6 November 2023
Celebrating all the special experiences that youth work offers in every sector, location and context!
Every day this week, we’ll be showcasing the power of youth work with a series of special news items and social media posts focusing on the workforce, emerging services and the impact of youth work – however and wherever it is happening. And on Friday, Oxfordshire Youth is hosting a debate between organisations from across the sector on how technology is affecting young people and service delivery. Give our Sector Support team a call if you’d like to join in, there’s always room for more around the table.
It might seem an odd choice to open the national celebration that is Youth Work Week with a demoralising fact. However, the youth sector’s ability to continue providing superb services through a turbulent financial climate deserves the biggest, ‘Woop, woop!’ in itself. Since 2011, services for young people have experienced extreme cuts, with youth club and youth worker numbers down by an astonishing 69%. More than 4,500 youth work jobs have been cut and 750 youth centres closed. Do we sometimes let it get us down? We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. But do we let it stop us? No way!
In these hard times, as they battle with a triple whammy of the cost of living, mental health and housing crises, young people need the power of youth work in their lives more than ever. Hope springs eternal, and also the ingenuity and determination of youth workers. Oxfordshire Youth describes itself as, ‘the backbone’, of Oxfordshire’s youth sector, and we take pride in our 75 year history of providing support for a large and gloriously diverse community. Together with the members of our Changemaker network we connect with over 26,000 young people every year, via an astonishingly wide range of routes. Where there is a need, we find a way, so allow us to introduce you to some of the latest ways in which youth work is changing lives.
Three out of four ain’t bad… Fewer children are playing outside than ever before, with only just over a quarter playing regularly outside their homes, compared to 71% of the baby boomer generation. In Chipping Norton, Learn2Sustain was working with teenagers who led them to a battered old play park they wanted to see refurbished. They also asked for no school, a new fast food joint in town and a skate park! And youth workers reckoned two out of four was just about possible.
Changes began with pop-up sessions in the park using existing bits of equipment in a creative way with a tarpaulin shelter hung over the disused swing frame housing a makeshift bicycle repair centre. Soon there was a firepit, around which local councillors warmed their hands whilst finding out what young people wanted. From these chilly beginnings, warm relationships developed with Learn2Sustain youth workers helping to form a bridge of communication between the town council and its young residents. This bridge was well trodden months later, when the council obtained a grant to refurbish the park. As new equipment started going in, negotiations commenced over football goals and balancing the needs of neighbours for quiet, versus the need for kids to have things to climb on and jump off, loudly.
Funding was a huge challenge but through a patchwork of Freecycle, community friends and a £60,000 boost from the council they got there. And as a result of this collaboration, Chipping Norton Town Council agreed to part-fund Learn2Sustain’s new youth club for older teenagers: ‘Pot Noodle Night’, at the Town Hall might not be quite the fast food joint they had in mind, but it is giving teenagers a sense of belonging and being heard by the community (and who doesn’t secretly love a Pot Noodle?). Even better, land is now allocated for a skateboard park that will be co-designed by a youth committee partly made up of the teens from the park project, leaving just one of the four big asks unanswered. Sorry kids, even youth workers don’t have the power to shut down schools!
You shall go to the festival… The Young Carers Festival is the biggest gathering of young carers in the world, an annual must-attend event offering everyone a space in which to have fun, unwind, make new friends and try new things. It’s also a political platform for young carers to be heard and influence change. Some of the Be Free Young Carers (B.F.Y.C.) team went way above their job descriptions to help meet the considerable challenge of funding 16 young people to attend and enjoy the fairground rides, live music, outdoor movies, fireworks and a legendary silent disco. Oh, and we forgot to mention the amazing watersports, giant climbing frame, zip wire, laser quests, animal encounters and more!
