Youth workers are exploring new ways to provide “lifeline” support for children across Aberdeenshire.
The local authority’s Work With Young People team are trying to reach as many young people as possible through new techniques such as video calls.
So far the response has been positive, and the staff – who have been described as “extended family” to some of the vulnerable young people – are keen to continue exploring ways to interact during lockdown.
Community learning and development service manager Philip Boath said: “Our Work With Young People teams are providing a lifeline to many of our most vulnerable children and young people across Aberdeenshire.
“It’s not easy, but they’ve taken on the challenge of going online with great gusto and I’m really proud of their ongoing efforts.”
For community worker Brenda Thorley, who is based in Ellon, online tools such as Google Meet have proved valuable.
She and her colleagues are working on projects such as a time capsule to help keep young people “distracted” from the pressures of lockdown.
She said: ““My role as a community worker working with young people has not changed with the impact of coronavirus and the lockdown, but the way in which I deliver the work has changed significantly.
“The coronavirus has shown us how much young people value youth work and how important it is in their lives.
“On receiving the news of the lockdown, the first responses from one of our groups was, ‘can we still keep our group? Can we meet online or something? Please don’t let it stop.’”
Peterhead teen Jake admitted he had been struggling with lockdown, and is now engaging with his local youth group to get through it.
He said: “Not being able to leave the house is really difficult. Usually I’d only be in the house to eat, sleep and catch up with my mum so it’s strange being in the house all the time. I’ve got a lot more time on my hands than I would usually have which was hard for the first couple weeks.
“But now I’m finding more productive ways to spend my time, like going out for a walk, a lot of reading, more research for college work, helping my mum home school my little sister, or doing the garden. I never thought I’d say this but I miss my education and I miss my friends and other members of my family.”
Meanwhile Wendy Jones and some of the other youth workers in the Banff area have been hard at work delivering food parcels, ensuring youngsters have access to laptops for home schooling and pointing them to support for any mental health difficulties.
She said: “This situation is not easy for anyone but particularly for those young people with multiple barriers to their learning and their families, this can be very stressful.”
To find out about the youth services in your area, visit https://www.girfec-aberdeenshire.org
