Sam Adofo, youth work manager, Salmon Youth Centre

Employer: Salmon Youth Centre
Age: 43
Time in job: Two years
Salary range: £33,000 including bonuses

Sam Adofo is in his second stint at the Salmon Youth Centre, a project in Bermondsey in south-east London that has been running since 1907. He arrived from Ghana, aged 21, looking for a career in computer software.

But he soon found he was drawn to working in the youth sector. For 10 years, he worked for Haringey United Church as a youth pastor with a focus on community mentoring. He then spent three years at the Salmon before becoming a youth work co-ordinator at Club House, a voluntary youth group in Westminster.

But the offer of the role of youth work manager at Salmon Youth Centre lured him back to Bermondsey. The main aim of his current job is to help young people to become self-sufficient and to take control of their lives, he says. A key part of his work is to prepare autistic young people for life in the outside world by teaching them to alter their routines, and helping them to cope with change.

He works long days but this is reflected in the number of shifts he will be required to work a month. The job involves a lot of intensive work at the youth centre but also attending meetings with the community, police and Southwark Council.

The most satisfying part of the job has been seeing a young person who has not spoken for two years to begin to express themselves, he says.

"It is important to keep to one's agenda and not be swayed by the latest media outrage about young people," he says. And while it is important to engage with the local community, "you cannot afford to get distracted from the project's main focus," he adds.

The most challenging aspect of the job is the culture of having to provide evidence for everything you do. It can result in the job becoming task-focused instead of being about building relationships with the young people, he believes.

Anyone interested in working somewhere like the Salmon should visit their local youth projects, he advises.

"Go to the voluntary sector and statutory youth clubs to see how they both work. Once you're there you'll know if it's for you or not."

My day

10.00: Arrive at the youth centre. Sort out administration, read and respond to letters and emails, make payments and draw up action plans

12.00-15.00: Work with autistic young people

15.30: Debrief meetings with rest of the staff

16.00: Break. Play tennis, recharge batteries

17.00-22.00: Run three separate clubs at the youth centre. Take the young leaders training myself, supervise football training and Duke of Edinburgh sessions.