David Blunkett: Volunteer force for young will help mend society

I recently discussed on the radio my views on why Sheffield did not see disturbances, when criminality and looting were spreading elsewhere across the country.

Thirty years ago, and again back in 2001, Sheffield avoided the terrible destruction by drawing on the sense of identity and community, the feeling of belonging which makes Sheffield what has been described as “the biggest village in England”.

The question we face is how we can replicate this in other towns and cities across the UK.

What was absent among those involved in the riots in August was a sense of respect and of responsibility. Acknowledging this alongside the ever-growing youth unemployment, we have a toxic situation.

The time has come to take on this challenge. It has been estimated that less than one in 10 of those dealt with by the courts in the first two weeks after the disturbances in August were in a job or education, while it has become clear since the riots that the vast majority of those involved were under the age of 25.

It is critical that we begin to address the well-being of Britain’s young people.

One in five under-25s are out of employment, education or training. This creates a sense of hopelessness, a lack of a reason for getting up in the morning and a culture of lethargy and resentment.

In the aftermath, there has been growing widespread support for a national community service – to give young people a sense of worth, of being valued, and having a purpose in life.

I have been working on this for many years, but the time has now come to develop something hard-edged. That is why I have published my proposal for a National Volunteer Programme.

The National Volunteer Programme (NVP) would be assumed to be taken up by young people over the age of 16.

Building on David Cameron’s six-week National Citizen Service for school-leavers, the NVP would be on a nine-month basis and geared towards social, educational and environmental programmes that would aim to transform the community and provide confidence building, self-esteem and new experiences for all young people.

There would be a proper stipend for the participants and, where they were away from home, accommodation and food.

While the programme would be voluntary, I want to build in incentives designed to help young people in their future life. It would provide them with a passport that would have financial as well as other benefits accredited to it, which could be redeemed in relation to continuing training, start up programmes for employment, a deposit for accommodation or university fees.

The chance to work – particularly doing something worthwhile – gives a person an opportunity to have a structure to life. The absence of a job leads to worklessness, inertia and – ultimately – many of the problems that were revealed by the August riots, like gang culture.

Indeed, research by the University of Liverpool’s Urban Planning Department has shown that over two-fifths of suspects live in one of the top 10 per cent of most deprived places in the country.

Meanwhile, values that I took for granted when growing up, like mutuality and reciprocity, have faded in our communities. Young people once had these values instilled by their parents, their school, their religion, and by their mentors when taking up apprenticeships. This is clearly no longer the case, and the situation will only worsen as the Government has cut Citizenship from the school curriculum.

In my own experience, I have seen how transformational volunteering can be.

When I was Secretary of State for Education and Employment, we established the Millennium Volunteer Programme, which had young people committed on a full-time basis in hospital settings, school classrooms assisting with literacy programmes and engaged in environmental clear-up programmes.

Large-scale community services have been established in over 30 developed countries. Truly, evidence shows that the benefits can be wide-ranging, from higher literacy rates to improvements in the local environment, from greater support for old age care to a reduction in crime.

In fact, we should see a National Volunteer Programme not simply as a solution for young people but as an opportunity for society.

Clearly, there is an enormous amount that can be done to provide a positive outlet and major gains for our communities as a whole. With an ageing population, for instance, volunteers could help support those in need of old age care and help ease the burden on both families and on the budget.

With the bleak economic outlook, now is surely the time to think about a large-scale youth volunteer programme.

Investing in early intervention can generate huge savings from the prevention of crime, youth unemployment and reoffending.

This has been acknowledged not just by my own party, but by the Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, the former leader of Bradford Council.

My proposal has generated support across the third sector from leading organisations including The Prince’s Trust, The Outward Bound Trust and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. I raised this with David Cameron back in March, and I believe it is a proposal that politicians of all creeds could support.

Now is the moment to offer something better to young people but also to engage the business community in contributing to a solution to the present malaise.

As in 1998 when 100,000 businesses signed up to offering young people work experience of training under what was called the New Deal, so now employers could assist by releasing staff to help oversee programmes or to guarantee taking on youngsters who completed satisfactorily the nine month volunteer programme.

This would be a solution for Britain and not just for the individuals concerned.

David Blunkett served in three Cabinet posts from 1997-2005. He is the Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough.