NYA Update: Comment -- Teamwork helps you reach great heights

I thought this was because there is no easy way down, so it is easier to stay up there and talk - but I have recently found out how wrong I was.

Last month, I visited North East Lincolnshire Youth Service and met with their team and head of service for an article for The Edge.

While there, an exceptionally persuasive youth worker encouraged me to have a go on the climbing wall.

Not a natural climber, I convinced myself I would never be able to reach the top.

But I did it. The youth worker held the rope taut and guided my every move - gaining my trust more and more as I scaled the wall. When I reached the top, I was overwhelmed by the sense of accomplishment.

Getting up there was about teamwork and a two-way conversation - building a relationship based on a trust that was put to the test from the outset. I now understand that the climbing wall conversation has nothing to do with not being able to escape from the top. When a trusting relationship has supported you to overcome your fears and barriers, the last thing you want to do is run away.

North East Lincolnshire is, like many authorities, busy overcoming a whole range of barriers to ensure it delivers the best it can for its children and young people.

It has developed effective partnerships, both internally and externally, with agencies such as the police, the fire service and the local business community, to provide a multi-layered approach to delivering youth services throughout the area. Guiding and supporting these partnerships is continuous open and honest dialogue, focused on evidencing success by the outcomes achieved for their young people.

Although the authority is adamant it hasn't reached the top yet, it has shared its story in The Edge, to help other authorities during these difficult times.

Download the latest edition at: www.nya.org.uk/catalogue/magazines/ the-edge.

Holly-Marie Draper, head of corporate communications, National Youth Agency. hollyd@nya.org.uk