Youth work
Mission statement
Youth Work is a developmental process that starts in places and times when young people themselves are ready to engage, learn and make use of it. Youth Workers, through purposeful and honest conversations, engage with individuals and groups. Through a process of informal education, learning and voluntary engagement, young people build their personal and social development, gaining confidence and interpersonal skills. They have a better knowledge base and are better able to think through the consequences of actions.
Adapted from: ‘Spending Wisely, Investing in Young People, Youth Work’s role in young people’s development’ (National Youth Agency, August 2006)
South Tyneside Youth Service - Core Business
The following constitutes the Youth Service’s core business:
- Young people’s personal and social development
- Young people’s active involvement in decision making
- Target group 13 to 19 year olds
- Needs led approaches
- Mix of specialist, targeted and universal open access work
The Youth Service Offer in South Tyneside
The Youth Service offers a varied mix of provision and reviews its practice regularly to ensure that we are best meeting the needs of young people within our available resources. We work towards meeting national and local priorities focusing on the Every Child Matters five key outcomes:
- Enjoying and Achieving
- Making a positive contribution
- Staying Safe
- Being Healthy
- Achieving Economic Wellbeing
We contribute to the Youth Matters requirements including offering young people real and exciting opportunities under the theme of ‘Places to go and things to do’.
In terms of the South Tyneside Local Area Agreement we work towards targets on young people achieving recorded and accredited outcomes. We similarly have a range of actions within the Council’s Performing Together Plan and likewise the local Children and Young People’s Plan.
Some of the Youth Service work in South Tyneside includes:
Building based youth work
Providing projects and activities in youth clubs and centres throughout the year at set days and times of the week.
Detached youth work
Meeting and making relationships with young people in public spaces, such as parks, shopping centres, specific targeted estates/locations within the borough, seafront or generally on the street.
Outreach youth work
As above but generally to encourage the young people to engage to make use of existing provision available through projects or building based provision.
Project youth work
Specific youth work projects that are often externally funded working with particular groups of young people, such as young women, young black and minority ethnic people, young parents.
Specialist projects
Focussing on specific activities, again often externally funded often with set targets and outcome requirements, such as volunteering projects, drama projects, arts projects, sexual health projects.
Mobile provision
Specialist made provision that can be located around the borough through the use of a purpose built, IT compliant vehicle.
International youth work
Bringing together young people from different cultures and communities in fun, interesting and enjoyable projects that give young people the opportunity to travel and gain new experiences.
Young People’s Parliament
A specific structured youth project enabling young people the opportunity to learn and engage in democratic processes.
Schools, colleges & other settings
Youth work that contributes to the formal and informal educational programmes offering personal learning support.
