CWVYS was set up originally in 1974 by the Standing Conference in Wales of Voluntary Youth Organisations, which was established in 1947.
It was core funded by the Welsh Office and had its own offices and staff until 1992 when the Wales Youth Agency (WYA) was established.
CWVYS is the representative body for all youth work across Wales helping support and give a voice to youth work. We currently work with over 250,000 young people and hundreds of youth agencies in Wales.
CWVYS’s work programme was then undertaken by the WYA through a service level agreement. In 2001, after devolution, CWVYS embarked on a review of its strategic plans for the future, in response to the changing policy environment in Wales.
After negotiations with the then Youth Policy Team of the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), it was decided to core fund CWVYS to employ a Chief Executive making it more independent, whilst still relying on the WYA for office space and administration.
With the closure of the WYA at the end of 2005, CWVYS is now totally independent once more with its own office and administration staff in Cardiff Bay.