Blog
Happy Youth Work Week?
I received a message this week from a friend wishing me 'Happy Youth Work Week!' in a similar way to someone saying Happy Birthday. It was thoughtful and well meant, but a fellow Youth Worker in the country, Dempsie Earles, posted on a youth work...
Are you with me?
We all have moments where we wish we were somewhere else, but what happens when you're working with a child or young person who struggles to engage constructively with another young person and the expectation is that they will? Working together is...
Magic when Mentors Meet
There's magic when two mentors meet. This morning I had the absolute pleasure again of sharing time with the fabulous Lisa Jaskulla. We sat and pondered by the water and took time to breathe, share our concerns, and recognise our need to pause and...
Raising Awareness
It’s World Mental Health Day. An opportunity to raise awareness. We should be raising awareness every day. I’ve been open about my diagnosis of GAD and depression since soon after I collapsed at work mid-2016. I wasn’t open to start with. I...
Consistently Attentive
Summer days are making way for autumn colours and schools are back with a bang. As seasons change, the children grow and with the view out of the window getting older, we waved our Year 6’s off to their Year 7 schools, hoping that the transitionary...
Who’s Managing?
Taking on the helm of a charity in need is no easy task as I found out 12 months ago. Now, one year later, the question that I'm faced with is 'who's managing?' At some point in our lives, many of us form a vision of what we want to do and where we...
Five Years a Youth Worker
Five years ago, having recently qualified, wide-eyed and bushy tailed, I spotted an advert for a village youth club a few miles away that had been closed a year and who were in their last ditch attempt to reinvigorate it before they closed the...