Global youth work in YMCAs

3 February 2010

We work with local YMCAs and their staff to develop specific global youth work projects for their YMCA. As well of our big national initiative, a lot of our work happens on a local level, negotiating projects with local staff in YMCAs across the UK and Ireland.

What are we doing?
Just a few examples of this include work on the issue of gangs at Blackburn YMCA, support for Winchester YMCA in their partnership with Palestine, a project linking young people in Barnsley with young people in South Africa and a project on crime at Bellshill YMCA.

We have also developed sessions for E2E courses run at YMCAs and delivered global awareness sessions for students at YMCA training.

All the best global youth work starts with the everyday experiences of young people, so our work is as different as the communities in which YMCAs work.

We always try and focus this work on the themes that guide Y care International's work with young people all over the world. These include: youth justice, conflict, HIV/AIDS and life skills and livelihoods.

The aim of these workshops is to make young people in the UK and Ireland feel empathy for young people in other countries, and never just sympathy. So we always encourage participants to take some kind of positive action for change. Whatever the action, it is important that it is negotiated with the young people themselves. Taking action may also require them to develop other key skills such as literacy, campaigning and assertiveness.

Examples of actions include:

• Writing a letter to your MP, local council or the Prime Minister
• Writing a letter or e-mail to a newspaper or media group about the media's representation of young people
• Taking part in or finding out information about a campaign being run by Y Care International or similar organisations
• Planning an event to raise awareness about global issues
• Getting local press coverage of the sessions and work they are involved in

If you want to discuss global youth work with a member of our team, please e-mail globalyouthwork@ycareinternational.org