Substance helps Government’s drive to publicise positive activities for young people

A consortium led by social research and development company Substance has won the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ ‘Information and Signposting’ contract. The Substance consortium will be building on the ‘Plings’ project which aims to build a national dataset of ‘places to go and things to do’ for young people aged 13 – 19.

The consortium, additionally made up of Channel 4, Digi TV, National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, WCL and YouthNet, will be working in 20 Local Authorities across the country and will be supported by a number of delivery partners including Young Advisors, Nemisys, RadioWaves, Stardotstar and four23.

Local Authorities have been under a duty since 2006 to publicise and keep up to date information on positive activities for young people through the amendment to the Education and Inspections Act. While many have made progress there is widespread agreement that further opportunities exist to take advantage of new technologies, including social networking sites. The Substance consortium will work to fill these gaps and make the project more effective across all mediums.

Plings has already been piloted with Manchester and Stockport councils (www.plings.net) during 2008. Over the next twelve months there will be a focus on trialling innovative approaches to collect, collate and disseminate information about positive leisure time activities for young people. The Substance consortium will be working with both statutory and voluntary sector agencies to collect and manage activity information and publish it through web channels, social networks, mobile phones and other media.

Young people themselves will be at the centre of the project as they access, create and share activity information.

Beverley Hughes, Minister for Young People, Children and Families said:
"Many young people would get involved in positive activities in their area if they knew what was on offer. These pilots, taking place in a number of areas around the country, will help Local Authorities to promote what is going in their area in a way that reaches and appeals to more young people. Through this they will get to find out about a range of activities and events including art and drama classes, sports clubs and events, and other positive things to do and places to go that will engage young people and provide them with an outlet to demonstrate their talents."


Professor Tim Crabbe, Chair of Substance said, "Much has been made of the lack of opportunities for young people to get involved in positive activities. In truth there is more out there than many people realise. The real challenge then is to find better ways to connect people with their interests, talents and aspirations. This project represents an exciting opportunity to square the circle.



The first year of the project will be delivered in the following 20 pilot Local Authorities:

Lewisham, Islington, Birmingham, Walsall, Coventry, Blackpool, Bolton, Halton, Knowsley, Salford, Nottingham, Doncaster, Hull, Wakefield, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, South Tyneside, Leicester, Blackburn.