North Somerset Youth Service User Survey Report
June 2010
North Somerset Youth Service and Children and Young People’s Service Management Information and Research Team
North Somerset Youth Service User Survey 2010
1. Introduction
Between April 19 and April 30, North Somerset Youth Service[1] undertook a survey of young people using their services attending Youth Clubs and Projects. This report (compiled and authored independently by the Children and Young People’s Services Management and Information Team) identifies and examines key findings and issues arising from this survey.
The aim of the survey was to receive feedback from young people accessing Youth Service provision, in terms of what young people think of the service and to identify how services can be improved.
The method used was a questionnaire, which was distributed at youth clubs and projects over a two week period for young people to complete during club event time. Staff also assisted young people to complete the questionnaire as identified as necessary or when requested.
2. Key Findings
The key findings are based on 464 survey responses returned from Youth Club or Project participants overall:
· The vast majority of young people accessing Youth Services are very satisfied or satisfied with Youth Service provision.
· Young people have identified a number of positive impacts resulting from participating in Youth Clubs and Projects, most notably learning new skills trying out new things, making friends, increased confidence and improved team working.
· There is evidence gathered that most young people attending recognise that Youth Workers discuss a wide range of topics and issues with them. Furthermore, young people feel that such discussions can often make a difference to them (between 30 and 70% per discussion, depending upon the topic).
· Many young people feel that Youth Services could be improved through better promotion, advertising and facilities and opening times.
· Many young people would like Youth Services to be provided on Friday evenings.
· Most young people feel they have an adequate say in how their Youth Club or Project is run.
3. Research Limitations
The scope of this research only examined the views of those using attending Youth Clubs or Projects and does not include the views of non-users, or users of other youth services outside of North Somerset administration.
The report does not benchmark progress over time but reflects only upon the views of Young People at the time of the survey in April 2010. However, this report could be used as a baseline by which to measure future progress and trends with future work.
This report attempts to describe responses in terms of the overall North Somerset picture, but does not compare responses from individual Youth Clubs and Projects. This is because this could be statistically unreliable as many Youth Clubs are different in terms of their membership sizes, activities, facilities and equipment. However, for their individual use, Clubs and Projects will receive an additional standard statistical report of how their members have responded to each question.
4. Responses
A total of 464 survey responses from Youth Club and Project participants were received, with the size of response varying by youth club or project. This variance could be down to a number of possible differences such as membership size, the type of activities undertaken, staffing availability, willingness to respond and the physical space where the survey was taken.
Table 1: Number of responses by Youth Club or Project
Youth Club or Project / Number of survey responsesPortishead Youth Club
Nailsea Youth House
Clevedon Youth Provision
Locking Castle and St Georges’ Youth Project
Weston Youth Centre
Yatton Youth Club
Neighbourhood Youth Project
Backwell Youth Club
Weston Town Centre Youth Project
Weston Youth Centre
Castle Bath Youth Club
Long Ashton Youth Club
Resource Service
Pill Youth Club
Bleadon Youth Club
Banwell Youth Club
Churchill Youth Club
Congresbury Youth Club
Ashcombe Young Parent’s Group / 87
64
52
49
47
24
17
17
15
15
14
13
9
9
8
7
6
6
5
A majority of responses lived in the North and Central locality areas, with only 22.8% coming from Weston South and 17.2% from Weston East.
5. Survey Part 1. Services Available From The Youth Club / Project
5a) Overall satisfaction with their Youth Club or Project
Overall, the vast majority (93%) of responses indicated that young people were very satisfied or satisfied with their youth club or project.
5b) What is good about their Youth Club or Project and why do they attend?
When asked what was good about their Youth Club or Project (Q3), the following reasons were most often expressed across North Somerset:
· Friendliness of youth workers (91.6%)
· Help and support offered by youth workers (88.6%)
· Amount of time youth workers are available for you (88.1%)
The most commonly cited reasons identified as very important reasons for attending (Q7) were:
· An opportunity to have fun (62.5%)
· A chance to meet new friends (58.4%)
· The chance to be taken seriously (56.7%)
· The opportunity to discuss problems with youth workers (56.7%)
· A chance to learn new skills (50%)
Individual comments on this issue also reflected these views. Additional reasons noted included having “something to do” and to “get away from family/home”.
