Address 'vast inequalities' rural young people experience

The issues in Overlooked: young people and rural youth work are well articulated and come as no surprise to youth workers, teachers, health, social, housing and other workers supporting young people outside of our major conurbations.

The last 18 months showed that a triumvirate of street, building-based and digital youth work, can increase reach, including more young people in our services. The report reflects the importance of these three methodologies. Yet young people in rural areas are lucky to have access to one of these, let alone all three.

An LGA survey on numbers of full time equivalent youth workers, stops at 2016.Thousands more posts have gone since. Figures also mask the reality that many local authority ‘youth workers’ are case-holding practitioners focussed on targeted, one dimensional work at society’s sharp end, with young people failed by the lack of community-based universal services.