April 2013 - The Boys' Brigade

NORTHERN IRELAND continued
Around the regions
Big Spring Clean
TIDY Northern Ireland, an environmental charity,
is currently seeking Boys’ Brigade Companies
to work with it to promote a campaign it is
running called the BIG Spring Clean.
The BIG Spring Clean mobilised over 26,000
volunteers in 2012 and TIDY NI is hoping to
increase this number to 50,000 next year.
To meet this ambitious target, TIDY NI is looking for organisations to work with
across Northern Ireland and that is where The Boys’ Brigade can get involved.
This campaign is ideal for the volunteering section, working within the community
for the Queen’s Badge and also for DofE Awards, but can be something that the
whole Company can get involved
in their local community.
If you are interested in fi nding
out more, visit the BIG
Spring Clean website at
www.bigspringcleanni.org
or contact Patricia Magee
at TIDY Northern Ireland
on 028 9073 6920.
Squad Drill Final
The winners of the District Squad Drill
Competition were 1st Ballyroney Company.
Londonderry 2013
As The Boys’ Brigade in Northern Ireland
celebrates its 125th Anniversary, the city of
Londonderry is celebrating its place as the
United Kingdom’s inaugural City of Culture.
To mark both, Londonderry Battalion is planning
a Walk of Witness led by Boys’ Brigade Bands
from around the United Kingdom and Republic
of Ireland, followed by a Concert led by Crown
Jesus Ministries at Ebrington Square.
Further details can be found on the
Northern Ireland website at
www.bbni.org.uk/ni125.htm
republic of Ireland
National Quality Standards Framework (NQSF) in the Republic of Ireland
The youth work sector works with young people outside, yet
alongside, the formal education sector. Both the Youth Work Act
2001 and the National Youth Work Development Plan 2003-2007
have provided youth work with clearer defi nition and direction.
Section 3 of the Youth Work Act 2001 defi nes youth work as:
‘a planned programme of education designed for the
purpose of aiding and enhancing the personal and social
development of young persons through their voluntary
participation, and which is complementary to their formal,
academic or vocational education and training; and
provided primarily by voluntary youth work services’.
This defi nition highlights four important dimensions of youth work:
•
• planned;
• educational;
based on voluntary participation;
• provided primarily by voluntary youth work services.
The continued development and sustainability of youth work
requires that these dimensions be identifi ed, demonstrated and
developed. The National Quality Standards Framework (NQSF)
aims to ensure that youth work organisations provide quality
services to young people. It also provides an opportunity to
articulate their practice through the development of a common
language within a structured framework.
The NQSF is intended to be both practical and developmental,
in that it will enable youth work organisations to assess service
provision and to identify
areas for development.
As engagement in the
NQSF is a continuous
process, it is not expected
that all organisations will
be able to immediately
and fully achieve all the
standards as set out in
this document. Neither is it the intention that the NQSF would
require uniformity of provision. Rather, it aims to ensure that
youth work providers continue to offer a rich and varied service,
and commit to a process of continuous development through
engagement in the NQSF.
The NQSF is primarily a support and development tool for
youth work organisations. Self-assessment is fundamental to
the process. In addition, there is also an external assessment
function, which serves to validate the self-assessment process
and which is performed by VEC (Youth/Liaison) Offi cers for
local youth work services or by the NQSF Standards Offi cer for
national youth work organisations.
The Boys’ Brigade in the Republic of Ireland is now engaged
with the NQSF process that takes three years to complete
and Philip Daley, Brian Weekes & Mark Acheson will form the
Implementation Team along with Mary Robb of the City of Dublin
Youth Service Board (CDYSB) will be our support offi cer.
Apr 2013 The Boys’ Brigade Gazette 53