Training: What do we do, and what should we do next?

Unbelievably I’ve been delivering Youthscape training now for almost 8 years – how is that possible!? When I first started the largest group I’d ever delivered any public speaking to was my youth group and now I’m heading up the whole of Youthscape training UK wide, it’s been quite a journey.

I counted up the other day that we’ve delivered over 150 regional events nationally in the last five years, that’s without the conferences, in-house sessions for schools, assemblies, festivals, churches and other youth organisations! That’s hours of activities, delivering key theory around mental health and relationships, leading discussions, sharing stories, laughing (occasionally crying!) and learning from other youth workers/ teachers/ churches along the way.

As a national charity, our training reflects just that. We offer training to the whole of the UK.

From the furthest points in Scotland to the far reaches of Cornwall, our amazing team of regional trainers are overly familiar with the network of Travelodge/Premier Inns across the country, along with an extensive knowledge of motorway service stations, drive through coffee establishments, train connections and airport terminals! We certainly cover a lot of miles but we all love that we get to meet those working with young people all over the UK and support them in the work they do.

For some of you, I imagine that travelling far from home to stand in front of a crowd of strangers may not be your cup of tea (or even the stuff of nightmares), however from the very first session I delivered almost a decade ago, I totally fell in love with it. I do however have to admit that I hold a strange (almost unhealthy) fascination with picking up and reviewing the feedback forms from the session I’ve just delivered, the moment the last delegate walks out of the door!

I scan the comments boxes, not just to see how much people enjoyed the teaching (although that’s always good to hear!) but I’m looking for three words. Three words that make me know I have achieved what I set out to do. Words that makes the miles of travelling, the preparation and achy feet worthwhile.

• Confidence
• Reassurance
• Knowledge

Those small words are always my aim. As a youth worker myself for almost a decade before I moved into training, for me it was always the fear of saying/doing the wrong thing when it came to tackling tricky subjects with my young people. The theology stuff never seemed to really keep me awake at night. It was the scary subjects like porn. STI’s. Self-harm. Suicide. Drug addition. Relationship dramas.

Laying awake in the small hours wondering how someone as ancient as me (in the eyes of my young people) could meaningfully have these sorts of conversations and actually sound relevant and informed to a degree that would have some impact!

I’ve been on a lot of courses over the years some much better than others (notably I shall not be repeating the two day course on practical ladder safety). But I’d say that the ones that stayed with me were the ones where I gained a knowledge about a subject that I just didn’t have before. It’s the sessions where I left with a handful of practical activities, conversation starters and tried and tested resources and couldn’t wait to get back to work to try them out.

That’s what I try to make all of our courses feel like. Everything we deliver training on is a result of years and years of experience and practical on the ground work in Luton. Hands up, some ideas and things we’ve tried have spectacularly failed, whilst others have worked and we’ve been able to adapt and improve on them over the years – it’s these that we get to share through our training.