B.F.Y.C. receives no government funding, relying solely on funding grants and donations. Staff have found trying to boost donations and partnerships during the cost of living crisis extremely hard but two significant contributions – each phenomenal in its own way – made the trip possible. The organisation’s former trustee Bob Ely sadly passed away a few months before the festival, generously leaving a sizeable donation and Rebecca Reed, one of the charity’s ambassadors, shaved off all her hair for sponsorship money. She understands how vital it is for young carers to come together and create a powerful, united voice about the issues they face in an environment that also provides them with the political platform to inform national and local policy. And being told by one carer, “I would do it again, 100% – the activities like kayaking and paddle boarding that I’ve never done before were great and I made new friends. I really enjoyed that”, made wearing an extra thick woolly hat this winter totally worthwhile.
Tell us a story… The staff at Cherwell Theatre Company work tirelessly to help children and young people find their own voice and then provide them with a platform on which to use it. This summer, the company invited professional theatre directors, poets, puppeteers, stand up comedians, filmmakers and visual artists to run a series of inspiring workshops. Designed to create an encouraging and safe space in which young people could give voice to their own experiences, the sessions focussed on truly enabling participants to tell their own life stories via the medium that most suited them. Not everybody wants to be a comedian after all. This was the second annual ‘Tell Your Story Festival’, with workshops taking place at local schools and community settings across Banbury to ensure that anyone who wanted to join in was afforded the opportunity.
In this charming video, you can see the performances, exhibitions and films that emerged. It’s a super useful tool to share with anyone who might want to get involved in the third annual festival, or any of the huge range of outstanding arts-based opportunities Cherwell Theatre Company offers.
Who you gonna call? If you want someone to entertain, educate and engage with children during their school holidays, then try calling on Donnington Doorstep. For many carers and parents, the long school summer holidays present a major logistical challenge. If, ‘How can I hold down a job whilst keeping children occupied for six whole weeks?’ is the question, then Oxfordshire’s vibrant youth sector is the answer.
The Doorstep team went all out this year as the summer sun (and rain) bathed the streets of Oxford city and their youth club opened its doors. Active participation in sports and recreational activities positively contributes to the physical and mental wellbeing of our young people; promoting a healthy lifestyle, instilling discipline, and helping to manage stress. With this in mind, the youth work team orchestrated the provision of a diverse range of art, music, and physical activities.
As in every well-fed home, the heart of the club was the kitchen. Guided by staff, budding culinary enthusiasts learnt to master the art of cooking up treats and wholesome meals that tantalised the taste buds whilst fostering a sense of teamwork and cooperation. As the sun reached its zenith, Oxford’s parks became a focal point for adrenaline-filled action and friendly competition. The spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie flourished, as sporting victories were celebrated with humility and defeats embraced with resilience, fostering a sense of unity and mutual support across rival teams. Summer culminated in a musical session during which the young people’s voices harmonised in collective celebration.
Overcoming the challenges posed by offering multiple activities at various sites requires careful planning, effective risk management and a flexible approach to changing circumstances. Donnington Doorstep focussed on cost optimisation and efficient resource utilisation to ensure that young people had somewhere rewarding to be every day of the summer, in spite of difficulties posed by the financial climate.
Who cares for the carers? We do!
We cannot help others without exercising self care, so it is essential that frontline youth sector workers prioritise and prize their own wellbeing. The incessant rise in complex mental health needs among young people, demands increasing levels of mental resilience in the human beings delivering life-changing support.
To support that process, and our sector colleagues, Oxfordshire Youth partnered with The Prudence Trust to offer a pioneering wellbeing programme putting workplace wellbeing first. The Youth Practitioner Wellbeing Programme is fully focussed on developing and uplifting individuals and, by extension, their organisations and the young people engaged with them. It was a priority for us to ensure that the course is fully funded, so that participants receive over £2000 of training for free and maximum equality of opportunity is ensured. Over twenty participants from across the sector are currently benefiting from the specialist training days, wellbeing sessions, personal development, peer-to-peer networking and support meetings that are integral to the programme.
Find out more about it here and to join us, sign up to be part of the next cohort, and give yourself the gift of time to explore, learn, connect and grow. And if you’d like to discuss any aspect of the programme, please contact Sam Claxton, Oxfordshire Youth’s Youth Sector Wellbeing Coordinator Tel: 07727169535 Email: sam.claxton@oxfordshireyouth.org
1 Local Government Association research
2 Save the Children data
