Helen McGorrin, is a youth worker who has lived the journey from young participant to area manager. She now leads delivery for Vibe UK across the Knowsley and St Helens areas of Merseyside. Her route into leadership was built on years of frontline delivery and a determination to keep services going through difficult times.
Today, she is strengthening that practice by completing a Youth Work Degree Apprenticeship with Liverpool John Moores University, using levy funding so there are no training costs to her organisation.
Helen first accessed her local youth service as a teenager and soon stepped into a volunteer role on a health focus group. This led to a short‑term position with Knowsley Council’s youth service, and as contracts shifted, she stayed, taking on new responsibilities across multiple programmes and gradually progressing into management.
Helen McGorrin,
Area Manager and Level 6 Youth Worker Degree Apprentice
That journey came with challenges. When local authority cuts hit, Helen watched a well‑established service unravel. To survive, the team left the council, reformed as a youth mutual, and later rebranded as Vibe, eventually gaining charity status and new funding opportunities. The organisation is now active beyond Knowsley, more resilient and widely recognised, even if it still feels small at its core.
Formal recognition
After 15 years in youth work, she wanted the formal recognition to sit alongside lived experience. Opportunities to train had been thin on the ground during years of austerity. The Degree Apprenticeship changed that. With levy funding available, it was a straightforward decision to apply and finally gain the JNC aligned professional credibility that many colleagues already had.
“It is nice to be able to say I am a qualified youth worker. It confirms that this role is important and worth the time and money.”
Ethics, values and youth work Curriculum
Helen describes the programme as empowering. It gives her the language, shared standards, and frameworks that make partnership work easier and the profession more consistent across organisations. Everyone learns the same ethics, values and curriculum, which helps collaboration land on firmer ground.
As a working mum, she also values the flexibility and humanity from the delivery team. When an assessment clashed with her child’s first Christmas performance, the university moved the assessment time so she could do both. That kind of support keeps her engaged and removes barriers to participation.
Communities of practice and mentors who care
Helen’s cohort brings together apprentices from different providers and roles. Guest speakers and mentors with varied lived experience expand perspectives. She highlights mentors like Julie and Lesley who add real world management and partnership insight, and an overall sense that everyone is there because they care deeply about youth work. She benefits from a community of practice that challenges, supports and professionalises.
Why apprenticeships matter for the sector
Helen wants youth workers to be recognised as qualified professionals with a defined skill set and standards.
“degree apprenticeships are helping set a shared baseline and a route to professional recognition while meeting demand for more youth workers across regions. “
Why apprenticeships matter for the sector
Being on the course gave Helen opportunities to go on placement and see new ways of youth work. Whatever comes next, she is clear she will stay in youth work. It is the work she loves.
