Supporting young people in Scotland during the COVID-19 crisis

Early in the COVID-19 crisis it became clear that young people are - and will remain - one of the most affected groups. Overnight, they were unable to attend apprenticeships, work, college or university. Others began taking time off work or studies due to illness, self-isolation or caring for loved ones. For others, school closures got in the way of their summer exams and cast doubt over their planned next steps and transitions.  

The impact on young people’s lives has already been enormous and there is much more to come. They are one of the groups most likely to have lost work or seen their income drop. Many are worried their future career prospects have already been damaged. For others, they say their anxiety levels have increased, they now don’t feel in control of their lives, and many have fears about their futures. 

In recognition of our responsibility to young people in Scotland, we’ve worked tirelessly over the past two months to evolve our organisation, working with a range of supporters from Scottish Government to Local Authorities and fellow youth charities. This has allowed us to continue to provide diverse young people in communities across Scotland with information, services and support to help them navigate this period of huge turmoil. 

Digital information for young people 

Starting before ‘lockdown’, as we anticipated the scale of the pandemic, we’ve been updating our website and social media channels seven days a week with the latest information on COVID-19. We’ve a long history of working with partners to provide quality-assured information and we quickly produced Q&A style content with the Scottish Government, Scottish Qualifications Authority, the NHS, and more. Feedback from young people and stakeholders on our youth information has been incredibly positive, especially our live Q&A sessions with the First Minister.  

Digital services and products for young people 

We’ve also been working to digitise the delivery of our services such as the Young Scot National Entitlement Card (Young Scot NEC). At the end of March, we launched a new package of digital entitlements for young carers on our #YSCarers programme. These provide online opportunities for self-care and help to stay connected with others. They include relaxation apps, mobile data, sanitary product vouchers and entertainment subscriptions. We’ve also been continuing to promote the Young Scot NEC and the benefits of signing up to young.scot – including existing and new online discounts alongside new digital Young Scot Rewards.  

In early May, we supported our partners at Dundee, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk councils to use young.scot to deliver digital entitlements to young people taking part in #YSAttain. This programme uses the smart card technology in the Young Scot NEC in innovative ways to improve the health and wellbeing of young people living in deprived areas. The young people in these communities have now received e-vouchers for food and entertainment providers. 

Digitising Co-design opportunities for young people 

The key to our Co-design process with young people is relationships – with other volunteers and decision-makers. This allows them to collaborate, discuss, bond as a team and grow as individuals. To continue to offer these fantastic opportunities for both our diverse young volunteers and partners, we quickly adapted our practice and began delivering Co-design sessions digitally at the start of April. We are using a suite of creative online tools and a person-centred rights-based approach to ensure that these sessions remain accessible and inclusive for all young people.  

Local information and resources  

We are focusing our local support on customising our digital information for local areas and offering bespoke Young Scot Rewards. At the end of March, we began offering online training for local partners and young volunteers to develop, create and publish local content on young.scot. In April we launched new learning resources to support schools, parents, carers and community learning hubs. These online resources and activities are linked to the Experiences and Outcomes of the Curriculum for Excellence and support home-based learning and youth work.     

Whilst we had to pause our face-to-face outreach with young people, our team quickly adapted and began supporting our Co-design colleagues to deliver engagement projects online. The learnings from these sessions has allowed us to now create a Digital Outreach Service and we were thrilled to begin supporting community groups across Scotland during May. These partners include Befriending Networks, Glasgow North East Young Carers Centre and Thistle Foundation.  

Next Steps 

As a third sector organisation, we have learned over the past few weeks that the need for specialised youth information and positive experiences has never been greater. I am proud of the work we have done in collaboration with so many partners and stakeholders, and the way our dedicated team has delivered it. As Scotland moves into easing the lockdown restrictions, we will continue to bring the same values and young-people-led focus to continue to adapt our services – responding to the immediate and evolving needs of young Scots. The third sector is indeed #NeverMoreNeeded – and young people have never needed us more.