Youth work provides opportunities for young people to engage with trusted adults, meet with peers, learn new skills and take part in a vast range of activities in their own community outside of formal education.
What is youth work
Youth work provides opportunities for young people to engage with trusted adults, meet with peers, learn new skills and take part in a vast range of activities in their own community outside of formal education.
For information on youth work, and the principles that underpin all our youth sessions, please visit NYA Home - National Youth Agency
Why youth work?
Youth work is all about young people choosing to engage and doing so in places and spaces they feel comfortable.
To us, youth work is about meeting young people where they are at, both physically and emotionally. It’s about creating safe spaces where our Engagement Workers can engage with young people, earn trust, provide support and help them to access a whole range of opportunities that empower them to explore the world around them, learn skills and connect with others.
Our sessions
Our youth sessions take place in a range of settings like designated youth clubs, community places and spaces (including open spaces like parks), in schools, and on the streets (detached sessions and using a mobile youth bus). Each session is different so we meet young people’s needs.
We go to young people and provide a range of opportunities for young people to engage in youth work in Bristol and South Gloucestershire. We provide open access centre-based, detached (street-based), rural (using youth buses) and targeted sessions.
Our targeted sessions meet the specific needs of particular groups of young people and we deliver one-off activities such as trips, projects and social action projects.
Some of our sessions we deliver just as LPW, and others we work in partnership or co-deliver in collaboration with other youth organisations. To find out more about play and youth work partnerships, please click here.
Our approach to youth work
All our youth sessions use relationship-based approaches that help us connect with young people. Their purpose is to increase levels of engagement so that we can identify young people’s needs and interests and develop strategies for action. We offer:
Information, advice and guidance including on education, employment and training
Information about the support available to young people and how to access it
The chance to develop new and existing interests and hobbies
Themed workshops, including on health, well-being and staying safe in the community
Opportunities to take part in youth advocacy and to volunteer, including for accredited awards such as the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme.
Our youth delivery in Bristol and South Gloucestershire
BRISTOL
Detached youth work and LPW Changes
Detached youth work is distinctly different from other forms of youth work and requires skilled youth workers who are able to engage young people in a range of community and street-based settings.
Most young people our team engages with do not readily engage with professional support and/or will not typically attend centre-based youth provision. They are comfortable stopping to chat with street-based youth workers or will engage in more non-traditional youth-based activities. We therefore ‘go to’ young people in spaces and places that they feel comfortable. We deliver through a mixture of planned sessions at fixed locations and fixed times, and/or sessions are more transient to respond to young people’s needs.
Where young people are identified as at risk of high levels of anti-social behaviour and/or serious youth violence and criminal exploitation, LPW Changes can deploy specialist Engagement Workers.
Areas that we deliver detached youth work :
Our youth work team is flexible and responds to need. As a result, locations can change. Typically, the communities you might see our Engagement Workers in includes:
South Bristol, Easton, St George, Frome Vale and Hillfields.
Our staff wear LPW T-shirts and hoodies and all carry LPW lanyards to ensure they are identifiable as youth workers.
Open-access youth work
The communities in which we deliver open-access youth sessions include:
Frome Vale, Barton Hill, Hillfields and Shirehampton.
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people
LPW is experienced in delivering culturally sensitive play and youth work which meets the needs of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) children and young people.
GRT communities are one of our society’s most disadvantaged and marginalised groups, with poor outcomes across a range of social indicators.
Our approach
We have developed and implemented an evidence-based approach in partnership with Bristol City Council’s GRT team and The University of Bristol. Derived from the outcomes of a European study, we respond to this community’s unique needs using participation, experiences and empowerment to tackle a range of issues. Through our sessions, we improve GRT children and young people’s social networks; understanding of their rights; engagement in matters that concern them and with education, skills and confidence; and raising awareness of GRT cultures.
"...Together, we reviewed available courses and helped her identify a few clear, realistic pathways for her further education..."
NEET work
A growing number of young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Many of the young people we work with experience barriers to education and challenges in accessing help or support. Some need a little ‘additional help’ to take the next step forwards to access education, training or employment opportunities - and that’s ok.
We can provide targeted support for children and young people through Engage mentoring or our Education Recovery Project.
SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Detached youth work and LPW Changes
Detached youth work is distinctly different from other forms of youth work and requires skilled youth workers who are able to engage young people in a range of community and street-based settings.
Most young people our team engages with do not readily engage with professional support and/or will not typically attend centre-based youth provision. They are comfortable stopping to chat with street-based youth workers or will engage in more non-traditional youth-based activities. We therefore ‘go to’ young people in spaces and places that they feel comfortable.
In South Gloucestershire our detached youth work uses two mobile youth buses – known to young people as The Urbie and Doris.
These sessions are a mixture of planned sessions at fixed locations and fixed times, and/or are more transient to respond to young people’s needs. We also work on foot, going to places and spaces where young people feel comfortable.
Our youth work team is flexible and responds to need. As a result, locations can change. Typically, you might see our LPW Engagement Workers in Yate, Yate Town Centre and shopping centre, as well as rural communities such as Winterborne, Frampton Cotterell, Pucklechurch, Wick and Chipping Sodbury.
We also run targeted sports-based basketball sessions in Yate and Kingswood, providing positive activities for young people.
Our staff wear LPW T shirts and hoodies and all carry LPW lanyards to ensure they are identifiable as youth workers.
SEND and neurodiversity
We have staff who specialise in working with children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and/or neurodiversity. We offer a range of sessions for individuals who enjoy smaller group settings and a less hectic space to meet friends and access youth support.
While we run specific sessions in South Glos, we are also experienced in welcoming all children and young people into our open-access sessions and work with parents/carers to understand how we can make adjustments to enable children and young people to feel welcome and included.
LGBTQ+
In partnership with The Diversity Trust we co-deliver a weekly youth session in Yate which is specifically aimed at young people who want to explore themes around sexuality and identity in a safe space as well as spend time with other, like-minded young people.
We also work collaboratively with the Diversity Trust on events such as South Gloucestershire Pride.
Partnerships
Working collaboratively and in partnerships is at the heart of everything we do and helps us to achieve the best possible successes for children and young people. To find out more about our Partnerships: