Last year, a young lad in Plymouth trying to come off drugs received help, support and advice from a local youth worker. Nothing unusual in that you might think. Except that the youth worker in question was only 19.
The worker, Martyn Luders, is one of eight apprentices on Plymouth Youth Service's pioneering scheme, based on the modern apprenticeship model (see panel, p15).
The ability to relate to young people, provide credible role models and offer peer mentoring are just some of the advantages younger youth workers offer, and Plymouth is part of a trend among youth services to "grow their own".
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