Youth work: Open for the weekends - what do youth workers really think?

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"We already work many weekends and evenings. We are becoming a group of professionals who are isolated from friends and family due to working at opposite times of day."

This is just one of the hundreds of comments made by youth workers in response to CYP Now's Weekend Working Survey, timed to coincide with the government's Open Weekend initiative on 10 and 11 July to encourage more youth clubs to open on Friday and Saturday nights.

The survey finds youth workers are largely receptive to the idea of more facilities opening at weekends to meet the needs of young people living in their areas. Of the 311 workers who responded to the questionnaire, 69 per cent say increasing the number of weekend activities would be possible in their area and 46 per cent add that young people had asked for more facilities to be open at the weekend.

However, when asked if they personally would be willing to increase the amount of weekend working they undertake, the response is almost evenly split, with 51 per cent saying yes and 49 per cent saying no.

Personal lives

One consistently cited reason for not wanting to work more weekends is the effect this will have on their own personal lives.

One youth worker comments: "Who is looking after our children and giving them the parental love and guidance they need while we are out additional weekends and evenings working with other people's children?"

Fears that existing youth projects would be forced to close in order to concentrate on providing activities at weekends are also widely held among those surveyed. Sixty-eight per cent of respondents believe that running additional weekend projects would come at the expense of existing schemes.

One youth worker says: "We would have to decant staff from other nights to run Saturday provision. We would hope to spread this across weekdays within an area, but it would mean some projects closing another night to achieve this."

Confusion remains over how weekend working will be funded in the long term as well. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has stated that local authorities will have to make use of existing funding streams, such as the Positive Activities for Young People programme, to make regular weekend opening a reality.

Funding concerns

Of the youth workers who were surveyed, only 29 per cent say they have received additional money to run projects at the weekend. And some of those who have received additional funding are concerned about how long this will last.

"We received about £100,000 but it is not sufficient," comments one. Another adds: "I have a budget to put on work as and when required by the group that we are targeting, but the issue is finding the staff to do those hours."

Despite pledges from the government that a variety of partner agencies need to be involved in delivering weekend activities, only 37 per cent of those surveyed say this is currently happening in their area.

The police is the agency most likely to be involved in delivering weekend projects alongside youth workers - something that a few respondents are uneasy about.

"I feel this is inappropriate in terms of youth work practice," says one. Another adds: "Police want us to do their jobs for them by policing young people who come to the high street."

Alcohol concerns

Crucially, when asked if running more weekend projects would pose any particular challenges, more than 80 of the 311 respondents express concern about dealing with the consequences of young people's drinking. Youth workers could end up dealing with "violence and aggression, aggravated by a culture of Friday night drinking" says one.

Another fears youth clubs could turn into places where young people "sober up" before going home. Allied to this is a feeling that youth workers could become a "babysitting service as opposed to social and political educators".

A significant number say they want additional training on dealing with young people under the influence of alcohol and drugs, as well as coping with aggressive behaviour.

Of those surveyed, 77 per cent of respondents work for a local authority, 18 per cent in the voluntary sector and five per cent in other areas, including the private sector.

Exactly half of the respondents describe themselves as professional youth workers, 18 per cent as youth work managers, nine per cent as youth support managers, four per cent as heads of youth services and four per cent as volunteers. The remaining 15 per cent hold other youth work roles.

Young people's views

Young people themselves are very much in favour of having additional weekend activities. In a separate survey, CYP Now asked 100 young people whether they thought more projects should be available at the weekends and 79 per cent agreed.

When asked if they would regularly attend projects on Friday and Saturday nights if more projects were available, 65 per cent say yes.

The most popular activities they would like to see more of are arts projects, dance groups, youth discos and sports schemes.

Young people identify a number of barriers that would put them off attending projects. Chief among these are a lack of local transport and the fact their parents do not like them going out late in the evenings for safety reasons. As one teenager puts it: "My parents won't let me out on a Friday or Saturday due to lairy teenagers driving around."

YOUTH WORKER SURVEY

- Do you think that increasing the number of weekend projects would be possible?

Yes: 69%

- Do you already operate youth services on Friday and Saturday nights?

Yes: 61%

- Would you personally be willing to increase the amount of weekend working you undertake?

Yes: 51%

- Do you think your colleagues would be willing to increase the amount of weekend working they undertake?

Yes: 32%

- Do you think that young people who might otherwise get into trouble will be attracted to weekend projects?

Yes: 55%

- Have you encountered any difficulties securing facilities such as community centres or schools at weekends?

Yes: 30%

COMMENTS

"We've not pushed for it but facilities have been available in the past."

"Schools don't want anything in their properties at weekends or evenings, despite the extended services pledge."

"We once tried to hire a community centre for a disco and were turned down as it would attract 'naughty' young people. What rubbish."

"Our youth club is based in a school that doesn't open on a weekend."

- If you were to offer more weekend activities, would you have to stop running other youth projects?

Yes: 68%

COMMENTS

"If I offered weekend sessions then after-school and weekday evening sessions would have to close."

"Busy weeknight sessions would have to be cut to run weekend sessions."

"There are not enough resources to maintain full weekday openings."

"We are stretched to capacity. To offer more weekend work, I would need more staff."

"Young people have requested sessions midweek as they are either away at weekends, with family or out drinking. I can't understand the government's thinking on this."

- Has any additional funding been made available to help run more weekend projects in your area?

Yes: 29%

COMMENTS

"We received money from the Youth Taskforce via the Youth Crime Action Plan, which implies this is about enforcement rather than youth work."

"There is Positive Activities for Young People money available but we can't always access it as we often need extra staff who are hard to come by."

"Money hasn't been made available but we have pursued it. On the whole, it's community safety and police funding, not youth service money."

"We received additional external funding to pay for more staff, but when the jobs were advertised all the applicants had no experience."

- Are any other agencies such as the police or leisure services helping you to run activities at the weekends?

Yes: 37%

COMMENTS

"The police partnership is unreliable because other priorities frequently remove police staff from projects."

"Our weekend outreach sessions have been supported by police and community wardens."

"None are currently involved, but leisure services are supporting the Open Weekend."

"More help would be great as having the clubs open during weekends helps reduce the amount of young people hanging around the street."

"Police, health and leisure services are all involved."

YOUNG PEOPLE SURVEY

- Do you think that more activities should be available to young people at weekends?

Yes: 79%

COMMENTS

"Yes, because at the weekends some kids get bored and want to go and meet their friends but they're not always in so they might want to do something at a youth club instead."

"In the summer there should be more outdoor sports activities, and in the winter there should be more youth club nights with lots of facilities available."

"For the older young people, there is not that much for us to do as we don't always like to go to youth clubs. Older young people just tend to hit the town. I like the idea of hitting the town as a group as it would be safer."

OTHER VIEWS

"Amazing, isn't it? Along comes a government agenda and everyone has to jump. We are not an attractive alternative to the young people that drink at weekends."

"Young people really need something to do on Friday and Saturday nights as that is when they are bored and get silly."

"Weekend working is being used as an excuse for youth workers to be used as surrogate police during periods of antisocial behaviour."

"How can it be so common for so many other occupations to work on weekends, yet there is still such a gap in the youth work sector between need and provision?"

"The rationale seems misguided. Young people can't be under the supervision of youth workers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If this were the case, we might as well put bars on the windows and call our youth centres prisons."