IYW exists to give you, as a member of the Youth and Young Peoples workforce, a voice. Especially in the changing times our sector has been and continues to face. In 2011 a group of organisations including the National Youth Agency (NYA), National Council of Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) and the Young Foundation came together to consider the need for a Professional Association for Youth Work th
rough the Department for Education funded ‘Catalyst’ programme. Throughout the development process there was cross-sector support and a challenge group that worked to inform and steer development. When funding ceased at the end of 2012 it was agreed that the Institute for Youth Work would be developed: the Institute for Youth Work (IYW) was created! A widespread consultation was carried out and found 92% of respondents considered the IYW to be a ‘positive’ development for individual Youth Workers and the wider sector. In March 2013 The National Youth Agencies Board voted to finance the development of the IYW with governance provided by the ETS committee supported by a non-executive council elected from within the membership. In April 2015 it was agreed that in order for the IYW to continue to develop, an elected council would take on the Governance of the IYW. From 2015, working as volunteers, the IYW Council built an independent organisation representing its membership. IYW became the voice of Youth Workers and represented their views in the national debate about the future of the Youth Work profession.
