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.
25 Years Service
Massive congratulations to our fantastic manager, Val, who, this month, is celebrating 25 years of working at the Youth Agency. From the staff, partners and the thousands of young people who have worked with the Youth Agency in this time many thanks for the years of dedication, hard work and...
MVP Schools Work
It’s great to be back to MVP work. After a successful launch with the whole of S6 at the start of term we have been busy over the last few weeks preparing our mentors to work with their S1 peers. MVP is the short name for Mentors in Violence Prevention...
Summer of Fun
We’ve enjoyed a sunny summer of fabulous fun at the Pyramid. As well as our usual activities the young people have enjoyed lots of cooking (and eating!) and our younger participants also enjoyed lots of outdoor play to make the most of the sunny weather. As the weather turns cooler...
Youth Agency Award for Personal Achievement
As ever, we were absolutely delighted to present the Wester Hailes Youth Agency Personal Achievement Award at the Forrester High School annual award ceremony which took place yesterday. We love to see young people fulfill their potential however, The Wester Hailes Youth Agency Personal Achievement Award is not all about...
Lloyd’s Charity Collection
Many thanks to Lloyd’s Banking Group, and their generous staff, for their recent support. At their most recent charity collection their staff donated and helped to raise almost £150 to support our work with young people. With matched funding from Lloyd’s, we were fortunate enough to receive almost £300 in...
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Fun at the Science Fest
The Youth Agency had a truly fabulous day out at the Edinburgh Science Festival this week. We dropped in on a few of their free activities to learn, experiment and have fun. We learned all about blood and how different blood groups are identified, we had a go at extracting...
Busy March
It’s been a busy month at The Youth Agency. As well as our drop-in, health drop-in and individual support work we have been working in Forrester High School with all S2 and S4 pupils covering their sexual health and relationship sessions. In total we have worked with over 250 pupils...
Helping to turn Scotland purple!
We had a great time last week celebrating LGBT History Month and helping to turn Scotland purple. We threw ourselves wholeheartedly into LGBT Youth Scotland’s Purple Friday celebrations to show our support for LGBT communities and to stand up to homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in whatever form it may take...
Merry Christmas from all at the Youth Agency
Merry Christmas from all at the Youth Agency. We’ve had a wonderful week celebrating with lots of young people at our drop-in and different groups. We wish everyone a happy and peaceful New Year and look forward to seeing everyone again in January!...
S5 Sexual Health
Our block of S5 sexual health work in Forrester High School wrapped up this week. We spent a total of four weeks with each of the five classes looking at healthy relationships, confidence in decision-making relating to sexual health and relationships, risk taking behaviour, STI’s and ways to keep ourselves...
MVP Success
Our Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) programme is nearly complete in school for another year. Our S6 mentors have worked exceptionally hard over the last 12 weeks learning and practicing MVP lessons. They have spent the last two weeks working with S1 pupils to deliver inspiring lessons to their younger...
Parliamentary Recognition
The Youth Agency is delighted to receive support and recognition from our local MSP Gordon MacDonald who lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament to acknowledge our achievement in gaining the LGBT Youth Scotland Bronze Charter Mark. The full motion read as follows: Motion S5M-14370: Gordon MacDonald, Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish...
LGBT Bronze Charter Award
The Youth Agency were so delighted to recently become the first voluntary organisation in South West Edinburgh to be awarded the LGBT Youth Scotland Bronze Charter Mark. We were presented with our award in the Pyramid. As promised here are some photos of the event….. Thanks to Ann Marriott who...
Our Rainbow Logo!
You may have noticed that the banner logo on our website has changed. This exciting, and colourful, change is for one day only and is to celebrate two significant events, both of which are happening today. First up, it’s #Nationalcomingout day and the Youth Agency are delighted to be showing...
Sexual Health Work
It’s great to be working with Forrester High School S6 pupils on sexual health. We are three weeks into an eight week programme and enjoying the sessions, and their company, more than ever! We’re looking forward to the next five weeks. Let’s hope it’s just as engaging and enjoyable as...
MVP Launch
As the new school term kicked off The Youth Agency had a wonderful day launching Mentors in Violence Prevention with the entire S6 cohort at Forrester High School. Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP for short) is a project designed to challenge violence, intimidation and bullying behaviour in our schools and...
The Youth Agency’s Sunny July
July at the Youth Agency was all about the sun, warm days, bright nights and planning, planning and more planning! Our drop-in has continued uninterrupted during the summer. Following our fruit bonanza last month, our cooking has stuck with the summer theme. We managed to squeeze in two cooking session...
