Young Ambassadors Llysgenhadon Ifanc Emma & Philippa*** Introductions Llysgenhadon Ifanc

Young Ambassadors Background Born out of the Singapore Promise: Lord Seb Coe, Singapore, 2005 ‘…to reach young people all around the world and connect them to the inspirational power of sport.’ Initiated in England 2006 by the Youth Sport Trust & Introduced to Wales in 2009. First Gold YA Conference in 2010 with over 70 YAs in attendance. Emma When London bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic games in London….

Who are Young Ambassadors? Young leaders & volunteers with the responsibility of being an ambassador for PE and school sport. Head boy and Head girl for PE and school sport. Championing getting more people, more active, more often. Emma – Wanted to recognise the very best young leaders, and provide them with extra opportunities and better recognition for their hard work and commitment. Currently have over 2400 active YAs in Wales.

Emma- This is our YA structure in Wales. Bronze – Primary Schools Silver – All secondary schools Gold – Work across the Local Authority (mentor Bronze & Silver) Platinum (Philippa will tell you a bit more about) Key areas of focus for you and your target audience are the Gold and Platinum YAs.

YA Outcomes To increase participation and healthy lifestyles To promote the positive Olympic and Paralympic values of sport in and through sport To be an ambassador and role model advocating PE and sport To provide the young person's voice Bring the Inspiration of major sporting events to Schools and Communities e.g. London 2012, Glasgow 2014 To get every child hooked on sport for life! Philippa*** Same outcomes for all Young Ambassadors at all four levels. Generally wanting to get more people active and to promote healthy lifestyles. They are huge advocates of the Sport Wales vision to get every child hooked on sport for life.

Gold Young Ambassadors Trained annually via the National Conference Olympic Torch Bearers Delivering Silver YA training sessions Leading local YA conferences Setting up community clubs Role-models Mentors to other YAs

Platinum Young Ambassadors Part of the YA Steering Group Sit on Community Chest Panels Seeking out new Volunteer opportunities for YAs University Students Progressed to paid work with Sport Development and 5x60 Facilitated at our recent National YA Conference Philippa*** Platinum YAs tend to be your University students Some of the roles of a Platinum Young Ambassador and some of your experiences…. ‘RCT YA co-ordinator’ etc.

Main aims & objectives Bronze+ YAs YAs in FE/HE Emma Key priorities moving forward are at the bottom and top end of the pathway Bronze+ YAs to provide more opportunities for Bronze YAs who move up into secondary schools (currently no offer in Years 7,8 & 9) Also…. To provide more opportunities for Young Ambassadors beyond school when they go into college and university. We want to raise awareness in Universities of the programme Provide more opportunities for YAs to volunteer and increase participation Identify and track YAs who are already in HE or have applied. It is happening in some areas, and Philippa is an example of this, but its all driven by the YAs themselves

What training do YAs receive? Regional & National Conferences Sport Leaders/ NGB Coaching Qualifications CPD Training i.e. Social-media, public-speaking etc. DIT training Event specific training Safeguarding Gain valuable experience! Emma: These are some of our projects that may be relevant to the HE Sector: YA Steering group – Many are already in Uni’s – decision makers and influential YAs YA Alumni – Consulted with some of our more experienced University students about this. This will be an opportunity to provide our YAs with more opportunities beyond school, but be as much of a commitment as they want. Understand that Uni commitments increase as they move through the years. Many are recognised volunteers through the Millennium Volunteers programme – in 2013, just over 650 young people in Wales signed-up to MV and contributed to over 56,350 hours of volunteering Increase in women & girls participation – Key focus for many of our YAs, as identified by the SSS etc. Older YAs tend to be more females Informal Sport – Looking at alternative ways to engage more people in sport. Through street games etc.

What Benefits are there for you? Ready-made workforce of passionate young leaders Part of a UK-wide programme Recognised brand (YA Kit) YAs are looking for opportunities to continue volunteering Hundreds of YAs moving into Colleges over the next few years Organise informal sport and increase participation Provide the Students voice on committees etc. Emma We’ve touched on some of these before…

Molly Davies-Briskham Platinum YA & Welsh & UK Steering Group Member http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef7gsNfi4Lw Molly – how Yas currently and could work in Colleges

Key Messages…. For more information: Utilise existing YAs who have worked along the pathway YAs who have been trained and clearly understand the role We don’t want to lose the talent once they move into colleges from school, we want to provide them with new opportunities. For more information: Follow us on Twitter @YACymru Visit www.youngambassadorswales.org.uk Emma

Thank you for listening…. Any Questions?