issues relating to youth work’s role in education.

Youth work is part of Scottish education. This includes playing a vital role in the Scottish Attainment Challenge mission to close the poverty-related attainment gap. The Youth Work and Schools Collaborative provides regular online events to share practice, exchange knowledge and disseminate learning around youth work and education.

The Digital Youth Network is a network open to all practitioners who use digital tools and online spaces in their work with young people. This includes within youth work and other types of engagement with young people, e.g. health, information, campaigning and careers. This network is led and co-facilitated by YouthLink Scotland and Young Scot.

The EDI Community of Practice promotes equality and diversity in the youth work sector by informing policy and practice and supporting the implementation of inclusive youth work to encourage an inclusive and representative sector that is accessible to all young people. It is open to all in the youth work sector and engages with expert organisations to cover themes relevant to the sector.

This years themes were:

• Supporting young people who are neurodiverse, with inputs from Education Scotland and Borders Additional Group.
• Facilitating Challenging Discussion, with inputs from RespectMe, Scotland’s anti-bullying charity, Interfaith Scotland and Pride Outside.
• Mental Health support for diverse young people, with inputs from SeeMe’s youth consultants and United Voices.

YouthLink Scotland’s Youth Work Training and Workforce Development Forum is a national network focusing on the strategic development of workforce and training for the youth work sector. It is also a space to share practice, identify sector priorities and address common challenges.

Recent achievements include refreshing the National Youth Work Induction Checklist as an agreed minimum standard of training for volunteers and staff in youth work.

We connect with partner organisations to strengthen youth work’s professional frameworks and the opportunities and quality of training for the sector.

This year the priorities of the forum include:

• Refreshing and embedding the national youth work induction
• Clarifying learning pathways into youth work for staff and volunteers
• Increasing the diversity of the workforce
• Growing opportunities for work-based training