How going out travelling gives me a sense of freedom (A personal post)

Hello everyone! Just a random "off the top of my head" kind of post today. 

As the above title states, I want to share something more different, and it's also on a wee bit of a personal level too. Especially when I have to do this on an almost daily basis. 

For what I do in my line of work, I am required to travel to various place across the country. Even on days where I am not traveling, or traveling to anywhere for work related things, I still find the time to go out traveling to places I haven't been to before yet, or just want to revisit somewhere mainly for nostalgia purposes. That being said, I have just come to realise that doing all of this makes me feel lucky to work in such a competitive & growing industry, where I have the privilege to travel to so many different places, which make me feel alive & free.

I'll get on to explaining that...

*The above picture is the view of Leeds, which was taken from the balcony of the room I had my IOPC Youth Panel Conference in*

Even from a very young age, I was constantly moving around different places, I have lived in a total of 6 different places, and went to a school & college that was not located in any of the 6 places I had resided in. Every other weekend, when I was with my dad, we'd always go out somewhere by train or by car.

I remember this where my love for travelling manifested from.

Fast forward to now, where I have a Saturday job that's in a another county, and I travel to different places across the country for industry related meetings or conferences.

On a more personal note, I enjoy nothing more than having the freedom to go out and have a wander, as this helps my mind to adjust into a positive mental state by clearing all of the negative thoughts that are trapped inside it. Especially going on long walks or train journeys that take up the whole day!😂

Sometimes, there have been times where I didn't think I would have the confidence to be able to travel long distances by myself, as I always carry a small fear of: "What's going to happen?" But then I have learned that the more I do these kinds of things, the more confidence I will gain when travelling long distances. Especially that it really helps me to feel more independent as a person.

*I began this post on the 24/9, but didn't finish it until the 25/9*

How a being a youth worker can create heartwarming moments with people

Hello everyone! Hope you're all having a great week so far, whatever you're doing.

Since I have a day to myself, I thought I'd share something that had happened whilst I was helping out at the Challengers Orange Aid event on Saturday. 

On Saturday, (13th of September) I had the privilege to be asked to help out at the 2nd time running annual Challengers' Orange Aid event. 

Me & my friend/colleague were in charge of manning the lego tent for the day, and I'm sure we had at least 10 kids come in to have a good build with them, as well as make one big scattered pile of different assorted legos.😂

That aside, we saw loads of other families thoroughly enjoying themselves too. Which was so lovely to see! Especially how they have such a good relationship with us as a service, and they know how well we support them whenever they need it.

I was sitting out by the lego tent for most of the day, and at one point, there was a boy who I recognised that went to the SEMH school I used to work at for 6 months (Grafham Grange). When he, and the mother were sitting close by our tent, the mother came over to me, and said that the boy recognises me from his school. He remembers my name as well. We both had a friendly chat for a few minutes, then when the mother & boy walked away, the boy said to me in a nice tone & manner: "Have a lovely day, and see you later".

This warmed my heart knowing that kids like him are perfectly capable of showing a kind personality when they are in a community friendly event. Especially when they remember you from their school setting. Fun fact: I had actually worked with this boy in IL before at my old school I used to work at, and I could hardly believe the difference in him when I saw him away from the school. This is purely all down to friendly interaction I had with him there.

Another time, there was another mother & son who approached me, and the son used to attend the previous Challengers scheme I worked at before it got shut down due to financial issues. The mother had a friendly conversation with me to begin with, by talking about how well her son is doing now since he aged out of Challengers 3 months ago.

She then kneeled by me to talk about some personal issues he'd been having over the past year (Won't go into any detail). The last few things she said was how much she appreciates as youth workers being there for the young people, like her son, as we make them feel accepted for who they are for what they are as individuals. She also added how she wants nothing else in the world other than her son to feel safe for who he is.

These are the pure reasons why I still carry on doing what I do as a youth worker, as I get to work closely with different young people by helping them be more confident with interacting with adults, as well as help them to have more confidence in themselves as they get older. The best part is when you know they know it too.🧡

How spending so much time out of an education setting can have a devastating impact on a young person

Hello everyone! How are we in September already?! I feel like this year is coming & going too fast.

Anyway, I have began a new job on Monday (1st of September) in a nearby college, and as the above title states, I want to share something very important that I have seen for myself whilst I was working there. This is all in the hope that other people reading this will find this post as insightful as it was for me having to witness it. Plus, this will give me something to do whilst I'm off work ill today as well.

On my 1st day working at a nearby college, I was working in a class where there was a boy who would not come into class, and had spent the whole day standing outside. This was all because he had been out of education for a WHOLE year. With that said, just spending 1 whole day in an education setting was enough for him to be overwhelmed, as he has unfortunately been so used to not being in one for this long. 

Now, you'll be asking yourself: "Why was this boy out of education for an entire year?" The answer was (according to my colleague) the school was having problems with him, so they couldn't cope with him anymore. This, in my eyes, is nothing other than totally unacceptable for any young person. Let alone for anyone who has special educational needs, like this boy does.

There is proven evidence that being out of any educational setting for a prolonged period of time can have a really devastating impact on young people, as they fills their head with so much uncertainty, and not having any learning in an actual learning environment makes young people feel anxious, because they will be behind everyone else, regardless whether they are neurotypical & non-neurotypical people.

Although it is valid there are loads of educational settings that are struggling to accommodate SEN kids due to a sky high new cases for ASD, ADHD or any other condition, it is NOT valid for young people with SEN to be out of education just because the education system cannot find a way to cater for their needs. This is why so many SEN kids are falling behand in life due to a lack of education. I know things are getting done to improve the statistics, but this simply cannot continue for the foreseeable...

Luckily, Challengers (the part-time organisation I work for) have 2 specialist settings in Guildford & Farnham that run during the weekday where they support people from the ages of 2 - 18 who are currently out of education. Although they are not education settings in any shape or form, they do, however, provide these young people with activities that will become really beneficial for their social & emotional development. They know what it's like when a young person with SEN feels insecure by having their education placement broken down, as well as knowing the ripple effects it has on their families.

To gain a more visualised insight, I have attached a video: