Grammar for ielts fiona Aish & Jo Tomlinson ■L& 11

Unit 10 Youth
Track 13
As part of this m odule on youth, today we are going to look at current youth initiatives in the UK. 
Some of which are more successful than others, I m ust say. The last governm ent spent a lot of 
money on setting up initiatives that sadly have been left in desperate need of funding since the 
new governm ent has come into power.
Firstly, volunteering schemes are incredibly successful in the UK. These schemes are cheap to 
run, which is a huge benefit. In addition to this, the schem es are com m unity based. This means 
that the benefits are spread widely throughout each local com m unity. The uptake has doubled in 
the last ten years and I believe this is an area where more focus should be placed.
Secondly, sports clubs are a huge youth initiative, w ith more than 20,000 em erging in the 
last ten years in England alone. Although the num bers are very positive, these schemes are 
expensive to staff. If these are to continue to flourish, this area w ill need a significant cash 
injection.
Lastly, there are a certain num ber of drama clubs th a t have emerged in the last ten years. 
Although it was thought that these would be hugely popular, they have actually attracted only 
sm a ll num bers of students. Moreover, they are costly, and finding a venue fo r such clubs has 
proved d iffic u lt as many local halls are running at capacity. As a result of these factors, these 
clubs are not likely to continue in the long term .
To conclude, as we can see, some of the schemes are flourishing, yet many are short of money 
and other essential resources. In order to enhance the youth experience, the governm ent m ust 
identify new schemes which are cost effective, yet enjoyable to teens.
Track K
So, w hat other initiatives could the governm ent focus on? Well, due to the success of the sports 
clubs, new ‘open spaces’ initiatives are being discussed, fo r example fo o tb a ll tournam ents in 
local playing fields or athletics days in local parks. This could regenerate local areas and renew 
interest in activities fo r young people. Staffing would s till be necessary, although young people 
could take an active role in organizing and managing com petitions. This could cut down staff 
costs significantly.
In addition to the open spaces scheme, there has been discussion of reinvigorating the 'taste of 
w o rk ' scheme, which gives young people a chance to get w ork experience in a variety of jobs in 
th e ir school holidays. However, this scheme has m et w ith harsh c riticism from some politicians