Plings is a search and discovery tool that helps people to find accurate and trusted sources of information about positive activities for teenagers. It is playing a vital part in helping Substance to deliver the Department for Education's ‘Information and Signposting Project’.
Substance has just embarked on its second year of project delivery, working with twenty local authorities and undertaking longitudinal research in five designated wards.
As well as enabling young people to be better informed about what is happening in their local area, Plings enables local authorities to fulfil their statutory duty to publicise and keep up to date comprehensive and accurate information on positive activities for young people and to make it accessible.
The project also fulfils a need within local authorities to maintain a strategic overview of work being delivered, mapping coverage and identifying gaps in terms of type of provision, geographical spread and times of the week.
As the project progresses Substance will develop the concept of Plingback, the channels through which young people can talk about the scale and quality of youth activities on offer as well as demonstrating the project’s impact on the take up of positive activities.
