Spark Youth Hub is a new co-design project engaging high school students in social change. Our discussions with youth organisations like the...
GOAL
$79,500
PROJECT SUMMARY
Spark Youth Hub is a new co-design project engaging high school students in social change. Our discussions with youth organisations like the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Run 4 It, Tomorrow Movement, and Democracy in Colour have revealed a significant gap in social change programs tailored for high school students. There is a need for structured, long-term capacity-building programs for high school students in regional communities facing socio-economic disadvantage.
With your support, we’ll establish dedicated spaces for listening, learning, and co-designing with high school students and young people from south west Sydney to build the foundations of Spark Youth Hub and our pilot program.
Goals:
– Establish Dedicated Spaces: Create safe and inclusive spaces for listening, and co-designing with high school students and regional communities.
– Pilot Program Development: Co-design a pilot program with youth organisations and young people across Liverpool and Fairfield.
– Empowerment through Skill-Building: Equip high schools students with the skills and confidence needed to tackle social injustices and drive community change.
– Establish regional alliance: Bring together local youth, faith and service based organisations in south west Sydney to support youth-led social change initiatives.
Activities:
Sept – Jan:
– Host paid online co-design workshops with high school students.
– Facilitate two in-person workshops with local organisations in south west Sydney.
– Develop workshop resources, including multilingual materials and safeguarding training.
– Recruit and train 4-6 youth facilitators from south west Sydney.
Feb – May:
– Hold a public launch event for Spark Youth Hub.
– Youth facilitators deliver workshops in schools and youth centres, engaging 80-100 students in Liverpool and Fairfield to shape the pilot program and address youth challenges.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
- Development of Tailored Programs: Partner with high school students to co-design effective, tailored, and impactful programs that address the core needs of young people.
- Strengthened Community Resilience: Through fostering connections and collaboration among local youth, faith, service-based organisations, and peak youth bodies to effectively engage and support young people in south west Sydney.
- Inclusive and Accessible Programs: Ensure inclusivity and accessibility by developing multilingual program resources to reach and engage diverse young people.
- Empowered Communities: Empower high school students and young people in south west Sydney to amplify their voices, share ideas, and contribute their lived experiences to shape program approaches
- Showcase Youth Impact: Elevate the power of young people in south west Sydney through impactful storytelling, a successful public launch event, and strategic communications.
- Enhanced confidence and skills: Providing skill-building for disadvantaged young people will enhance their confidence, open opportunities for future career prospects and contribute to their financial stability.
- Scalable Youth Empowerment Model: Develop a scalable and sustainable model for youth empowerment that can be replicated in other regions.
We will measure and evaluate project outcomes through the following methods:
- Conducting pre- and post-workshop surveys to assess changes in participants' knowledge, attitudes, and skills.
- Organising focus group discussions with participants, youth facilitators, and partner organisations to collect qualitative data on the program's impact.
- Gathering reflections and feedback from youth facilitators, highlighting their activities, challenges, and successes.
- Monitoring attendance and engagement levels at all events and workshops.
- Documenting the development and implementation of workshop resources and guides.
Spark Youth Hub Ltd
At Spark Youth Hub, our mission is to empower high school students across so-called Australia with the skills, resources, and connections to lead social change.
High schoolers are currently navigating multiple crises, and their voices are often ignored, their potential underestimated, and their power dismissed. But history shows us that high school students have always been at the forefront of social change - from the anti-war protests to the global climate strikes, high schoolers have led innovative solutions to systemic challenges. Over the past 5 years, movements like School Strike 4 Climate have shown high school students' activism grow rapidly, on issues from climate justice to racial justice. However, there is a gap in capacity and infrastructure to support and upskill high school students in community organising and grassroots advocacy.
That’s why we’re creating Spark Youth Hub —to bridge the gap and meet the demand for community organising training, support, and infrastructure for high school students within the broader progressive movement. We must invest in building the long-term organising power of high school students to harness their creativity, innovation, and resilience against systemic barriers in our communities.
At Spark Youth Hub, we will create inclusive spaces where high school students can develop skills, gain knowledge, and build connections, empowering them to organise in their local communities. We will do this through co-designing training programs in regional communities facing socio-economic disadvantage, building an online resource hub with accessible resources, and fostering connections to existing youth-led campaigns.
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
TOTAL BUDGET: $89,500
FUNDING
| Funding source | Amount |
|---|---|
| FRRR (unconfirmed) | $10,000 |
| Funding gap (unconfirmed) | $79,500 |
EXPENSES
| Expense item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Project Coordinator (1.0 FTE for 9 months) | $52,500 |
| Comms Coordinator (0.4 FTE for 5 months) | $12,000 |
| Payment for facilitators and school student participants in co-design workshops | $5,000 |
| Workshop series in pilot regional community | $6,000 |
| Comms + resource creation | $5,000 |
| In person meetings with regional alliance | $6,000 |
| Launch event | $3,000 |
Support Spark Youth Hub: A co-design project for engaging youth in social change
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