The most commonly cited reasons identified as not very important or not at all important were:
· A chance to play a part in the community (15.9%)
· The things you discussed in groups (15.4%)
· The opportunity to discuss problems with youth workers (9.9%)
· A chance to learn new skills (9.1%)
When asked whether they wished to have a greater say in how their Youth Club or Project was run (Q6), most responses (48%) indicated “no”, many indicating that they are involved enough already. 25% said that they would like a greater say, 1% “a little bit” and 6% indicated they didn’t know, mind or were unsure.
5c) What could be improved about their Youth Club or Project?
When asked what needs improving or not good (Q3), the following reasons were most often expressed:
· Attractiveness of the buildings (44.2% responded “needs improving”, 7.3% “not good”).
· Amount of equipment available to use (34.3% “needs improving”, 3% “not good”).
· Quality of equipment (27.4%“needs improving”, 2.6% “not good”).
· Activities offered (25.4% “needs improving”, 1.5% “not good”)
· Opening and closing times of the youth club/project (21.6% “needs improving”, 2.8% “not good”).
When asked what improvements could be made to their youth clubs or projects (Q5), the most common responses across all Youth Clubs and Projects with little variation included:
· More or more diverse activities
· Better activities, facilities, buildings or equipment.
Young People were also asked whether they would like their Youth Club to be open on a Friday or a Saturday. Overall 47.8% of respondents would like their youth club to be open on a Friday and 34.5% on a Saturday. When asked what young people would like to do at a Friday or Saturday session, the most popular responses were as follows:
Table 2
How would you use your club on a Friday or Saturday (Q4b)?
Summary of Response / NumberThe same as for other sessions or nights / 44
Chilling out /hanging out / having fun / 22
Socialising / meeting friends / 21
Sports or games / 19
Dance / disco / club / party / 14
Don’t know or mind / 11
Question 8 also asked young people about their views on why other young people did not attend. By far, the most common response across all Youth Clubs and Projects except Banwell was a perceived need to improve Club/Project promotion, advertising and local awareness-raising, including at schools.
5d) What activities do young people do at Youth Clubs and Projects?
When asked the above question, 56.9% responded that they had undertaken sports activities at the club, 56.3% arts, drama or music. Males reported doing do more sport and enjoy this more than females.
Young people were asked also whether they had enjoyed the activities they had reported doing. Overall 55-68% of those reporting have done a certain activity enjoyed it, depending upon the activity.
When asked what they had learnt from activities taken part in (Q17), the most common responses highlighted learning new skills, activities or things, teamwork and having fun.
Table 3
Common things learnt from activities at Youth Clubs or Projects (Q17)
Summary of Response / NumberLearning new skills/ actitivies/things / 36
Getting on/working with others / 14
Having fun / 10
Nothing / not much / 9
Less commonly reported activities undertaken were international visits (16.6%) and Duke of Edinburgh (18.8%). Responses from some youth clubs indicated much higher participation rates for Duke of Edinburgh activities, particularly from Locking Castle, Portishead and Weston Youth Centre.
5e) What did young people discuss with their Youth Worker at Youth Clubs or Projects and was it helpful (Qs 9-15)?
Young people were asked questions about whether they had discussed a wide-ranging list of issues with their youth worker and whether discussions had helped them. These were ordered into categories according to the five Every Child Matters outcomes, excluding Enjoy and Achieve (covered in previous section) [2].
Young people reported different amounts of discussion (in terms of the number and range of issues discussed) by Youth Club and Project. Coverage was reported as highest and most comprehensive at Locking Castle, Clevedon, Castle Batch and Yatton.
Responses indicate that across North Somerset health issues were most often discussed (46% on average), with issues relating to Staying Safe (39%), Making a Positive Contribution (31%) and Achieving Economic Wellbeing (27%) less often. On average, 38% of responses reported discussion on equalities issues.
