Amidst the funding crisis faced by Northern Ireland’s Education Authority in the months subsequent to the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly, youth work services were first to be hit by the unforgiving cuts.

Such services include youth centres, employment support organisations, faith based groups and other specialisms, such as, youth justice, addiction, reconciliation, homelessness and alternative education. The list goes far and wide, and with such a vast variety of different groups there is a huge amount of young people that have benefitted in recent years.

The support young people receive from youth services right across our society are life transforming and should by no means be under-valued. Youth work is more than simply a youth club to hang out in on a saturday night or a residential away with friends, it is an investment in a young persons future. Such services are a place of hope, and for many with complex backgrounds, it is a means of survival. 

So it begs belief that it is these vital services that are continually put at the bottom of our government’s agenda.

Nonetheless, despite the cuts and redundancies, we youth workers continue to work with high numbers of young people day in and day out. More than that, we work with them on limited budgets, during unsociable hours, on dark evenings, weekends, and often in very challenging circumstances; in times of cross community tension it is youth workers, not politicians, at flash points engaging with young people.

The depressing matter is that the issues young people face today are only intensifying; suicide, youth unemployment and the rising number of young people in care- the effects of which are obvious but easier to ignore than address- rely on trusted youth workers prepared to put in the hours in the hope to be make a difference.

NICVA Chief Executive Seamus McAleavey stated in March 17 “There are 40,000 people employed by voluntary and community groups in Northern Ireland, half of them full-time.” That is 40,000 people trained to support young people’s needs but often we find ourselves focused on the needs of the funders instead. 

A major issue across the board in the youth sector is that the limited funding out there stipulates we must work with large amounts of young people. So with reduced funds for workers, reduced budgets for resources and the increasing amount of young people that rely on our services is reducing it to a ‘box ticking exercise’.

If the government want to see a decrease in teenage suicide, drug misuse and unemployment, we youth workers are here at their disposal. Not only that, but we are qualified, we are equipped and more than anything else, we passionately care.