Academy tutor Claire Counsill opens up about how her lived-experience has led her to the work she does today, enabling youth workers to support young people who have nowhere else to turn.
At one point in my life when I was between 16-18, I had to stay in a local homeless hostel. Despite knowing I always wanted to do better in life, education wasn’t always a priority for me. None of my family has a degree, and not many people in my community have accessed higher education. It seemed pointless to think about qualifications or careers, when you are focused on trying to find stability and a way to live independently.
The hostel was a place you couldn’t get into until 6pm. One freezing night, I arrived and I remember there was spaghetti bolognese on the table and we were just chatting – it felt safe. And that was when I had a conversation with my youth worker, Chris.
He was easy to talk to, supportive and non-judgemental. He listened with empathy and advocated for me, and in just one conversation helped me begin to imagine something different for myself. That was the first time I understood what youth work was, and the impact it can have.
Education is the key, but school is not often the lock
From there, I was referred by the then Connexions Service to what was known as Bolton Young Persons Housing Scheme (now renamed Backup North West) and I transitioned into supported accommodation and secured my own tenancy. That changed everything. It gave me space to breathe, to reflect and to start thinking about my future.
In 2012, aged 18, I enrolled on a one-year access course in Professional Development in Youth Work Practice, which led me onto studying the BA Hons in Youth and Community Work at the University of Bolton.
There was no particular intervention that changed things for me. It was the consistent, relational support of my youth worker that helped shift my perspective on what was possible. I didn’t come into this profession from a traditional educational route; I came into it because I had seen it work from the inside.
Alongside my full-time degree, I began a short traineeship at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, which soon developed into a freelance role as a drama facilitator, using drama as a tool to engage young people in issue-based work.
Youth work education doesn’t just teach you – it supports you, adapts around your life and recognises the whole person
This included working with young people involved in the youth justice system, or those identified as being at risk of offending. I developed practical skills in delivery and facilitation, which have provided a strong foundation for my teaching practice.
Over time, I began to realise that I wasn’t just learning about youth work – I was becoming part of it. And my own experiences were central to that. First hand I saw the power of youth work education. It shifted my perspective of who I was, and what I was capable of.
I went on to complete a PGCE, followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Safeguarding, before working in a variety of settings and eventually arriving here at the NYA Academy.
In 2013, I got a job at Backup North West, who had helped me to find my own first home. In one of life’s strange twists of fate, I was able to help another young person move into the same flat, I had once lived in. It had been my first step towards independence, and now it was theirs. It was a powerful full-circle moment, and one that reminds me how far my lived experience, combined with education, has taken me. And why this work continues to matter so much to me.
I wasn’t just learning about youth work, I was becoming part of it
I still work at Backup North West as a casual bank support worker. It helps keep my teaching relevant and grounded in real-world experience, and it’s a wonderful reminder of where I have been and how I started.
Now as a tutor in the NYA Academy my own life and work experience, grounded in trauma-informed, person-centred practice, is a huge driver in my role. Supporting young people and now training youth workers is something I’m really proud of. Every time I deliver a course I can see how that makes a meaningful difference and understand how that will filter out into communities. Perhaps one of them is out there right now helping a young person over a plate of spag bol.
Learn more about recognising, understanding and addressing trauma though your work with young people in the NYA Academy’s Introduction to Trauma Informed Practice CPD course, to help equip you to respond with knowledge and empathy.
