Youth Service tackles high-profile issues in conference

Saturday 24 March 2018

Sixty youth workers and volunteer staff from Jersey Youth Service are meeting today for a special conference at St. James Centre to discuss issues that affect most young people in Jersey today, including mental health, alcohol and engagement.

People from all levels of the Youth Service will take part in workshops on a range of subjects, which are designed to improve their knowledge and skills for when they engage with young people during their work.

Some of the workshops will be led by young people, including Laurent Ybert and Hannah Amy, 2017 Youth Ambassadors, who will talk about voice, engagement and how to improve participation work. Youthful Minds will deliver a talk on mental health work while Youth Worker Adelina D'Orleans will talk about supporting people with additional needs.

Other subjects covered during the conference will be gender awareness with the Youth Service LGBTQ project, using arts in youth work, alcohol awareness with Steve Le Long, Young People Substance Misuse worker and online safety and safe apps with PC Joana Carter.

During the afternoon all staff will attend a workshop on 'Capturing the magic of our work' provided by Gill Millar, a representative of Centre for Youth Impact and formerly from the South West Regional Youth Work Unit.

Mark Capern, Principal Youth Officer, said: “This is an opportunity for all our front-line teams to come together, share experience and really take time to think about the work we are doing and how we can best support young people. The issues we are talking about are the ones we know are relevant to young people and I am please Gill Millar wil be joining us because she is an inspiring leader in our field.”

Deputy Anne Pryke, the Assistant Education Minister, said: “Jersey’s Youth Service is a vital part of our community. They do an excellent job in keeping our young people safe and helping them to learn about the world and how to navigate their way through it. I hope this conference is a valuable experience and I thank them for taking the time out to do this. It is especially important following the Care Inquiry and launch of the Children’s Plan.”