Sun, sea and a mountain of boring paperwork
Monday, September 28, 2009
One of the odd things about being a youth worker is that our busiest time is when everyone else is on holiday. Personally, I've never found this to be a problem. In fact, summer is the highlight of my working year. It's not only that a bit of sun is always nice for detached work. More importantly, this is my opportunity to spend significant periods of time with young people who are usually busy with the inane business of school and college.
There are too few opportunities where young people can spend time with their youth workers just having a chat and a laugh. Those of us who spent this summer actually working with young people were as likely to run structured projects and short accredited courses, while our unfortunate colleagues in targeted youth support have instead been frantically looking for college places for their cohort.
I know several colleagues who spent half of this summer catching up with their paperwork. I tried to get away with doing the minimum, but after monthly reporting, recorded outcomes, accreditation, new member forms, signed attendance sheets, different reports for each different funder, and the demands of email and mobile phones, I'm exhausted.
This is not why I came into youth work. The admin isn't difficult, but it takes us away from what we are meant to be good at, especially at this time of year. The summer holidays were always for the young people and paperwork was limited to a scribbled list of names, a battered folder of consent forms and the odd note in the accident book.
Already June and July are dominated by forms, risk assessments, funding proposals and a whole heap of boring stuff, as well as our usual sessions. September is for reflection and recovery, cleaning and sorting the equipment, sticking photos on the wall and maybe writing a report. In August, we should be left alone to get on with it.
But in August I found myself in the office (albeit half asleep) the morning after a residential trip. Rather than drying out the tents and catching up on some sleep, the day was spent photocopying a month's worth of attendance sheets and recorded outcomes forms because the latest deadline was looming.
For our own sanity and for the young people we work with, let's reclaim next summer for actual youth work.
From the Frontline is written by a London-based detached youth worker.
