We are thrilled and delighted that the Youth Agency has been awarded the LGBT Gold Charter by LGBT Youth Scotland.
The LGBT Gold Charter recognises commitment to LGBT rights and equality along with excellence in best practice. The Youth Agency are honoured to be the first youth work organisation in Edinburgh to receive this award.
In 2018 we became the first youth work organisation in South West Edinburgh to achieve the Bronze Charter. Achieving this award was a big event for us and a recognition of our commitment to fully embracing LBGT rights and promoting equality. However, we thought we could do more and go further and that is what we set out to do.
Our journey to gold began in 2022 and the 18 months we have spent working towards this award has been both enlightening and challenging. While it has been heartening to see what we do well receive recognition, we have also been pushed to be better.
Among the highlights have been working with our partner agencies to complete the Trans Top Tips document, delivering multi-agency training with LGBT Youth Scotland, Healthy Respect and LAYC to promote LGBT-inclusive practice, and participating in the fantastic Youth Pride Zone as part of the Edinburgh Pride Festival.
Feeback from LGBT Youth Scotland said “Your organisation has worked really hard over the Charter Journey to integrate inclusivity into your service, benefitting LGBTQ+ service users and staff. This is a collective effort and every person who has completed training, attended events, and participated in the journey should be proud of their positive contribution.”
We hope our services reflect the journey that we have been on, the lessons that we have learned and the relationships we have built. Ultimately, it is our wish that our staff, volunteers and all the young people using Youth Agency services feel safe, valued and free to be themselves.
Busy Pride Month
We’ve had a busy month here at the Youth Agency (just how we like it!) As well as wrapping our work in schools with fun and parties we’ve been busy celebrating the fun, celebration and diversity of Pride. We were at Edinburgh Pride on Saturday and had an...
Creative times at the Pyramid
Have you ever tried making ice cream without a freezer? We have here at the Pyramid. Our young people got active and creative making ice cream with ice, sandwich bags and cream. It’s fair to say that we had varying degrees of success but we had a lot of fun. ...
Going for Gold
Four years since successfully gaining our Bronze LGBT Charter we are super excited to be starting the journey again. And this time we are going for gold! We can’t wait to get started working with young people and partners to raise awareness and celebrate the amazing diversity of the LGBT...
BWell Together
The Youth Agency are proud to be a part of an exciting partnership called BWell Together. Along with friends and partner organisations in the North West of the City we are working on the BWell Together project to bring an all-round support service to children, young people and families in...
Encanto magic!
We’ve had an enchanting couple of weeks at the Junior club throwing ourselves into everything Encanto! The young people made a special request to watch Encanto and we were only too happy to oblige and join in. We watched the movie on the big screen last week and this week...
Out and about on Streetwork
A little reminder to everyone that our staff are still out and about on streetwork. We’re out on a weekly basis covering the Wester Hailes, Longstone, Broomhouse, Parkhead and Sighthill areas. We’ve been enjoying the lovely weather and are looking forward to the light nights now the clocks have changed...
Healthy Respect on Streetwork
Our streetwork sessions are busier than ever and it’s privelege to be out providing youth work support to young people in their communities. Our streetwork staff recently partnered up with the Healthy Respect team from Chalmers for outreach work at Sighthill Park . It was so good to see some...
International Women’s Day 2022
Sending positive thoughts and love to all women everywhere on #InternationalWomensDay. Here at the Youth Agency we are lucky enough to work with amazing young women through our services, to have strong women as part of our staff team and board, and to work in partnership with inspirational women 😊...
Purple Friday Celebrations
Last week was everything purple – with a flourish of rainbow – as we joined in the annual Purple Friday celebrations to show our support for all of our LGBT brothers and sisters. As well as launching the Top Tips for Trans Inclusion document last Wednesday our drop-in and school...
Top Tip for Trans Inclusion – Launch
We are delighted today to be launching the Top Tips for Trans Inclusion in Youth Work Spaces. The Youth Agency have been working in partnership with Healthy Respect, LBGT Youth Scotland, the Lothian Association of Youth Clubs and young people to produce this document. We recognise that to welcome, include...
Pyramid Fun
There’s been no sign of the January blues at the Pyramid for staff or young people. In fact, the year has got off to a great start with loads of fun nights and things to celebrate. Our young people tried their hand at beating some world records. How many toilet...
Merry Christmas from the Youth Agency!
A very merry Christmas to all our of young people, families and supporters from everyone here at the Youth Agency. We are grateful for all of the support that we receive throughout the year that enables us to continue our work supporting young people in the community. To those celebrating...
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
We love December here at the Youth Agency. It may be getting cold, dark and frosty outside but in the Pyramid it’s a time for fun, fun and more fun. We’ve enjoyed Christmas baking, movies and hot chocolate, Christmas themed silent disco and, of course, fun-filled Christmas parties. Sadly Santa...
Present Drive from Lift
Thank you so much to the management, staff and users of Lift Gym at Chesser in Edinburgh for once again supporting the Youth Agency at Christmas time. Thanks to their generosity we have collected and distributed countless presents, selections boxes, pyjamas, toiletries and treats to the young people and families...
Healthy Respect in the Park
Our staff on streetwork teamed up with Healthy Respect on Friday to support a visit of their mobile drop-in bus at Sighthill Park. The result was a very busy, but productive, night with lots of young people supported to access sexual health services. Accessing support and information relating to sexual...
Pyramid Fun
It’s been a busy few months at the Pyramid. Autumn has well and truly progressed with shorter, colder days but that hasn’t stopped the fun happening – both inside and outside – at the Pyramid. Young people took on the staff in a Beat the Staff Challenge which saw staff...
Our festival favour
It was so exciting to welcome Edinburgh International Fetival and the guys from Spectrum Arts to the Pyramid last week for a special drop-in session. The Youth Agency were lucky enough to be selected for one of the Festival’s festival favours, a programme new for 2021 which takes artists and...
Fabulous Summer of Fun
As autumn beckons we wave goodbye to what was a fabulous summer of fun at the Pyramid drop-in. All of our age groups – even the big kids – got involved and had a super time along with the staff. ...
