Sefton Youth Charter

We have worked with young people to create the Sefton Youth Charter. The Charter is written by Sefton Council and voluntary organisations to set out our promises to support you through youth work. The Youth Charter states:

• You, as a young person, choose to be involved, not least because you want to relax, meet friends and have fun.
• Youth work starts where you are, with your view of the world, your passions and your interests.
• We will encourage you to be critical and creative in your response to your experiences and the world around you. We will help you to explore new ideas, interests and your creative ability.
• Youth work takes place because you are yourself, not because you have been labelled or put into a category.
• Youth work recognises, respect and actively respond to the wider network of peers, communities and cultures that are important to you.
• Through your networks, we seek to help you create stronger relationships and collective identity through the promotion of inclusiveness, whether you are male, female, LGBT, have special educational needs and /or disabilities or come from an ethnic minority.
• We are concerned with how you feel, not just what you know and what you can do.
• We want to facilitate and empower your voice.
• We want to make sure you can influence life in your local community and neighbourhood.
• We respect and value your individual differences by supporting and strengthening your belief in yourself and your capacity to grow and change.
• We work closely with other organisations who contribute to your social and personal development.
• We will add to your learning at school and college with other opportunities for you to fulfill your potential.
• We will work with other agencies to keep you, your friends and your family safe from harm.

What is Youth Work?

Youth work is a kind of learning that is there to give you, as a young person, equal chances to achieve as other young people, have worthwhile experiences and get useful advice, information and support.

Youth work means you can choose if you want to be involved or not.

Using youth work we are focused on the things that you think are relevant or if you have needs that can be met be our support.

The way we use youth work to help you involves 4 principles that we work to:

1. Equal opportunities – this sometimes means giving special attention to young people who are very disadvantaged.
2. Participation – you learn through experience and getting involved, so you create your own events and learn from everyday life.
3. Empowerment – you gain greater knowledge and skills so that you are confident, independent, self-reliant and contribute to your local community.
4. Recognise achievement – we use everything from accredited qualifications, conversation, celebration events, local press to social media, films and photographs to recognise your participation and increased knowledge, experience and skills at every level.