Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Shrewsbury Youth Work Celebrated

Shrewsbury Town Council’s Youth Services is celebrating national Youth Work Week by highlighting the work of the staff who help run the sessions and the young people who use the services they provide.

The theme of this year’s National Youth Agency campaign is “What is Youth Work?”

One of the key principles of youth work is that the young people must participate on a voluntary basis.  Youth work is not school, with youth workers feeling that it is important to create a safe, fun environment where young people have the opportunity to express their individuality and where participation is entirely optional and events are, on the whole, free.

Adam Purnell, youth and community development worker for Shrewsbury Town Council, said: “We have an informal learning environment which creates an atmosphere for organic, positive relationships based on trust between the participants and their youth workers.  Using this approach, our staff can start to identify the needs of the young people they work with and develop a programme designed to meet those needs which may not be covered within the school curriculum.”

Young Shrewsbury also offers a detached youth service as an alternative way of working with young people who are hanging around on the streets and not engaging with organised youth clubs.

Miriam Turner, from the detached youth work team, said: “With detached youth work, we meet young people, wherever they are, and build safe, voluntary relationships with groups or individuals aged 11 to 18.

“Our experience working as a detached youth work team here in Shrewsbury is that young people wish to meet their friends, hang out in the Quarry or on busy, well lit streets or near shops and play areas.  They want to chat, communicate and share, even if they don’t want to be part of something more formal, but they do appreciate it when we listen without passing judgement.

“They recognise that we care and welcome us.  They also allow us to ask relevant questions and signpost them to the appropriate service or individual case worker if they need help.”

Young Shrewsbury plays an important role in the lives of young people in the town, and Adam Purnell feels that the service needs to be more widely promoted and highlight the benefits for young people.  He said: “The informal nature of youth work and the relationships formed around it often gives young people the confidence to speak out or make disclosures about things that might be going on in their lives which are distressing.  Our youth workers will guide them towards the support and help or safeguarding necessary to help and keep them safe.”

If you require any further information on the work of Shrewsbury Town Council’s Youth Services, please contact Adam Purnell on 07976 020 819 or e-mail adam.purnell@shrewsburytowncouncil.gov.uk.

ENDS/