In the first unit, you have taken time to get to know who you are as a group and looked at how to listen and represent other people and their interests. In the second unit, you explored what you understand by community and how your group links with other people and networks. Having developed a community map of its places, people and power, you looked at the sorts of allies who can be important to help take forward your priorities for action. This third unit takes you through the stages of effective planning to get ready for action and draws on your knowledge from these first two units.

• Agreeing the group’s priority for action
• Developing an action plan for change
• Building alliances

Investing in Children in Durham is a county council-led project that promotes the voice and influence of children and young people in local democracy and on the services that are important to them in the area. A group of young people set out to seek changes in rural transport, especially to reduce the cost. They asked for a meeting with the main adults who run the buses to tell them what they wanted. The meeting was a disaster – or so it seemed. The young people hadn’t done enough homework and at this first meeting they got rebuffed by the powerful adults. They had walked into hostile territory without enough planning. Far from being downhearted, they told their adult support worker to stop being a wimp (‘what did you expect, Liam, this always happens to young people!’) and they plotted their revenge. They went away and planned properly. Over the next year, they did their research and got their evidence. A year later, they walked back into the same room with the same adults and persuaded them with the power of their arguments. They won their case. Transport is now cheaper for young people in rural Durham. It just goes to show the importance of proper planning – and not giving up.

Below are the three aims of the unit. Use activity sheet 18 to rate your current knowledge. Give yourself a personal score on the scale 1-2-3-4-5. 1 is low and 5 is high. What proof do you have? Refer to the list in the Introduction for examples of what might be good sources of evidence. This is particularly important if you are using this unit to gain credits towards an award. What score would you give yourselves as a group?

Download the Unit 3 - What Do We Know worksheet

3.1 Agreeing the group's priority for action

• 3.1(a) Decisions - Decisions
• 3.1(b) Bull's-eye
• 3.1(c) Why Oh Why? Peeling The Onion

3.2 Developing an action plan for change

• 3.2(a) The Forcefield
• 3.2(b) The Matrix
• 3.2(c) Resourcing The Plan

3.3 Building alliances

• 3.3(a) We're In This Together
• 3.3(b) Knowledge Is Power
• 3.3(c) Wise Up

Unit Review