Youth Work

Youth work is so much more than playing ping pong.

There is an urgent need to see a return to regular youth work sessions in the local community that provide opportunities for young people to develop their emotional and social skills in a safe physical environment with adults they respect and trust.

We deliver 8 youth work sessions weekly (during term time), across 4 venues, delivered by experienced youth workers to young people between 11 and 18.

Interested in Youth Work in your area?

Why now?

• Funding for youth services has dropped by 81% in MK since 2010
• Young people do not have the right support, options and opportunities to fully realise their potential, and are not getting their emotional needs met in a positive way
• We believe all young people should have access to at least one positive adult role model who is committed to their success

Download our Youth Work Packages PDF to find out more.

If you’d like any further info, please contact tayler.tookey@mkymca.com.

Youth Mentoring

Utilising ‘reachable moments’ in the community young people are given access to a positive adult role model who is committed to their success.
Our current projects are:

• A&E based youth mentoring – Hospital Navigator Scheme funded by Thames Valley VRU. Volunteer hospital navigators support young people who find themselves in A & E and offer bespoke, ongoing support.     Read Impact Report.
• Community based youth mentoring – funded by Children in Need in partnership with the MK City Council Youth Offending Team and Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). Volunteer youth mentors support young people referred to YMCA by the MASH team.
• Schools based youth mentoring – Working in partnership with Lord Grey, volunteer youth mentors support students for up to one year in a school setting to achieve their personal goals.

If you’d like any further info, please contact tayler.tookey@mkymca.com.

Volunteering

We are so glad you are here, and are interested in our range of volunteering opportunities.

• Do you want to empower a young person to fulfil their potential?
• Are you friendly & approachable?
• Are you open minded & non-judgemental?

At YMCA MK we are passionate in supporting young people in our community and you could be just the person to make a difference. Why not get in touch and be part of a friendly and supportive team, we will offer full guidance and support and opportunities that fit around you!

Youth Participation and Co-Production

YMCA MK and Northamptonshire are committed to becoming a Youth Led Organisation.

On March 27 we hosted a Hope Hack event.

Find out more about The Hope Collective here.

YMCA MK App Development

We co-produced a YMCA digital app with our young people with the support of our app developer Softio. We are now seeking funding to bring the app to life.

Please get in touch if you can support us with this tayler.tookey@mkymca.com

Thanks to the learning we gained through developing the app we co-created a Youth Ambassador Scheme with our young people.

Coming Soon: Meet our Youth Ambassadors below…

Consultations with Young People

YMCA Milton Keynes supports organisations to hear the voices of our young people to influence tangible change on a local, regional and national level.

So far, our young people voices have been heard and meaningfully included by the following organisations:

• BLMK Integrated Care Board to hear from young people regarding Health Inequalities and their wider experience of health services. Read Denny Report.
• HM Prison and Probation Service to hear from young people about their experiences of the criminal justice system to support their future service development plans. Read full report.

If you’d like to explore a consultation opportunity with our young people, please contact kat.newman@mkymca.com