A Message to Members in Response to COVID-19

Updated: March 2021

The Association Directors have been monitoring the status of the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom and its impact on the activities of members and their institutions. An initial decision was taken in March 2020 to suspend all face-to-face membership activity for six months and to implement a virtual (on-line) support and membership activity programme. This was extended in October 2020 for another six months. Following a further evaluation in March 2021, the Directors have decided to extend the suspension of any face-to-face membership activity until the end of the academic year. This decision will be reviewed in July 2021.

Intended Association Activity in the 2020-2021 Academic Year

The Association will continue to promote membership activity and collaboration through online activity throughout restrictions required by social distancing. We have been pleased to offer ongoing support to members throughout the first twelve months of restricted activity and have observed a significant increase in membership engagement through online activity, supplemented by a growth in sector collaborations and invitations to contribute to policy development forums. We will continue with this pattern in the next six months with particular attention to:

Keeping connected during a period of social distancing:

The Association will continue to keep members in touch through our regular bulletin
Our regular bulletin will continue to provide news on member activity, membership notifications, sector developments, publication and events.
The Association will continue to publish regular blogs and news items via our website
News, blogs and items of interest will continue to be posted appear on our website and be promoted via social media, so please check in regularly and let us know if you wish to contribute a think piece or news items via: hello@tagpalycw.org
The Association will continue to host online collaborative meeting spaces for members
We will have held 12 ‘Members Connect’ meetings prior to Easter 2021, publishing a short summary of discussions and issues raised after each event. We will continue to hold these meetings to connect with colleagues, share good practice and provide a launchpad for wider membership engagement. See our events listing for invitations to join us online.

Engaging with sector bodies, initiatives and research during times of change:

The Association’s Directors will continue to engage with sector bodies to offer support and advice related to our strategic priorities
The Association will continue to make representation on sector bodies related to the teaching of youth and community work in higher education (and Covid-19 guidance to course teams); and to the development of national and regional policies with respect to youth and community work practice.
The Association’s National Officer will continue to promote opportunities for engagement in national and international initiatives that advance our field of practice
The Association is represented across a wide field of national and international programmes and/or initiatives. We will continue to contribute to these programmes, share learning and promote opportunities for wider membership engagement.
The Association will continue to promote and engage in research to inform practice
A range of members have been involved in research responses to the coronavirus pandemic. We will continue to promote collaborative research projects and publish progress, links and papers via our website.

Working towards the longer-term vision for future membership activity:

The Association will implement its five-year strategic plan: ‘Project 2025’
We will continue to work towards the ambitions set out in our strategic plan (published in July 2020) with a focus on distributed agency through actions identified to enable: organising, creating, disseminating and influencing. Read the full plan available via this link.
The Association will launch our first round of grant-funded collaborative seminars
We will announce a ‘call’ to collaborate in planning for future seminars to take place in the 2021-22 academic year, providing grant funding for collaborations around agreed themes that can be delivered virtually and/or in person (when it is appropriate to resume face-to-face contact)
The Association will hold our Annual Conference via a hybrid model in November 2021
We will be announcing the date(s) and theme of our Annual conference in July 2021. We plan to hold a hybrid conference to engage members in resuming activity post-lockdown.

While we continue to live in strange times, we hope you will be able to find solace, energy and creativity through connecting with each other over the weeks ahead. We, as a community of practice, are committed to nurturing and sustaining our community in this period of unprecedented change. We hope you will join us in growing our connections, collaborations and creations as we continue to look towards the future together.

Stay safe and well.

On behalf of the Association Directors

Jo Lewis (Chair); Christine Smith (Vice Chair); Sheila Curran (Secretary); Jane Melvin (Treasurer); Sinead Gormally (Research Director); Tim Howell (Events Director); and Paul Fenton (National Officer).