#VolunteersWeek 2015 – Volunteering with YouthNet

by The Mix Staff

Tuesday 2nd June 2015

It’s Volunteers’ Week, so we’d like to take this moment to thank all our incredible volunteers who have contributed to YouthNet over the last twelve months. We’d also like to shine a light on the work you have been doing. You’ve made a tremendous difference to the lives of over 1 million young people from around the UK.

It’s been an eventful 2014-15!

You’ve been a busy bunch this year! Working with us on a huge variety of projects that involved loads of different volunteers from around the country.

We’ve involved over 100 young people in various face-to-face workshops for projects focusing on different topics, such as employability research, app design and creation, a young men’s project and our community builders work – and there are still many more of these sessions to come.

We believe that involving young people in our creation and innovation process is integral to getting our projects, products and services absolutely correct for the needs of young people. By involving you in the process, you also gain relevant soft-skills and employment skills – supplemented by our work with partners to broaden your horizons, for example on our ‘Job Ready’ days and hosted at Capital One.

To see the fruits of your labour is easy, just visit the Apps and Tools page – Stressheads, Motimator and Madly in Love were all borne from the ideas of young people and made to work for your needs.

We’d also like to thank our wonderfully dedicated online volunteers who constantly support our essential services including Live Chat, Discussion Boards, Ask a Question & Commenting – making sure our core services are all spam free, running smoothly and supportive.

**And breaking news – you’ve also just been co-nominated for a Tech4Good award in aid of your work on shaping Stressheads. Make sure you vote for yourselves here to be in with a chance of winning (voting closes at the end of June).

What’s in store for this year?

Over the next twelve months we want to expand our volunteer involvement even further, pushing through volunteers to relevant training content where they can pick up more skills, get accredited and continue to support our diverse community. We’ll also be launching a major new platform that will involve hundreds of young people in creating and sharing stories and tips about big issues like housing and self-harm. Watch this space.

So thanks a bunch for everybody that volunteered with us, you’ve been great! Onwards and upwards next year.