Consortium secures contract to publicise positive activities

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has awarded the contract for the project to a consortium consisting of Channel 4, Digi TV, the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, WCL, YouthNet, and research and development company Substance.

The consortium will work with 20 local authorities across England to collect and manage information on "places to go and things to do" for 13- to 19-year-olds. It will then aim to publicise the activities via a range of media.

The scheme will be based on the Plings initiative piloted by Manchester and Stockport councils. Plings is a facility where organisations pool information about activities for young people, which is then disseminated through websites, mobile phones and other media.

Since 2006, local authorities have had a duty to publicise and keep up-to-date information on activities for young people. The first stage of the project, which is now under way, will see the consortium talking to the 20 councils to assess what progress they have made on collating and distributing information and how improvements can be made.

Children's minister Beverley Hughes said: "Many young people would get involved in positive activities if they knew what was on offer - these pilots will help local authorities promote what is going on in a way that appeals to more young people."

Tim Crabbe, chair of Substance, said: "Much has been made of the lack of opportunities for young people to get involved in positive activities - in truth there is more out there than people realise. The real challenge is to find better ways to connect people with their interests."

The move follows the launch of What's On Where, a search engine run by youth organisation YoungScot that helps 11- to 26-year-olds in Scotland access information about youth activities (Youth Work Now, April 2008).