Community Involvement: A Youth Workers perspective

At Network Peterborough we are always interested in finding out about the people as well as all the projects going on across the City bringing churches together. In this article we meet one of the people involved in making a real difference in our City through Youth Work...

 

AB: Hi, I’m Alice Baird. I live in Peterborough, and have done for most of my life (although I took a short trip to Norwich for four years!). I am the Student Youth Worker at Bretton Baptist Church.

AB: Yes, I am studying at Ridley Hall in Cambridge two days a week for a degree in Youth & Communities work and Practical Theology and for my JNC (Joint Negotiating Committee) in youth work.

Alongside my studying I work 20 hours a week at Bretton Baptist and am involved in many different projects. Our weekly programme at Bretton includes Wednesday night Bible study groups, of which there are currently two running for those in school years 9+, a Sunday morning group called ‘The Grid’, which runs during the 10.45am church service for young people in school years 7-10 and a Sunday evening social at various church members houses.

AB: I also run a Thursday night youth club, which is open to anyone of secondary school age and includes activities such as pool, table tennis, table football, bouncy castle, bungee run, tuck shop, film nights, chill out zone, lots of Uno playing (!) and some one-off workshops such as pizza making and introductions to martial arts; we also have a short ‘God slot’ where myself or one of our volunteers will share something of God’s love for the young people with them – sometimes it can be one of our own testimonies or a video clip.

AB: Yes, I am very involved in Street Invasion. At Bretton this past summer we were involved in community action projects – we played sports with young people from the local community at Bretton Park and served tea and scones to residents of a local residential home; we had some especially lovely feedback from the residential home, thanking us for helping to change the residents’ perceptions of young people in the area, leaving them feeling much more positive about young people.

 AB: I hope that most of the work I do brings people and churches together in some way or another – unity is very important to me and always something I’m looking to improve on in my work. We hold a more youth friendly service on the third evening of the month (6.30-8pm) and the young people I work with are encouraged to invite friends from other churches, who are also invited to join with our socials after the service. I would say that our involvement in Street Invasion is key to bringing people and churches together – during the mornings young people from churches all over Peterborough are able to come together to worship and learn, then in the afternoons our social action work and sporting activities in the local community are fantastic for drawing people together; for example in a big game of cricket or football, this enables us to build relationships with residents within the community.

AB: As a youth worker I find it can sometimes be a bit lonely, often working by myself, however, more recently, I have taken the time to meet with other youth workers and observe their youth work practice and they have returned the visits. I think as church workers come together more to share ideas and encourage one another we will see churches coming together more and more.

 NP: What do you dream the future has for the work you are involved with?

 AB: I long to see the young people of Peterborough transforming the place they live in! There’s so much good work going on with young people in this area already, but there’s room for growth. In the future I would love to see young people running Bible studies, youth clubs and church services themselves, organising social action projects, inviting their friends to ask them about their faith and living each day loving God and loving people. For me that’s what my work is all about; if I can help the young people I interact with to love God and love people, I’ve done my job. And if I can inspire them to do the same, then I have achieved my dreams for them.

 AB: As mentioned before, going into the residential home near our church has enabled the residents to see that there are young people out there who care and who want to be a positive influence on their communities, and that visit has helped build relationships between the residential home and our church.

 It can often be difficult within youth work for people to see the positive impact it has had on individuals, because progress can seem so insignificant from the outside. Let me tell you of a small change that I feel has made a hugely positive change to one individual:

 A girl came to youth club every week for six months, and would sit in the corner with her friend in silence. Every week I would go over and talk to her, asking open questions about how her day had been, what she wanted to do that evening, but every time I would be met with a shrug and a slight smile, very occasionally with a one or two word answer. Then she stopped coming. I truly felt like I had failed with her. Last week she came back to youth club, sat in the corner with a different friend and didn’t engage in any of the activities. I went over and said hello and expected silence, but this time she spoke to me, answered my questions (albeit with short answers!) and when I asked if she would be back next week told me that she would and that she was pleased she had come back because she liked the youth club.

For me, that was hugely positive for her to go from silence to having a short conversation with me – I can see that very slowly her shyness is being overcome through our interactions.

 

 NP: What advice would you give to others involved in similar work to yours or wanting to start up projects with youth?

 AB: First things first, see if a project is needed? Ask young people in the area what they want and what they need, then ask their parents, and look at government information, talk to local councillors etc. Also, there’s no point setting up a project if there is one in the area doing the same thing – look at what else is already happening and look to work in partnership with other organisations in the area, with the added benefit of if they have been there for a while other organisations will know things about the area that will be useful and that you might not be aware of. One of the best ways to improve the work you’re doing is to share ideas with other people in similar work – get yourself involved in a local network of other youth workers, for example I access the monthly youth workers’ forum set up by CROPS, which is always helpful for talking through issues and ideas.

I would say the most important things are to make sure you have the support you need to run a project effectively and to serve the young people the best you possibly can – but let’s be honest, they know better than you do how you can best help and support them, so ask them!

AB: Thank you.