Download the form, please click here.

To learn more about the communities who received recognition at the Youth Friendly Community Ceremony held in October 2010 at Queen's Park in Toronto, click here.

You can find some great information on the Play Works website, which will help your community complete its application. Click here to access that information.

And, lastly, any community representatives that would like to receive more information on the application process, be put in touch with one of the recognized communities' mentors, or receive a personal application orientation call for the members of your community who will be putting together the application process, please email pwp@playworkspartnertship.ca or call 416-426-7065.

Please note the application deadline is December 1, 2011.

Take a look at the Findings on pages 7 – 10 and you will find a variety of great hints on connecting with youth as volunteers, as well as ways to look at the place in which you work to assess how youth friendly it is for youth to be volunteers.

On pages 25 to 74 there are wonderful tidbits of information to be found both in the quotes from young people and in the commentary about the quotes such as…

• lack of confidence and skills
• poor public 
• working within legal and policy frameworks
• seeing young people as 'challenging'
• maintaining confidentiality in small communities
• embracing informal volunteering
• reaching the hard to reach…. and more!

It is a 120 page document, so you may want to sift through the stuff you want… You can access the document here

It is in two modules (45 and 60 minutes respectively). A certificate is available upon completion. 

It is straight-forward in content and is a great primer for those new to the field, those who want more info to be able to share with others about what is meant by PYD, and/or to educate and/or advocate for the inclusion of a PYD approach in your youth programs.

You have to register for the course before you can access it but it is a very simple process and takes no time at all.

http://ncfy-learn.jbsinternational.com/course/category.php?id=3

The four main topics of the bulletins will be: sport as a development tool; youth empowerment and sport; sport and the fight against racism; and sport and violence prevention. Each issue will contain, among other things, an article written by a young person covering the main topic for that particular issue. To find out more, go to the UNESCO web page.

The Search Institute has some 'easy to share' Asset-Building Ideas for Youth Workers. The good thing is that these are transferrable to any staff who come into contact with youth – not just those who work with them. 

You can find them here.

The Sudbury & District Health Unit School Health Promotion Team has embarked on a creative adventure with our community partners by developing the Can You feel It?: A School Community Resiliency Program. The goal of this program is to empower students and school communities to adapt to or bounce back from changes and challenges they face. The four key messages of the CYFI program are: change is constant, recognize stress in your life, you control your reaction, empower yourself – you can do it!

This video trailer is great to use as a sensitizer for any group/individual that might not be familiar with the stresses that youth face.

Any questions on this resource should be directed to the Sudbury and District Health Unit at Tel: (705) 522-9200 or at its website at www.sdhu.com.

The Alberta Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA) in partnership with the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association is pleased to announce that the new Benefits DataBank (formerly the Benefits Catalogue) is now available online.

This resource, which will constantly be updated, summarizes more than 700 pieces of  evidence that recreation and parks services really do make a difference.  Validation is provided for 49 benefits or outcome statements organized around the eight marketing messages listed below. Recreation, parks, sport, arts, culture, and heritage:

• are essential to personal health and well-being
• provide the key to balanced human development
• provide a foundation for quality of life
• reduce self-destructive and anti-social behaviour
• build strong families and healthy communities
• reduce health care, social service and police/justice costs
• are a significant economic generator
• and green spaces are essential to environmental and ecological well-being, even survival

The intent is to provide you with an invaluable resource for policy development, planning, marketing, program/service development and/or evaluation. The Databank is updated on a regular basis and Facts, Trends and Promising Practices are being added for each benefit statement, to help you make a case for expanding related programs and/or services. On the site you will also find information on how to use the Databank, blogs and much more. When using the DataBank, please keep in mind that you can contribute by alerting us to new research and promising practices that should be added.

Benefits DataBank (formerly the Benefits Catalogue)

Download the 2010 Good Practices resource from Youth Friendly Communities,  Learn more about the communities who received recognition at the Youth Friendly Community Ceremony held in October 2009 at Queen’s Park in Toronto. The 2010 Youth Friendly Community Application is now online, and helpful hints regarding your community’s application.

Here is a resource which provides great statistical and general information on why and how arts programs are good for youth. If you are interested in starting or expanding an arts program, this information will lend credibility to your grant application or discussion with a decision-maker. It is 114 pages long. Take a look at the shorter Executive Summary at the beginning to see what you might want to print/save.

Champions of Change