Training youth workers

Too many youth workers are target-driven and don't come out of their comfort zone. It's the little things that matter most to young people, like asking how your weekend was. Sometimes all you see is a suit, who is strictly professional. They should treat you as an individual, use humour, be a bit more flexible. When a young person sees you stick your neck out for them, they don't just give you respect, they tell their friends all about what that youth worker did for them.

My mentor, Leo McCoy, was really positive and even organised a week away for us. What made him such a good youth worker was that he listened. A few weeks ago, I spoke to managers from Rathbone centres across the country. They want to get the young people they train more involved in running the charity, sitting on the board and organising local forums so that they have an input into how it is run.