AYP shared a story of one young person's struggle at school, and how this led to them taking a lead in opening a new youth work location.
JJ is 15 years old and has been coming to AYP youth clubs since she was 11. She has rows with her mum about her attendance at school, her behaviour in the community and her attitude at home. This was exacerbated by a family bereavement. JJ and her group of friends have been attending for so long that the youth workers have very strong relationships with them - she is one of the group that travelled to Germany with us in 2019.
JJ has been a cause for concern at school. When she was struggling with home learning, she benefitted from one of our workers running 1:1 sessions twice a week to help her (and others) plan her week, prioritise work, and generally talk through the importance of leaving school with as many qualifications as possible so as to have a variety of options. The time spent with workers has been a chance for her to reflect on the loss of her Gran and how she might better remember her by making her proud.
In Summer 2020 JJ was offered the chance to help set up a youth club we were opening in Kirkmichael. She found that in a different setting with young people who didn’t know her, she was able to show a different side to her personality. She took the lead with activities, had long talks with some of the younger participants, and has proved to be a lovely role model to these young people. She is a natural leader and a very capable young person in many ways.
She enjoyed the process so much that she declared that she would like to be a youth worker. We supported her to apply for college and she is due to start a Child and Youth Studies course in September.
Things at home, and in the community, remain a challenge for her as her peers have certain expectations of her, and she struggles to resist performing the role that she has created for herself. However, there have been huge improvements thanks mostly to her desire to be seen as a good role model and a positive member of the community. Her plan is to take over the running of AYP 'when George is too old to do it!'
On top of this, her Mum has become a member of the AYP committee and along with another parent has taken on the role of leading fundraising events. JJ's Dad got involved with the litter picks last year and was so impressed by the work rate of some of the young people, that he has offered to provide work experience places and possible apprenticeships through the construction firm he manages.
AYP's LOCKDOWN LEADER IN A NEW LOCATION