Introduction
Key messages
- Around threequarters of all young people participate in some form of positive activities.
There is little difference in terms of participation rates by gender but far fewer
young people from lowerincome families or from rural areas participate in activities.
- Barriers to participation include: poor access to information about what is available
and how to access it; parental attitudes; the influence of friends and peers; internal
factors (the perceptions young people hold about themselves, for example, confidence);
and practical factors such as time, transport and cost.
- The weight of evidence indicated that young people's participation in positive activities
helps in their development of personal, social and emotional skills, such as selfesteem,
confidence, socialising and teamwork. This includes improved relationships between
young people and their peers and other adults (particularly teachers and parents).
- However, some studies did not find a link between participation and positive (or
negative) outcomes for young people. Possible ways of avoiding such neutral outcomes
include providing sustained initiatives at an earlier age and allowing a longer
leadin for young people to learn about and trust a new initiative. It must however
be recognised that such approaches are likely to incur greater cost.
- A beneficial change in young people's relationships with other adults through their
participation in positive activities can be transferred to academic learning and
may lead to better outcomes.
- Participation in multiple positive activities brings additional benefits.
- Effective strategies for promoting opportunities for young people to participate
in positive activities include:
- appropriate levels of engagement (i.e. for initial takeup of opportunities and sustained
engagement)
- targeting all young people, not just specific groups such as young offenders or
elite athletes (although again universal provision may incur increased costs)
- using a variety of media/marketing as part of a comprehensive communications strategy
- involving young people
- communicating specific messages about the benefits rather than the generic benefit
of participation being a ‘good thing'.
- Young people should be involved in all aspects of the provision and promotion of
positive activities and the influence of wordof mouth through friends and social
networks is a very powerful one.
- There is a lack of robust evidence around the costbenefit analysis of young people's
participation in positive activities and the social return on investment that participation
may bring.
Who are the key stakeholders?
Young people
Young people are the focus of this review and by participating in positive activities
they can achieve better outcomes. Young people having awareness that they can exert
influence over their lives through the decisions and actions they take is a crucial
factor in the benefits that can be achieved. The involvement and influence of young
people in promoting and delivering positive activities is important both to increase
and maintain levels of participation and also to maximise the benefits. The role
of friends and peers is also very influential.
Parents and carers
Parents and carers have a major influence on young people’s participation in positive
activities. Parent and carer perceptions of the value of positive activities and
awareness of what is available locally and how to access it are important. Children
and young people in lower-income families are less likely to participate in positive
activities and face the practical challenges of meeting the costs of equipment,
entrance fees and transport.
Local authorities
Local authorities have responsibility for ensuring there is provision of positive
activities for all young people in their area through both direct service delivery
and effective commissioning arrangements. The youth service is an important provider
of positive activities in most areas. Schools have an important role in promoting
opportunities for positive activities and the benefits of participation. Schools
are also a useful venue for providing activities through extended services. Local
authorities are also required to work in partnership with other statutory services
(including health, police, fire and rescue) that may deliver or fund positive activities.
Local authorities and partner organisations are responsible for monitoring who participates
and what the outcomes are, and for securing value for money.
Voluntary organisations
Voluntary organisations are very well placed to engage with young people and have
a long history of providing a broad range of positive activities in local communities.
Voluntary organisations may be commissioned by local authorities, and others, to
provide services and are responsible for monitoring who takes part and what the
outcomes are. Volunteering itself is an important positive activity for young people.
What data is available to inform the way forward?
The Tellus survey (Chamberlain et al, 2010) reports levels of participation in positive
activities at the level of single- and upper-tier local authority and national level.
Part of the survey investigated participation in activities that are structured,
good quality, outside school and adult-led. When considering the data from the Tellus
survey, local authorities should also note that not all schools in a local authority
will have participated in Tellus surveys, and this is worth considering when drawing
conclusions and assessing performance. Nevertheless, data gathered by the Tellus
survey represents a good estimate of the national and regional average participation
for a given year and local authorities can then start their own analysis of local
positive activity participation.
The new Coalition Government decided to stop the delivery of the Tellus survey as
part of its commitment to reduce the burdens which data collection imposes on schools
and local authorities1. The last year for which data is available is 2009/10 (see
Appendix 4 of the research review).
In February 2010 the Department for Children, Schools and Families (now the Department
for Education) piloted a data collection exercise designed to provide a one-week
snapshot of participation in positive activities across all local authority areas.
Findings from this exercise may provide a useful benchmark when published.
The evidence base
A large body of evidence exists which relates in some way to the three main review
questions in this study. Many studies, particularly from the USA, look at the impact
of participation in sports-based activities and this dominates the literature. However,
much less is available set within the social context of the UK and several studies
comment on the lack of research around young people’s participation in non-sports/physical
‘positive activities’. This gap in the research base is itself, in part, a reflection
of a lower provision of positive activities with an arts and/or cultural focus (compared
to the provision of sports and physical activities).
The main gap in the evidence base for this review relates to ‘what works’ in terms
of cost-effectiveness and what provides best value for money. It is also important
to acknowledge the difficulty in obtaining ‘hard evidence’ of many of the principal
perceived benefits of participation in positive activities. There is a lack of quantitative
research in this area and much of the research which is available is qualitative
and often based on self-reports. Further research is necessary into the longitudinal
benefits of participation, for example, into outcomes relating to employment and
later life. 1 For
