The Big Ideas Weekend 2024 - University of Stirling - 24 & 25 Aug 2024

The Big Ideas Weekend is an event for young people, youth workers and volunteers to learn new skills, network, share ideas, access a fantastic choice of workshops and celebrate the impact of youth work.

Who is it for?

The Big Ideas Weekend is most suited for:

• Workers/Leaders (18 yrs plus)
• Young People (12-17 yrs)

Young people under 16 years of age will need to come with a youth worker. A parent or guardian will also be required to sign a completed consent form.

Young People (16 years plus) can self-book onto the event and a completed consent form needs to be sent to us prior to the event.

Workers can self-book onto the event and can either come alone or accompany young people. There is a separate programme of workshops for both young people and workers, with shared event challenges and evening entertainment.

The Big Ideas Weekend Programme

Saturday 24 August 2024

• 9.00am - 9.45am Registration and Luggage Drop (Atrium)
• 10.00am - 10.20am Opening Plenary
• 10.30am - 12.00pm Workshop 1
• 12.00pm - 1.00pm Lunch
• 1.15pm - 2.45pm Workshop 2
• 3.00pm - 4.30pm Workshop 3
• 4.40pm - 5.00pm Keynote Speaker
• 5.00pm Accommodation Check In (Residential Blocks)
• 6.00pm - 6.45pm Dinner
• 7.00pm - 8.15pm Event Challenge
• 8.30pm - 11.50pm Evening Programme

Sunday 25 August 2024

• 8.00am - 9.00am Breakfast
• Accommodation Check Out (Before Workshop One)
• 9.20am - 10.50am Workshop 1
• 11.00am - 11.45am Keynote Speaker
• 12.00pm - 12.45pm Lunch
• 1.00pm - 2.30pm Workshop 2
• 2.40pm - 3.30pm Event Closing Session

Pricing and Booking

• Member - Full Event Rate (Residential): £115 includes room and meals

• Non-Member - Full Event Rate (Residential): £155 includes room and meals

• Member - day delegate (Saturday - no overnight stay): £50

• Non-Member - day delegate (Saturday - no overnight stay): £65

• Member - day delegate (Sunday - no overnight stay): £40

• Non-Member - day delegate (Sunday - no overnight stay): £55

• Extra Friday night booking: £65

*Friday night bookings* – please note that this is an option for further travelled groups, who need to travel ahead of the programme. The cost is for bed & breakfast accommodation only; please note there is no programme on the Friday night and you will need to self-cater your time and meals.

EVENT CONTRIBUTIONS MUST BE PAID IN ADVANCE OF THE EVENT

Bookings Conditions:

• The Big Ideas Weekend is a no alcohol event for all participants
• Residential Guests must remain on site at all times
• Youth Scotland consent forms must be used in addition to your own and returned no later than 48 hours before the event
• Young people under 16 years must be accompanied by a youth worker/volunteer as part of a youth group
• Please note any bookings made after 30 July will be Non-refundable, however, substitutions can be made.

Workshop Choices:

Please note that workshop choices are only presumed and these may change in the future.

Young People Workshop Choices

(Please select 3 workshops you would like to attend and 1 backup choice)

Young People Saturday Workshop Choices

• DJing Masterclass: Join Sound Lab tutor Oliver Melling for a masterclass in DJing! Using CDJs you'll learn how to spin tunes and use different techniques on the decks.

• 50 years LGBT+ history through art: This session will get you working in a team to put together a timeline of historical events. You will be guided through the last 50 years of history before creating your own puzzle. Letting you have your own creative storytelling experience.

• Intro to Graffiti: Join youth worker and artist Tragic O’Hara and learn the basics of graffiti design including choosing colours, placing outlines, and designing backgrounds.

• Special Effects Make-Up and Glitter Festival Make-Up: Learn how to create stunning special effects, be the next extra for the Walking Dead! This practical workshop will teach you how to make, apply and style wounds and injuries. You can also try your hand at creating fun festival looks with glitter and stencils.

• Games Workshop: Get active through a range of youth work games that encourage you to move around and have fun! You may get inspired to take some new games and activities back to your youth group.

• Parkour: Parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation. Parkour involves seeing the environment in a new way, and imagining the potential for navigating it by movement around, across, through, over and under its features.

Young People Sunday Workshop Choices

• DJing Masterclass: Join Sound Lab tutor Oliver Melling for a masterclass in DJing! Using CDJs you'll learn how to spin tunes and use different techniques on the decks.

• 50 years LGBT+ history through art: This session will get you working in a team to put together a large-scale puzzle, which focuses on the timeline of LGBTQ+ history in Scotland. You will also have the opportunity to make your own puzzles, letting you have your own creative storytelling experience.

• Intro to Graffiti/ Piece Painting: Join youth worker and artist Tragic O’Hara and learn the basics of graffiti design including choosing colours, placing outlines and designing backgrounds.

• Dungeons and Dragons: For all D&D enthusiasts and those who would like to give it a try for the first time, join Fuse Youth Cafe to explore designing different characters, and get stuck into playing some Dungeons and Dragons.

• Games Workshop: Get active through a range of youth work games that encourage you to move around and have fun! You may get inspired to take some new games and activities back to your youth group.

Youth Worker Workshop Choices

(Please select 2 workshops you would like to attend and 1 backup choice for each day you are attending. Please note that the Networking and Capacity-building session is pre-set for all worker participants for Workshop One on Saturday.)

All youth worker workshops are 1.5 hours in duration (unlike workshops for young people which are 1.25 hours).

