Recently, the trustees of the Neumark Foundation were delighted to award funding to Brighter Futures in Rhyl, which will enable them to fund the role of Ellie, their trainee youth worker. As part of our commitment to be a Foundation who promotes relational funding, we were delighted to be able meet with Ellie to find out more about her role.

Our interview with Ellie showed us how committed and determined she is to make the most of this opportunity. She was also able to tell us what an impact it has had on her personally and professionally, over the last year. We were delighted, also, to hear about her hopes and aspirations, for the coming year.

Ellie, please can you tell us about your achievements in your first year in the role?

My achievements this year include, getting to secure a role as a trainee youth worker, building relationships with the young people and being able to support them confidently, and being able to refer young people to other services to support their needs, due to this role I have been able to use my experience to gain a role with Barnardo’s as an ‘as and when’ worker also I am proud to be able to plan a trip and follow it out successfully.

What training have you undertaken?

I have taken my level 2 youth work qualification. During the year I have also been able to undertake different training courses to improve my skills this has included: prevent, child protection, safeguarding children, safeguarding adults, first aid, health and safety at work

What have been your best moments?

My best moments would be passing my level 2 in youth work. Another thing I am proud of, is when we were approached by a couple of the young people who were in homeless accommodation, and they asked for Yorkshire puddings for snack, as it reminded them of Christmas. I then decided that if we put a Christmas dinner night on for the young people, it would be more of a memorable moment for them and fill a gap that they would have missed out on, due to their housing situation and not having kitchen facilities to provide a proper hot meal.  So, we put on a Christmas dinner and they each went home with a personalised mug as a Christmas present. All the young people were really grateful for us doing this.

What have been the challenges that you have faced this year?

A challenge that I have had in my role is some of the individuals that come to our group go to the same school I attended. The young people have some issues with teachers that I used to have disagreements with, and they lacked in giving me support when I was there.  This is challenging when the young people come in and talk about those same teachers and I have to explain that the teachers are just trying to do their job and point out the positives that the teachers are doing rather than relating to the young people  and complaining about those teachers and giving my personal opinion but I have to give a professional opinion.

What inspires you?

I would say something that inspires me is that the young people have told me I have made a difference in their lives and helped them through difficult periods in their lives, so this encourages me to keep going and keep coming to work. For example, we have had a young man come in and at the start of him coming to the youth centre he would not talk to anybody and would sit in the corner for the whole session, but now he comes in and plays pool he has created good relationships with other individuals in the group and youth workers. This young man has really progressed, and his parents have spoken to staff about how grateful they are that we have helped him progress which is inspiring to know we have been effective in this young man’s life.

What are your plans?

To stay in this role to continue to support the young people and keep building relationships and to see what I can do to help them make themselves the best they can and what I can put in place to help make that happen. (also do any more training and refresher courses that are relevant to my role).

How will you achieve them?

I will achieve this by continuing coming to work and communicating with the young people and applying myself to the role as much as I can and applying to different training that will help me with my role.

What are you looking forward to most?

The thing I am looking forward to most about my role would be being able to continue in this role as it has helped me personally develop with my own skills and communication with young people.

The Neumark Foundation is delighted to be able to support the work of Brighter Futures in Rhyl. They are able to show the impact of their work on the lives of young people, and we are privileged to be part of Ellie’s journey as she grows in her role as a trainee youth worker. As she gains her qualifications and experience, she will be able to significantly support and help young people in Rhyl, and by giving her this opportunity, we are not just providing funding for the short term but investing in Ellie’s future and many other Brighter Futures.