Youth Focus West Midlands (YFWM) has invited Young Solutions with Worcestershire County Council to be the lead partners in a pilot online youth work training project. YFWM initiated this pilot project it hopes will fill the gap created by the disappearance of local authority training for youth workers. YFWM and Young Solutions will be working together to formulate, implement and evaluate an online accredited Continued Professional Development programme of youth work training. The pilot project will test demand for online training and identify ways of maximising access. The project will do more than replace training once provided by local authorities, it will open up youth work training opportunities to a wider range of people involved in youth work delivery including:

• paid staff
• volunteers
• those working with young people in rural areas
• in neighbourhoods with poor public transport.

The pilot areas are Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Dudley.

Worcestershire will be the principal area for the project and it will form a major element in the pilot project. However, there will not be restrictions on others involved in youth work from other local authority areas participating. The project will develop an online training platform that will host a number of different youth work related courses:

• Basics of Good Youth Work
• Dealing with Challenging Behaviour
• Introduction to Young People’s Mental Health
• Safeguarding Adolescents
• Basic Drug and Alcohol Awareness
• Education and Outdoor Visits

The project work commences in March and should be online by mid to late Autumn.