Youth Work Strategy
Vision
Building on the vison that preceded the last youth strategy 2016-2020, developing bespoke targeted youth services across the borough has led to positive youth work and one to one delivery. Our latest vision was co-produced with our Youth Senate and shared with our third sector providers.
We still recognise the uniqueness of our localities including, our rural communities, Ellesmere Port, Chester, Northwich, Winsford, plus the needs of residents, and we continue to support bespoke youth work offers across the borough.
The vision provided a framework for our strategy development, and along with what people told us in the 2021 Youth Work consultation it has informed our new priorities.
The vision
Children and young people in Cheshire West and Chester make up over 18 per cent of the population. In order to participate and succeed they need to feel secure including a sense of stability, feeling safe and valued, and feeling well both physically and mentally.
To support young people to feel safe and secure, it is important that qualified staff and volunteers provide secure relationships from safe and young people-friendly premises. This means that we need to continue to develop creative ways to ensure young people continue to access safe spaces to meet their friends, while offering an enriched programme of preventative and targeted activities.
Approximately 8 per cent of the borough's children and young people have some form of disability and a similar proportion have an identified SEND. All young people have the right to be treated fairly, regardless of sex, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability or any other characteristic. They deserve to be heard, understood and supported in the way that they need.
Staff and volunteers will use a trauma informed approach to delivery for children, young people and families in the borough. Our Way of Working has enabled us to develop a common and consistent approach to working with families. Our trauma informed approach has been driven by the Children's Trust and has a strong preventative approach at all levels across the continuum of need. Our Ways of Working is based on shared language and shared understanding across all partners.
The Cheshire West and Chester Children and Young People's Plan 2020-24 commits all partner agencies and stakeholders to ensuring that children’s and young people's voices are embedded in decision-making. It is important that young people are involved in decision making and scrutiny at all levels, to shape policies and inform services including the location, design and delivery of activities that reflect what young people want.
The 2021 Youth Work consultation emphasised the importance of involving more young people in the decision-making process and that more opportunities should be made available for young people to get involved, such as through social media or the Youth Senate.
The Youth Senate works with young people (11 to 19years, up to 25years if SEND).It is our young peoples' voice at a local, regional, and national level ensuring that what young people think, and feel is listened to when making important decisions that affect them.
Ways of utilising the Youth Senate, the Children in Care Council, social media platforms, and other ways of getting the views of young people should be developed to provide young people with more opportunities to use their voice and have their say in local and council decisions that affect them, and their views and ideas taken forward. This will help to further empower them and ensure that our services are developed to suit them, supporting us to offer high-quality youth provision.
Youth workers in Cheshire West and Chester are trained on issues that are affecting young people. The training is flexible and adaptable to evolving issues. They offer support, advice, and guidance to young people that is informal, engaging, and interactive. The 2021 Youth Work consultation tells us that youth workers are valued by the majority of parents and other adults for the work they do, so it is important that we continue to develop and deliver high quality youth work staff and services.
It is vital that children and young people have a secure space that provides them with a sense of belonging and somewhere to feel safe and relaxed. Regular attendance in a stable youth club setting can help provide this. When asked, both adults and young people felt that having a chill-out zone, one-to-one private space, and a secure outdoor space are most important for a youth club. (2021 Youth Work consultation)
Young people need to have access to a space they can call their own and this can be achieved through having a consistent area for young people to meet with each other and with their youth workers. This approach contributes to enhancing their safety and sense of belonging at a sometimes vulnerable time in their life.
Amongst other things youth work enables young people to be informed, explore their values and beliefs, and to discuss and challenge risk-taking behaviours and the consequences. This includes advice on drugs and alcohol, smoking, sexual health, healthy relationships, and healthy lifestyles. This enables young people to make positive, healthy choices about their lives and supports them to reach their full potential.
Young people can seek one-to-one support when they need it, on any worries or concerns they may have. This could include, self-harm, mental health and wellbeing, Teenage Relationship Abuse, and hate crime – including what it is and how to report it.
The 2021 Youth Work consultation tells us that young people identifying as female show a stronger interest than males in all topics, except drugs and alcohol awareness and most young people want to know more about mental health and wellbeing support and careers and jobs advice.
Youth work should continue to develop, and provide an enriched programme of leisure, sports, and cultural activities, which support educational opportunities, and contribute to the development of knowledge, skills, wellbeing, and attitudes that prepare young people for their futures.
Youth workers offer informal learning, advice and guidance in a safe space for young people. The 2021 Youth Work consultation tells us that young people desire interactions with their youth worker to be at varying levels. Some prefer to be in larger groups with their peers, while others would like the opportunity to communicate ideas one-on-one.