The survey also asked whether discussion on each individual issue had helped the young person. Overall, between 30 and 70% of respondents replied positively depending upon the issue. Topics where discussion appeared less helpful included alcohol, smoking, drugs, abuse, programme planning, youth parliament, budgeting, racism, homophobia and sexism.
5f) How participation in Youth Clubs and Projects has influenced young people’s lives (Q16)
Question 16 asked “How has your involvement with youth clubs or projects changed you life in a good way?”
Overall, just over half of respondents felt that attending had made a little change or big change in their lives in terms of decision-making, confidence, feeling better about themselves, staying out of trouble and learning how to get on with people better.
The most commonly noted impact was a change in confidence, with 28.7% reporting a big change, and 31.3% a little change. A significantly higher than the North Somerset average number of responses from the Weston Youth Club reported “a significant change”.
6. Survey Part 2 – About The Young People Attending Youth Clubs and Projects
The demographic details about service users captured here may not reflect all service users of Youth Clubs and Projects, only those who completed the survey.
6a) Attendance and distance travelled
On their frequency of attendance (Q18) most responded that they attended once (39.9%) or twice (26.5%) a week. On the amount of time they had attended a Youth Club or Project for (Q20), the majority (79.1%) of respondents had attended for less than two years. Conversely 20.9% have attended for more than two years.
Responding to the distance travelled to the club (Q19), most (61.2%) travelled less than one mile to the youth club, with 18.1% travelled between one and three miles. There was little significant variation in the distance travelled by youth club.
6b) Age, gender and ethnic background
The most common ages (Q21) for young people responding were between 12 and 15. 68% of young people responding fell within the 13-19 primary target age range. A majority of responses from some clubs were from younger members (e.g. Bleadon, Long Ashton and Worle), but a wider range of ages in the case of others (Ashcombe, Congresbury, Locking Castle, Neighbourhood Youth Project, Nailsea, Weston Youth Centre).
Chart 1
Age of Youth Club and Project participants
On the gender of respondents (Q22) 39% were male, 61% female. The Research and Evaluation Officer observed at the sessions attended that it was at times harder to persuade males to complete the survey, particularly those going outside to play sports.
The male-female response balance varied by club, with some clubs reporting a higher percentage of female respondents, including Ashcombe , Bleadon, Castle Batch (very high), Clevedon, Congresbury, Churchill, Portishead, Resource Service (very high), and the Weston Town Centre Youth Project.
A higher percentage of male responses were received from a number of other clubs and projects, including Worle, Pill, Banwell and Backwell.
Overall, with the exception that male respondents tended to do and enjoy sporting activities more, no significant variations in male/female commentary are noted.
When asked about their ethnic background (Q23), those who answered the question described this as White British and no significant differences are noted by North Somerset area, Club or Project.
Table 4
Ethnic background of participants
Ethnic Background / %White British / 86
Mixed / 2.2
White Irish / 1.5
White Other / 1.1
Black / 1.1
No Response / 6
Don't Wish To Say / 0.9
Asian / 0.6
Other / 0.4
Chinese / 0.2
6c) Disability and additional Needs
6.7% considered themselves to be a disabled person (Q24). Of those that did, most did not expand upon this. Disabilities which were described included ADHD, Asthma, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Dyslexia, Fractures, Learning Difficulties, “in a wheelchair” and use of “hearing aid”. When asked in addition whether they have any additional needs (Q25), answers returned included Anger Management, Aspergers, Autism, Discalculia, Dyspraxia, Eczema, Epilepsy and Hayfever. Comments not focused upon medical terminology included, “help to push wheelchair”, “reading”, “weak chest” and “getting tired out easy”.
6d) Current activities
When asked about their current activities (Q26), 83.8% said this could be best described as “at school or college”.4.7% said they were working in a part-time job, 1.9% in full or part-time training, 4.7% replied that they were unemployed, but only 1.7% said they were claiming benefits, suggesting a potential low benefit take up rate amongst these respondents.