Appropriate Relationships with Young People
INTRODUCTION The role of a youth worker can be a complicated one. The relationship between a youth worker and a young person is not the same as other relationships – there is a certain informality, but it is different to a friendship with a peer. To appreciate the...
Overview of Policies & Procedures
INTRODUCTION Here we aim to give you a checklist of the paperwork that you need in place to work with young people. By paperwork we mean the policies you need to work to, and the paperwork that we would advise you to use when working with the young people. We do not...
How to work well with young volunteers
INTRODUCTION Young volunteers are an invaluable resource. Bursting with energy, passion and enthusiasm, they are an asset to any team. But they can also bring challenges. There’s a strange time of transition between being a young person and becoming an adult within a...
Safeguarding and Young People
INTRODUCTION Protecting the young people we work with should be at the core of what we do; giving them a place of safety, love and justice, for all but especially for those who do not find it elsewhere. It is vital that we are safe to work with young people,...
How to encourage trust and offer guidance when working with young people
INTRODUCTION In preparation, I asked a group of young people ‘How do you encourage trust and offer guidance when working with your age group?’ One response was: “Bribery usually helps.” I of course don’t think Bribery is the most effective way that we can encourage...
Forming A Volunteer Agreement
INTRODUCTION Value volunteers or watch them walk away! It’s important that we value and give time to the relationship between ourselves and the volunteers we work with and alongside. Spending time in the forming of good working relationships and the background...