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Impact of Youth Work

Looking for a national bank of evidence to demonstrate the impact of youth work to funders and those making the policy decisions?

 

Young girl sitting in a park on a sunny day, laughing with her friends who are just out of shot

We are committed to demonstrating the impact of youth work, which is why we created out Impact Hub to showcase the best examples of youth work changing young people’s lives.

By effectively demonstrating impact, we can influence decision makers and ensure the policy landscape reflects the value that youth work adds to young people’s lives. Find out more about our Policy & Influence work.

It’s all about showing results: great results for young people because of great youth work. This Hub is updated year round with the very latest statistics, facts, policy and case studies.

It allows us to capture the ‘why’ of youth work, showcasing the extent of our life changing impact, which makes us more seen and understood by those that fund us.

 

Key Statistics

£656 Million
The value of youth work to the Scottish Economy.
13%
of the Scottish population has benefitted from youth work.
450,000
young people impacted by youth work in Scotland.
£7
social value cost of youth work for every £1 spent.

YouthLink Scotland's Training Impact

YouthLink Scotland delivered over 3158 learning places over 2021-22, with a total of 162 online training events put on for the sector. 

Five people sitting around a table with laptops, looking at a monitor.

I was self-harming regularly; sometimes not even aware I was doing it and was fighting off suicidal thoughts daily. That all changed when I started to access youth work services through The Toon, run by the Youth Enquiry Service.

Young person, Impact of Community-Based Youth Work in Dumfries & Galloway report
Group of young people looking at the camera, standing on a hill.

Youth Work Education Recovery Fund

The Youth Work Education Recovery Fund (YWERF) saw 64 funded programmes across Scotland deliver over 49,000 hours of youth work to over 17,000 young people. 82% of participants developed new skills 79% of young people improved their health and wellbeing 78% of young people overcame barriers to learning #YouthWorkChangesLives
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Without LGBT Youth Scotland lockdown would have been horrible…getting support from youth workers has helped a lot. My mental health would have been in a much worse state than it is now, and I am not sure I’d be safe or alive right now.” – Impact of LGBT Youth Scotland’s Digital Youth Work on Young People report.

Impact of LGBT Youth Scotland’s Digital Youth Work on Young People report

Youth Work & Schools Partnership

Find out how youth work complements the formal curriculum, creating more flexibility and choice for young people and enabling their development as confident, successful learners. 

Read our case study evaluation
Image of young boys laughing together.
90%
of young people grew in confidence - Outward Bound Trust.
54 out of 57
young people made progress in literacy - PKACS Education Programme.
97%
of young people saw improved engagement in learning.

Share Your Impact

If you have something you think demonstrates the impact of youth work, locally or nationally, we'd love to share them as part of the Impact Hub. Click on the button below to email in.

Email Your Impact