I could hear kids and staff laughing together. People were asking how you do things and no one was being judged. There was a music room and an art room, gym, football pitch and loads more.
I got all giddy, like a seven-year-old. I wanted to try everything and I did. In the sports hall people on opposite teams were supporting each other which is weird as that isn’t normal in sport, but you could tell everyone was friends – no matter their different age or gender. There was some banging food for just £1 in the cafe as well, so I knew I was going to come back.
If teenagers are thought of as bad, they think they have to misbehave. I was certainly like that. I was the class clown, hiding my lack of self-confidence behind jokes. I didn’t care what happened to me, I went to school but had no plan for my life. I conformed to the stereotype adults have of teenagers because that’s what’s expected of you. You’re meant to be bad.
If youth workers hadn’t put their faith in me I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I would be another statistic of a young person messing about and wasting their future.
Not many people even know what youth work is, which means we don’t value it as a job and we don’t invest in it. That’s shown by the fact that 85% of young people in England don’t go to a youth club.
When people question what youth work is, it’s actually about getting to know and understand a person and spotting their potential and giving them a chance and self-confidence to try new things.
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It’s also about creating trust so that if a kid has a problem, however big or small, they feel they can talk to you because you will listen. Growing up in 2025, with phones and gangs and social media, it’s important to have someone nearer your age that you can confide in and who knows what it’s like to be young.
Tamara, one of the youth workers, suggested I should become a young leader – someone who helps with the junior members and takes on some responsibility for them.
I laughed when she first said it, I said: “I swear far too much and you want me to be a role model?”
But she kept asking until I said yes. The youth workers taught me how to run sessions and encouraged me, and it turns out that I’m quite good at it!
Another youth worker, Scott, saw me with the juniors and said: “You need to have a go at teaching tag rugby.” I loved it so much that I’m starting Wigan Warriors College in September to learn rugby coaching and gym instruction.
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When I walk into the Youth Zone now, the little ones are excited to see me. They run up and say “JoJo, hi!” Knowing I am a role model and make young people happy has been so good for my own mental heath. It’s made me so happy.
I’m not the only one whose life has been changed by youth work. OnSide, the charity that builds Youth Zones across England, did some research and found that 93% of young people that attend a youth centre say it has made a positive difference to their lives.
It saddens me that since 2012 a third of full-time council youth worker jobs have disappeared. And in March last year the union Unison found that funding cuts had led to the closure of more than two-thirds of council-run youth clubs in England and Wales since 2010.
I spoke to Jamie Masraff, the chief executive of OnSide. He said: “Youth provision is treated as an afterthought and doesn’t receive enough investment but we know it works. To create happy, positive childhoods for all, we must invest and ensure every young person has access to quality youth work as a right.”
Young people need trusted adults to talk to and support them. We are the future, we need to get over this stereotype that teenagers are bad kids that just want to mess about. Youth work is the answer.
Youth workers don’t get paid as much as they should despite working day in, day out, to make sure young people have the help they need. They should be acknowledged for the effort they put in.
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This brings me back to that first time I walked into Blackburn Youth Zone and found a place filled with happiness. It changed my whole perspective on how you should treat others because there are people out there willing to help young people and want the best for us. Every young person should experience that.
Youth clubs saved me
Owen, 22, went to Future Youth Zone in Dagenham
It’s very easy as a teenager to make one wrong decision, or get in with the wrong crowd and then you can’t get out of that situation.
People don’t understand how grateful I am that I walked into the Youth Zone at age 14 and then kept coming back. Having a safe space with decent youth workers to come to, rather than being on the streets, might even have saved my life.
The long-term effects have been enormous for me. I was very argumentative but youth workers channelled that into debating sessions. I am now training to be a solicitor.
Courtney, 18, went to Wigan Youth Zone
As a young person I went through a lot, too much for any teenage girl. I went through depression, anxiety, eating problems, self-harm and thoughts of not wanting to be here. All of those are scary to face on your own as an adult, never mind a 13-year-old.
My youth worker, Rachel, created the space for me to be honest. She gave me the best advice; she was a shoulder to cry on or someone I could just sit with in silence. She allowed me to open up and access the help I needed.
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Rachel changed my life completely. She brought me out of my shell and gave me life skills that will forever help me. She is the reason I am here and I forever owe it to her to make the most of my life. No one compares to youth workers.
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