Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!44 | Chapter 6“A current debate within the project is whether tobegin to offer some more specific groups to caterfor clients who will only access groups that aresmaller and consist of young people with similarexperiences.”Project worker, Icebreak, The Zone, PlymouthIt is important to state that although some of theseorganisations recognise that their current monitoringneeds enhancing, they nevertheless all share asocially inclusive approach which is exemplified in astatement by a project worker in Brighton and Hove:“… successful service accessibility is dependenton implementing a policy which respects equalopportunity, inclusiveness and diversity.”Project worker, Experience in Mind, Mind in Brightonand Hove, and Hove YMCA, Brighton and HoveMonitoring sexuality is a more complex issue, asthe people accessing some of the organisationscan be as young as 11 years old. It may also notbe appropriate to ask a young person about theirsexuality when they first come to access the service,but once trust has been built then this may bediscussed. The Market Place in Leeds is taking this onas an area for review.Other groups that are supported by theseorganisations include care leavers, refugees, thosewith alcohol and drug problems and youngoffenders and others.“Many young people are within the typical high-riskgroups who fall through the gap of mainstreamservices.”Project worker, Sorted Not Screwed Up,Aberdeen Foyer, Aberdeen“Recently it was noted that there were nocounselling services in Newcastle catering for youngunaccompanied asylum seekers and refugees, so theStreetwise service has been promoted specifically inthose communities.”Project worker, Streetwise, NewcastleKeeping the doors open to a range of young peoplewithout setting up too many restrictions and criteriawas important to these organisations.“The holistic approach of the service meansprojecting an image that the Market Place is notspecifically focusing on young people with seriousmental health problems, but is built on the beliefthat ALL young people need to feel safe, secure andcontent.”Project worker, The Market Place, LeedsThis approach can be particularly important for someyoung people who may not be able to express orunderstand their feelings easily. One young personstated how they had felt initially when going to theservice:“I just came here because it was a kind of relief afterschool to relax before I went home.”Young personAllowing young people to access the service in thisinclusive way means that they can access differentkinds of support when they need it – after a periodof time, the young person quoted above was ableto turn to the service for the emotional support thatthey needed. In the situation where a service wasunable to directly meet the needs of a young person,they would be signposted on to other services orreferred somewhere else.Ways of getting in touchAll the organisations provided a range of ways foryoung people to make contact. Initially, this maybe through a phone call to a helpline or by callingin to the premises. The organisations were keen toembrace newer technologies and most also usedtext messaging, with three also using e-mail asadditional ways to keep in touch. Although onlysome offered a drop-in facility, the others did allowyoung people to call in.