Last Tuesday saw youth work sector workers from across the region come together in Leeds where we deep dived to explore and add responses to the national youth strategy consultation (sector). This will be fed back to DCMS by Charlee who is collating  the feedback from all sessions. A big impact on the day for us here at the YWU was an explanation of youth work using a baseball analogy by graduating MA student from Leeds Beckett University, Seven Florence.

A young person is the batter, and the youth worker is the pitcher, we keep pitching the ball at the batter, they if they miss, we keep going and a batter can take a rest whenever they need one. When they hit the ball the distance it goes will determine how far they will run to. A small hit might mean they need to stop at first base where we and / or an expert can assess and meet their physical needs (think Maslow) when they are ready, they will set off again to second base. Where we and / or an expert can assess and support the batters’ emotional needs. When ready they will set off again when reaching third base where we and / or an expert can support opportunities for a batter to develop skills and knowledge. When they get back to home base or even hit a home run they good to go, we let them keep coming to the plate and swing, but they may not need to stop at a base.

To end the day attendees looked at what is next for the region’s #ChooseYouthWork campaign with the big headline being ‘we are professionals’ leading the thoughts. Watch this space for more information and how you can get involved.