Youth Action Academy “YAA has helped me build confidence, and courage over the past few months. Everyone has been really kind, empathetic and supportive, and helped become a better version of myself!”
For young people aged 16-24 with lived experience of being in a single parent household in Cardiff and Swansea
The Youth Action Academy is the next step for young people who want to build real change, in their own lives and in their communities.
It’s a leadership programme designed for young people. Here, your voice matters, your ideas shape the future, and your actions can lead to real impact.
Overall Project Aim:
The Youth Action Academy is part of a National Lottery Community Funded project called Mental Health Manifesto- action for our future.
Inform and influence and build leadership skills.
We’re looking for innovative and creative volunteers to work on our young person’s project. Where young people shape what they need for a mentally healthy future.
If you’re interested in working with mental health, single parenting, or children and young people, plus work for a forward thinking, compassionate and empowering social enterprise then this is for you!
By being a part of the Youth Action Academy, you contribute to the creation of a mentally healthier future generation.
Youth Action Academy Members can:
1. LEARN AND GROW:
Mental Health Care: Empower young people to understand and care for their mental health, facilitating access to needed support.
Relationship Building: Foster a supportive environment, enabling young people to learn and build healthy relationships during the project.
Things like:
Develop mental health and leadership training, in person and through our online portal, including being a part filming the training
Being a positive role model to young people
Attend events and workshops
Engage with other organisations and young people
Option of volunteering for a residential trip with younger volunteers (C4Cs)
2. BUILD LEADERSHIP AND OWNERSHIP:
Co-Production Skills: Develop essential co-production skills, actively contributing to project initiative design and execution.
Collaboration with important organisation: Collaborate with them to ensure diverse perspectives of young people from single-parent households shape every aspect of the project.
Things like:
Attend termly meetings
Complete training
Chair meetings with partners
Develop online content
3. INFORM AND INFLUENCE:
Raise Awareness: Equip yourself with skills to raise awareness about mental health issues in single-parent households within the community, organisations, and educational settings.
Advocate for Change: Utilise your platform in the Youth Action Academy to influence broader policy development, ensuring the concerns of young people from single-parent households are recognized and addressed.
Things like:
Reverse mentoring
Produce a resource (online or physical like a zine)
Feed into SPW meetings
Have their voice heard by lots of different organisations
Create a Mental Health Manifesto- creating insight into unmet MH needs for young people from single parent households.
Benefits:
Add an impressive addition to your CV
Support Uni application or dissertation
Food provided (you get to choose)
Travel costs reimbursed
Earn time credits
Build leadership skills
Make a change in the community
Codesign and deliver events, training and workshops for young people
Gain training around your needs
Create positive pathways to a mentally health future for young people
Make new connections with people you can relate to
Have your voice heard on a variety of different platforms
Get to work with Mental Health Foundation, Public Health Wales, Swansea University and Single Parents Wellbeing.
Flexible volunteering hours around current busy schedules
Time Commitment for a Champion 4 Change:
We offer a flexible volunteer role that works around your existing membership levels over 10 months:
Bronze Level:
Attend 6 termly meetings (1.5 hours each) for collaborative discussions.
Silver Level:
Participate in 6 termly meetings (1.5 hours each)
Engage in reverse mentoring
Lead one team meeting.
Complete three online portal training sessions or attend in-person workshops.
Dedicate 10 hours to voluntary activities supporting the Youth Action Academy.
Gold Level:
Commit to 6 termly meetings for ongoing collaboration (1.5 hours each)
Engage in reverse mentoring every 4 months and mentoring the younger people.
Lead two team meetings.
Undertake comprehensive training to deepen your skills.
Organise an away trip for fellow young volunteers.
Devote 20 hours to additional volunteering efforts within the SPW youth project.
Create one piece of online content (social media post, blog, podcast) to share insights.
These commitment levels recognise your increasing involvement and leadership within the Youth Action Academy, reflecting the valuable contributions at each stage. You will be supported, trained and set up with a mentor to guide you through.
How to Apply:
Submit responses in your preferred format (written, video, comic) to these questions:
What would your creative project be about?
If you could change one thing for young people like you, what would it be?
Why join the Youth Action Academy?
Please email responses to: talia@singleparentswellbeing.com
Afterwards, undergo an informal interview and receive an observed reference for future applications. Make a difference with us!
What our YAAs Say:
“YAA has helped me build confidence, and courage over the past few months. Everyone has been really kind, empathetic and supportive, and helped become a better version of myself!”
“YAA has helped me work on my social skills and how to feel more comfortable speaking up in a group setting. The socials also help with this because I get the chance to get to know the other members better outside of our termly meetings and this helps too”
“One thing I really like about this programme is that it gets me doing things I’ve never done”
“I’m looking forward to growing the community, it’s already grown in the last year and that’s so nice to see but it would be nice to see more families hearing and getting involved in SPW”
“I’m excited about the training. I think they will be so good for my CV and so interesting especially the mental health first aid course, I hadn’t even thought of that before. But also hanging out with other YAA members, it’s nice we all have something in common”