Sorry I haven’t updated my blog for a few months – so here’s an update for you! Since starting in October I have had a busy time supporting a local Council run youth club (40 to 50 young people attend each week), supported a Prince’s Trust course for young people who need extra help finding work, and worked with the local secondary school through being an ‘extra pair of hands’ for some school activities such as anti-bullying week and going on a number of trips with them. I have also got out and about around Egham Hythe and Pooley Green as much as possible, on Police patrols, through ‘street youth work’ and co-running an after-school football activity for young people in a local park with one of the PCSOs.
The highlight of my time so far? Being part of a multi-agency project to establish facilities for young people in Egham Hythe where none exist at present! Soon after I started I co-hosted a consultation meeting where local young people were empowered to let us know what they would like to have provided in the area. This was a really positive meeting where we got loads of great feedback from the young people and it also enabled me to get to know some of them better. We are now planning to get some of the young people to help us run regular ‘events’ for the young people as a way of providing them with something constructive to do and to create opportunities to engage with the young people and find out more about what they want.
A big part of my work involves one to one relational support work with young people who are getting in trouble with the Police. I am currently working with a young person called Sam who is homeless and unemployed. I am helping Sam find somewhere to live, supporting him in job hunting and in getting some more qualifications. It was really encouraging to overhear Sam on the phone to a friend who I could tell was a bit wary of me, saying that I had really helped him and I was ‘OK’.
A girl I met through a project I work on got in trouble with the Police for the first time over something she did while she was drunk and she was really scared about what was going to happen. I talked her through possible scenarios and the process Police and courts would be going through. She didn’t really know what to expect and was imagining the worst, so I was able to re-assure her and she was really grateful for the support and advice I gave her.
I am currently writing an ‘employability’ course for young people, which we hope to start after Easter. I am really enjoying my work and am looking forward to using this course and the other projects I am part of to get to know the young people better and earn their trust and respect so that I can help more of them find a more positive path for their lives.
(Please note that names have been changed to protect confidentiality).
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