Bureaucracy is a brick wall to recruitment

27 September 2010 1 min read Howard Williamson Youth Work

I got a text message the other day that is worth repeating almost in full: "Hi h how's you doin, hope your well. I was thinking of probation work or youth work. would you be able to point me in the right direction. the plastering has gone really bad nothing at all. and im getting very stressed out. If you can that would be fab. much love Nathan. take care x"

I knew immediately who the text was from and calculated the individual must now be around 37 years old.

When I called him later that day, it transpired that I was bang on. We had known each other for 24 years - Nathan had first shown up at the youth club at the age of 13. We had always had a good relationship (better than the one I had with his brother, I noted on the phone) and, over the years, he had been an active participant in the club, on trips away, as well as calling on me quite frequently for personal advice and guidance, though he certainly never called it that.

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