The Youth Service in Gwent

: a case study with special reference to present usage and future marketing

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to trace the development of the Youth Service in Britain; compare the expectations of consumers and potential consumers in Gwent with actual Service provision; classify Service users by social groupings;determine the implications provided by the empirical data for a Training/Marketing strategy for the Youth Service in Gwent.

The empirical data was collected in four areas within Gwent. The selection of areas was based on information obtained from the Registrar General's Classification. Information was obtained by the administration of a questionnaire and interview schedule,the sample of participants being drawn from Youth Club attenders and non-attenders within each of the selected areas.

One of the objectives of this project was to determine whether the district of Torfaen could be considered a microcosm of Gwent, in terms of Youth Service provision and social group representation. The reason for this was that if it were broadly representative, indications from the data relating to a possible marketing plan could be deemed applicable to the County as a whole.

The main research findings indicated;

1. A disparity between actual provision and consumer/ potential consumer expectations.
2. A failure to attract a representative sample of young people in terms of social groupings.

Analysis of the data also indicated that Torfaen results corresponded closely with those obtained from the other areas and that a marketing strategy was applicable to the Youth Service, but that for various reasons the immediate need was for a relevant training programme for youth workers to enable them to make the 'best use' of existing resources.

A proposed training programme has been outlined along a
modular structure for youth workers from both the Statutory and Voluntary Sectors within Gwent.

Date of Award	Nov 1989
Original language	English