At Young People at Heart, each registration has Social Work Assistants who do a lot of behind-the-scenes work, which includes a number of things like organising our events, coffee mornings, arranging the welcome boxes, writing the newsletters, attending meetings, assisting the Supervising Social Workers and more. But it’s safe to say that the best part of this job is supporting our young people. Whether it’s Life Story work, Lego Therapy, Direct Work, or general support sessions – our young people are our number one priority.
We love receiving positive feedback from carers about the extra support sessions that we provide or events that we have put on. Being not-for-profit is what allows us to offer extra support as surplus funds can be used to provide additional staff posts such as Social Work Assistants to support foster carers and young people.
Young People at Heart contributes to the cost of a bicycle for each young person placed with us as we believe being able to ride a bicycle is an important life skill. Learning to cycle and riding a bike is an easy way to build regular exercise into busy lifestyles. Cycling to school, the park or even a few laps around the block. Cycling can help young people get some essential exercise and stay fit and healthy. According to the Mental Health Foundation physical activity helps with mental alertness, energy, positive mood, and self-esteem while reducing stress and anxiety. Being able to cycle will also allow the young people to improve their learning development, independence, and social connections but most importantly it’s fun!
I had a support session where we visited the local park, and the young person was able to take their new bike. It was fantastic to see what an impact this has! The young person absolutely loved it, they were so excited to take it and although a little wobbly at first, they really built up their confidence and ended up riding around the entire field and up and down hills. They were so proud of themselves and couldn’t wait to get back to share this with their carers who gave them lots of praise. It’s so wonderful to watch our young people grow in confidence and come out of their shells more and more with each visit. It’s days like these that remind us why we’re all here, and it’s so great to go home with a smile on your face and a sense of reward from having a positive impact on a young person’s day.
