Gillian volunteered for the local church youth group called Crossfire and seemed very keen on youth work and also seemed like good fun! Annually the local Church of Scotland in Kinross hosts a week of activities for children and young people to attend. In August 2017, whilst at this event Gillian was in action doing work with young people, but not fully aware that she had potential for youth work. She had built very strong relationships amongst the young people, who responded rreally well to her. Barry, the worker at KYTHE saw something special in her and decided to see if she was interested in taking a career in youth work any further.
Gillian worked full-time as a Bike department manager in a local Halfords store at the time, in the company where she had spent 7.5 years. She agreed to volunteer on her day off every other week to start with, then it became weekly. The more Gillian got involved the more it was evident she was a natural and really got youth work and what it was all about. She then told me one day that she would like to continue this journey and was interested in how she could become a youth worker. During this time, her job became increasingly stressful, and she expressed the desire for change.
Keen to make her move, Gillian then took the leap of faith to give up her well-paid job in retail and approached the local bike shop to see if they needed help, to which they made a position available and for her to start in two weeks later. During this period Gillian worked 20 hours a week for the bike shop and volunteered for increasing amounts of time with KYTHE, from 8 to more than 20 hours. When Gillian wasn’t at the bike shop, she was at KYTHE! She just couldn’t get enough!
Barry at KYTHE wrote:
"Gillian was really helpful for me in my new role as she had the expertise, dedication, and enthusiasm I had been looking for; the knowledge of the area, the pre-existing relationships with young people, and the desire to be at KYTHE!"
Gillian very quickly became a vital part of the daily running of KYTHE, whilst still working for the bike shop. The management committee agreed to contract Gillian for four sessional hours per week. Gillian was so keen that she continued topping up the sessional time with volunteering hours and even suggested reducing her hours at the bike shop to give more time to KYTHE.
Barry approached the KYTHE management team and proposed that they take Gillian on as a member of staff and make her a permanent member of the team. Gillian began part-time 16 hours in July 2019. At the same time she committed to complete a Diploma in Youth Work Practice through a distance course delivered by YMCA George Williams College.
As KYTHE expanded, and thanks to the UYW Funding Gillian’s paid hours increased to 20 hours at first, and in April 2020, (during the pandemic!) Gillian became full-time. Gillian continues to bring her best game to work at KYTHE and has made herself a key part of the team, helping the organisation go from strength to strength.
As one parent commented:
"I just wanted to say thank you for being such a good friend to A. I don’t get to see her very often and I’ve been with her for the last few days, and she speaks so highly of you. Obviously she’s not been having the best experience at high school so far, so I’m so grateful to you and the rest of the guys for giving her a space where she can feel safe and be herself. You guys are awesome!" (Parent)
KYTHE'S WORKER RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING