Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

This handbook is an introduction to ESDGC, and is not intended to be comprehensive. There are already lots of brilliant ESDGC resources, and this handbook will direct you to them where appropriate. This guide does not aim to replace these resources, or duplicate them. Rather, it draws on the expertise of others and attempts to bring together the range of resources and opportunities available, to provide a starting point for youth workers seeking to incorporate ESDGC into their work.

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

 

 

 

Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

The intention of this handbook is to introduce, explain, or expand on existing knowledge with regard to volunteering within the youth and community sector and the role of a volunteer within these settings. 

Volunteering involves a degree of personal commitment which brings a sense of achievement and fulfilment for whatever reason an individual chooses to volunteer. It is also fundamental that volunteers are recognised for their commitment to volunteering within a project, activity or organisation; this handbook will highlight some ways in which recognition and appreciation can be provided as well as signposting for projects and includes case studies from volunteers. 

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

The aim of this handbook is to support youth work practitioners who work with young people aged 11-25 who have a disability, in a variety of settings in Wales. To give you an understanding of the wider diversity of disabled people, how to support in removing the negative barriers and give you some examples in planning a disability awareness session. 

The handbook has been developed to introduce, explain or expand on existing knowledge and experience in relation to working with young people with a disability. In seeking to meet the outcomes for young people focussed upon in the Youth Work Curriculum Statement for Wales and the National Youth Service Strategy for Wales, this document encourages consideration of how to develop opportunities to broaden the knowledge, understanding and life experiences of young people who engage with youth service provision in Wales.

The ideas and opinions expressed within this handbook are not intended to be a prescriptive way of developing activities for young people with a disability. Rather, the document contains suggested methods and approaches when considering the individual needs of young people with disabilities and how best to support them to reach their potential within an inclusive setting which considers the needs of all young people participating in activities. 

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

The nature of youth information work varies greatly depending on many different variables such as area, demography and age range. This handbook contains advice, guidance and suggestions for delivering good quality youth information work. It is not meant to be a definitive set of instructions because of those different variables. These considerations have been taken into account so that it caters for the delivery of a wide range of information work across the whole spectrum of Youth Work. This includes it being useable by a voluntary worker in a community hall for two hours a week to a full time professional seeking to establish a youth information service. 

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

Apprenticeships in Wales help to inspire success in the individual and bring huge benefits to the workplace.

Young people grow up in an ever more complex world, facing an often confusing array of choices and issues as they progress towards adulthood. This makes youth work an increasingly sophisticated workplace in which to be involved in the contemporary world. An Apprenticeship in Youth Work is about; helping young people fulfil their potential through personal and social development; And providing young people with challenges and new experiences, whilst allowing them to be creative, active and have fun – all part of an informal and non-formal educational approach that helps young people to develop their own voice and identity.  

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

This handbook has been developed to introduce, explain or expand on existing knowledge and experience in relation to delivering youth work in schools.

In seeking to meet the outcomes for young people focussed upon in the Youth Work Curriculum Statement for Wales and the National Youth Service Strategy for Wales, this document encourages consideration of how best to ensure young people across Wales have opportunities to engage with non-formal learning within the school environment. The National Assembly for Wales has in recent years emphasised the need for Community Focused Schools. “A community focused school is one that provides a range of services and activities, often beyond the school day, to help meet the needs of its pupils, their families and the wider community”. Whilst recognizing the scope for youth services to play a key role in Community Focused Schools during the evening and holidays and reaching a wider population of young people, this handbook will consider youth work provision during school time and will focus mainly on engaging disaffected young people.

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

 

 

 

This guide was developed as a resource for Youth Workers and a wide range of other professionals and volunteers who deliver health and well-being messages to children and young people aged 11-25. It provides health promotion information and activities on a range of topic areas.

Please note:

• For some of the activities you will need internet access to view videos


• Throughout the guide there are worksheets for which you will need access to a printer


• Two PowerPoint presentations are available for download separately


• The document will be updated online

Further information [external link to latest version]

Clubs for Young People in Wales, 2009

Youth homelessness in Wales remains a critical and complex issue and, despite ongoing policy efforts and statutory interventions, many young people continue to fall through gaps created by fragmented systems. This analysis explores how a youth work approach, grounded in relational practice, voluntary engagement and rights-based support, can strengthen preventative responses to youth homelessness in Wales.

The work is presented within the context of a shifting policy landscape, including the proposed Statutory Framework for Youth Work and the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill (2025). These developments signal growing recognition of youth work’s potential to address complex social challenges, yet its integration within statutory homelessness pathways remains inconsistent. This analysis aims to bridge the gap between policy and practice by offering evidence-informed insights into how youth work can be more effectively embedded in national and local prevention frameworks.

Drawing on the lived experiences of Youth Homelessness Coordinators across all twenty-two Welsh local authorities, the presentation captures thematic learning generated through a mixed-methods approach, including survey responses and semi-structured interviews. Key themes include early intervention and prevention, youth work values and principles, collaborative working, systemic barriers, challenges in measuring impact, and implications for future policy development. Participants highlighted that early, relational engagement before a crisis is essential. Youth workers are uniquely positioned to build trust, resilience and protective factors among young people. However, practitioners also reported that funding instability, fragmented services and statutory tensions limit the preventative potential of youth work

Traditional impact measurement tools were also viewed as insufficient for capturing relational and developmental outcomes, with practitioners advocating for mixed-methods evaluation frameworks that prioritise youth voice.

This analysis is underpinned by a critical realist perspective, supported by Thompson’s PCS model and the ethical lens of Bessant and Watts’ phronetic practice, offering a multi-layered understanding of the personal, cultural and structural drivers of youth homelessness.

Overall, the findings demonstrate that youth work provides a distinctive and transformative lens for preventing youth homelessness in Wales. To fully realise this potential, youth work must be strategically integrated into national and local frameworks, supported by sustainable funding, and recognised for its relational ethos. The presentation concludes with recommendations aimed at embedding youth work more effectively within homelessness prevention strategies to ensure young people receive developmentally appropriate, rights-based support tailored to their evolving needs.