Resident participation and engagement was at the forefront of the interventions led within the borough to improve opportunities for young people.
The engagement helped deliver bespoke and relevant projects to meet local need, with particular focus to help address health and economic inequalities for 16-24 year-olds.
Two key engagement activities helped define the support that was piloted through Link Up Leigh Park:
1: Youth Engagement Survey
During the first half of 2022, we engaged with over 200 young people living in or traveling to Havant to understand what they viewed as important to them. From these conversations, we learned that their top 5 priorities were:
The above priorities that came out of the survey ignited the project focusing on youth voice where the Youth Ambassadors group developed. Further details about Youth Ambassadors can be found in the ‘Youth Ambassadors’ section on this page.
2: Participatory Insight Programme
Developed in conjunction with the University of Portsmouth, the Participatory Insight Programme captured local opinion through resident focus groups and interviews with local businesses and organisations.
The resources below provide an overview of the approach taken for both engagement activities.
A team of researchers from the University of Portsmouth, Department of Psychology delivered a Participatory Insight Programme, delving deeper into understanding the needs of the young people residing in Leigh Park.
This approach was completed by taking a look at the whole picture. The research included interviews with representatives from local businesses and organisations. The interviews explored key themes/topics regarding the organisation, employment and skills, health and wellbeing, the local area, as well as solutions to any challenges young people face.
The second part included focus groups with four groups: (a) 15-16-year-olds; (b) 16-18-year-olds; (c) 18-24-year-olds; and (d) parents/guardians of 15-24-year-olds. The key themes and topics that the focus group sessions explored were employment, education, the local area, health and wellbeing, and relationships.
The researchers also conducted evaluations of pilot projects linked to the Participatory Insight Programme findings.
The below reports share the findings of both the Participatory Insight Programme and Project Evaluations.
Following the success of the Youth Engagement Survey, we invited young people along to our ambassador network, Connect Youth, to build up skills to become local ambassadors.
The aim of this group was two-pronged: 1. To ensure that young people were being upskilled, socialising with others and gaining confidence and 2. Working with internal and external partners, ensuring that the perspective of young people were embedded in local strategy and decision-making.
The resources below provide an overview of the overall project, as well as examples of strategies/decision-making that Connect Youth had involvement in.
To actively reduce the number of NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) within the borough of Havant, the Link Up Leigh Park Transition Mentoring Programme (TMP) was set up.
The TMP, ongoing until July 2025 with potential scope for continuation, used targeted early intervention to support year 11 and 12 students with the transition from their high school education environment to their new further education setting.
The TMP was delivered in partnership with HSDC and Park Community School, with expansion into collaborative working with Warblington School.
The resources below provide an overview of the Transition Mentoring Programme and tools for practitioners to access for replication.
Working in collaboration with Link Up Youth Hub and Hampshire County Council Children’s Services, Link Up Leigh Park offered a bursary scheme to support 16-24-year-olds across the borough.
The bursary was piloted to actively support disadvantaged young people by removing the financial barriers preventing them finding meaningful employment.
The resource below provides a detailed overview of the scheme.
Launched in April 2024, the Youth Employment Scheme Havant (YES Havant) provided 6-month paid work placements for 18-24 year olds accessing Havant’s Link Up Youth Hub.
Recognising the outcomes of the national (and time limited) Kickstart scheme, the council was eager to work in partnership and to build on the initial scheme’s success, where following the scheme 65% of participants were still in employment or accessing further training/education.
YES Havant worked with 18 employers, supported 39 work placements and saw 56% job outcomes immediately following the placement.
The resources below provide an overview of YES Havant, guides for other practitioners to access for replication and case studies.