As a call handler in a busy Merseyside Police Contact Resolution Centre in Liverpool, I draw on the skills and principles I learned through more than a decade of youth work: patience, empathy, and the skill of truly hearing a person.
Because understanding, connection and trust have the power to change someone’s life, whether in a youth club, or on an emergency call.
My journey into youth work began in the Wirral, at 17, as a Youth Worker at The Hive Youth Zone in Birkenhead. I quickly saw how a safe, supportive space could transform a young person’s day, or even their future.
Lewis Hubbard,
Contact Resolution Officer
During this time, I became a Holiday Club Coordinator, running a pilot scheme providing school holiday activities and food for young people, work that has since evolved into the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.
For me, youth work has always been about creating connections. When young people feel safe and supported, they can discover their strengths and begin to see their own potential. Being part of that journey is incredibly rewarding and is what drew me into the profession.
Developing leadership skills
Over the years, I progressed into the operational side including data and admin roles, helping to run youth services behind the scenes. I later joined food waste charity, Neo Community in Birkenhead, as Youth and Marketing Officer before moving to Manchester to become Assistant Youth Work Manager at The Proud Trust, supporting LGBTQ+ young people.
The young people we supported at the Proud Trust were navigating complex challenges around identity, family relationships and discrimination. That work strengthened my safeguarding awareness and understanding of how to support young people experiencing anxiety, isolation or prejudice.
I remember one young person, aged around 15, who was experiencing severe anxiety about attending school due to bullying linked to their identity. At first, they stayed on the edge of our sessions, hesitant to engage. Through one-to-one conversations and encouraging them to join in creative activities, their trust and confidence grew, and they volunteered to help lead a small activity where the group created personal identity flags using colours, symbols and words to express themselves. Witnessing that transition reinforced for me the importance of relationship-based youth work.
I completed my Level 3 Diploma in Youth Work Practice through the NYA Academy four years ago. The qualification helped bring structure and theory to the practical work I was already doing, and strengthened my understanding of safeguarding, behaviour management and reflective practice.
Taking my youth work skills into the police force
In 2024 I joined Merseyside Police responding to 999 and 101 calls. I chose to move into policing to work closer to home while continuing to support vulnerable people, applying my youth work skills in a new frontline role. Strong communication, empathy and de-escalation skills, all essential in youth work, are equally critical when handling members of the public in distress.
I also deliver sessions in schools around violence against women and girls, LGBTQ+ inclusion and neurodiversity awareness as part of the force’s community outreach work.
One of the first calls I remember involved a teenage boy who was standing on a railway bridge on the verge of ending his life. He was alone, highly distressed and initially reluctant to engage.
Drawing on the skills I learnt through specialist youth work training, I focused on building rapport quickly through a calm, non-judgemental approach, giving him space to talk. I was able to gradually reduce his anxiety and keep him on the line. He eventually stepped back from the edge and was supported by patrols on arrival.
Essentially, the setting may change, youth centre, school, or police control room, yet I carry the same youth work competencies into every high-pressure situation.
Outside of my day-to-day policing role, I continue to support youth workers by mentoring and supervising at a local charity in the Wirral called Crea8ing Careers.
I may wear a police uniform now, but one truth has stayed the same for me: youth work is about seeing potential in young people and helping others see it too. That commitment still guides everything I do.
