Community Youth Worker Chris Lambert talks to us about the unique vacancy he is leaving at Young Gloucestershire.

“As a kid, my school holidays were great. I spent my time playing loads of sport, going to events and spending time with my family. But for some young people this is far from their reality. Many young people live in areas that have little or no activities for them to get involved in. For many they can’t afford to get involved, or perhaps they can’t travel outside of their communities. Unfortunately some young people don’t have supportive families, or perhaps they do but they are struggling with life’s many challenges and don’t feel able to talk to their families.

“This is where my job as a Community Youth Worker comes in. I have worked for Young Gloucestershire for over three years as part of their Community Team. Unfortunately the time has come for me to move on, leaving an exciting vacancy here at YG for a Community Youth Worker focusing on Community and HAF (Holiday Activities Fund) Projects. This is a unique role for a unique person so I thought I would give a bit of an insight into the role and the type of person it would suit.

“If any adult thinks back to their youth or teenage years they might have a mixed bag of feelings. We have all felt some kind of struggles in our lives. But for young people today there are some unique challenges that come with living in a modern world. Whomever takes this role, they need to be able to understand those challenges and be able to empathise with young people, listen to them and offer support. Sometimes providing engaging activities and free food through the HAF programme is all that’s needed to really make a difference for young people during their school holidays.

“In this job you need to be able to roll your sleeves up and get involved. Although some of the issues a community youth worker deals with may be serious, that doesn’t mean all our work has to be. You need to be able to have fun and relive some of your best childhood memories as you try and nutmeg as many young people as possible with a football or run away from them in a game of chaos tag. You need to be willing to immerse yourself in activities inspired by young people. Sometimes you have to pull on your shorts and messy trainers and just get involved.

“For some it might seem like an easy (if tiring) job of running around, but at its heart it’s all about building trusted relationships with young people. You need to be relatable, build a rapport and become a positive role model for young people. It’s a different kind of relationship than a teacher or a parent. It is one with mutual respect, non-judgmental and all about empowering young people. To enable yourself to do all that – sometimes you have to kick a ball about together first.

“There is also a basic need to provide positive activities for young people. A safe space for them to spend time with their friends and be comfortable. It is easy to take some of these things for granted if you are lucky enough to have them in your life already. But that is why the other part of this role is about working with stakeholders and community partners to advocate for young people and support stakeholders to understand the work we are doing. Helping them to better understand young people, to see them in a positive light and show them how they can play their part in improving the community for future generations. Many communities have suffered particularly over the last few years and this role is about bringing people together again, reinvigorating communities and bringing the needs of young people to the attention of other providers and larger stake holders

“The legacy I leave behind will be one of year round shorts and a bucket hat but I also hope it is that I have shown young people that there are people in their community that want to help. But who will come after me? You will need to be approachable, be willing to put yourself in the shoes of young people, be willing to relive your youth and help young people explore theirs. Be sensitive to the needs of young people in the modern world and be open-minded. If you can do all that, I think you are going to love this job. There

is nothing better than knowing you have helped make a positive difference in this world and had some fun along the way.”