Youth Worker Saturday Workshop 1 (pre-set)

Networking and Capacity-building session for youth workers and volunteers

In this session, you will tour our interactive marketplace. You will have a chance to:

• Speak to funders and get top tips on fundraising
• Learn more about using youth awards to evidence young people’s achievements
• Get support with running your group, with advice and resources to support child protection, PVG’s, and updating your group’s policies
• Get support with programme planning with free resources and toolkits to support you plan fun youth work sessions.
• Network with other youth workers from across Scotland, to share practice and get new ideas.

Youth Worker Saturday Workshop 2 choices

• The Tipping Point of Conflict in Youth Work – know your game plan: This interactive session will introduce participants to a variety of skills that will assist them to deal with conflict situations in a way that avoids the use of aggression.

• Health Inequalities – Barriers and Choices: This session introduces key aspects of the determinants of health: poverty, inequality and social class. The aim of this exercise is to enable participants to identify barriers or obstacles to good health that they may face in everyday life. It should also help participants identify what choices people in different circumstances have when they encounter such obstacles. An interactive visual exercise that enables participants to get into the topic more easily.

• Festival and Special Effects Make-up: Learn how to create and facilitate stunning festival make-up with all things glitter, and special effects make-up fit for the next extra for the Walking Dead! This practical workshop will teach you how to apply the glitter make-up and make, apply and style wounds and injuries to scare anyone who didn’t attend!

• Young People and Decision-making: This fun and interactive workshop will look at how to engage young people in decision-making and will explore techniques workers can use in their own youth groups. Initially looking at the theory behind youth participation, this training includes fun activities and empowers participants to develop their understanding of how to increase young people’s involvement in decision-making in their community.

• Young People & Vaping: This interactive and informative session is facilitated by young peer educators and explores the current vaping trends, harms & latest information relevant to young people. You will participate in group activities that you can adapt for use within your organisations.

Youth Worker Saturday Workshop 3 choices

• List of Necessities (Poverty): The aim of this exercise is for participants to begin to define poverty for themselves and, by looking at a variety of definitions, to begin to develop a broader understanding of the issue. Two key concepts to consider are ‘absolute’ versus ‘relative’ poverty. Peter Townsend (1979) changed attitudes to poverty introducing the idea that it is relative and as much about being able to participate as having the bare necessities of life available.

• Bored Meetings: Bored Meetings is an interactive training that gives staff practical activities they can run with young people in order to empower them to take the lead and support them to develop the skills they need to be part of a youth forum or board. Staff will take part in the activities and can then go on to run them with young people in their organisation.

• Rhythm2Recovery (R2R): An introduction to R2R. This is an interactive therapeutic approach that uses rhythmic activities such as drumming and other musical exercises to support emotional, social and psychological wellbeing. It combines the benefits of rhythmic music-making with therapeutic processes to promote healing and personal development.

• MVP taster session (Mentors in Violence Prevention): Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) is a peer mentoring programme that gives young people the chance to explore and challenge the attitudes, beliefs and cultural norms that underpin gender-based violence, bullying and other forms of violence. This interactive workshop will provide you with a taste of what the programme entails and how a ‘by-stander’ approach where individuals are not looked on as potential victims or perpetrators but as empowered and active bystanders with the ability to support and challenge their peers in a safe way.

• Drama: Come join a drama workshop designed specifically for youth workers, focusing on the vital role of non-verbal communication in enhancing young people's verbal expression. This session aims to equip you with practical tools to help create a supportive environment where young people can explore and articulate their thoughts and feelings and help individuals find their voice, build confidence and improve their communication skills.

Youth Worker Sunday Workshop 1 choices

• Young People, Dance & Tik Tok: Join us for an energetic and fun-filled session designed for youth workers. Boost your confidence in facilitating dance sessions and learn how to effectively and safely use TikTok and other social media platforms to engage young people and the community. No dance experience required!

• Rhythm2Recovery (R2R): An introduction to R2R. This is an interactive therapeutic approach that uses rhythmic activities such as drumming and other musical exercises to support emotional, social and psychological wellbeing. It combines the benefits of rhythmic music-making with therapeutic processes to promote healing and personal development.

• Feel Good - Spa Sunday: Join us for a relaxed, interactive session to explore the Feel Good toolkit while stimulating your senses. Engage in activities focused on emotions, gratitude and personal development, sparking curiosity and enhancing your emotional wellbeing

• Brains and Behaviour: Join us for an interactive session exploring brain development throughout life. Discover how changes in the brain influence behaviour and learn how to best support healthy brain development, including your own.

Youth Worker Sunday Workshop 2 choices

• Creative Consultation & Effective Evaluation: This fun, interactive workshop will explore creative ways to engage young people in consultations and evaluations. Explore and learn the World Café Style of Consultation/Evaluation.

• Climate Action: Bring a fun and engaging session back to your group! Explore our daily habits and discover ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Through interactive activities, we will discuss sustainable food choices, eco-friendly travel and creative repurposing. Join us to learn and take action for a greener future!

• Brains and Behaviour: Join us for an interactive session exploring brain development throughout life. Discover how changes in the brain influence behaviour and learn how to best support healthy brain development, including your own.

• Explore Issues through Movement and Games: Discover how movement activities and games can effectively address a wide range of topics. Young people tell us they learn best through active engagement, forming their own opinions and working as a team. Join us to learn how to make issue-based sessions more fun and impactful!

If you have any further questions, please contact the Youth Scotland office on 0131 5542561 [email protected]

We will only use your information to provide the membership and services you have chosen to participate in. Youth Scotland takes its obligations to any personal data held very seriously and has updated our privacy policy to accommodate new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). You may see all of our policies online at www.youthscotland.org.uk/privacy

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Andrew Miller Building, West Link Road, Stirling, United Kingdom