In this first episode of the NYA podcast series: Youth Work Exchange – Practice, Learning and Lived Experience, our host Karen Self, National Curriculum and Learning Manager is joined by Sandra Vacciana, youth worker and regional lead at Partnership for Young London, alongside young leaders Yash, Jack, Summer and Scarlet. Together, they share powerful insights into the importance of co-designed youth projects and explore Authoring Our Own Stories, a five-year, youth-led research project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and delivered by Partnership for Young London, in collaboration with the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Youth Work Unit, Youth Focus North West and Youth Focus South West.
Exploring the challenges young people face – from systemic barriers and safety concerns to mental health and cultural stigma, the conversation highlights the impact of creative, inclusive, co-designed approaches to youth work. The young leaders share insights into the urgent needs of young people, showing how engaging young people in leading these explorations enables honest and authentic learning, whilst also building the young leader’s confidence and facilitation skills.
Yash, a young leader in London, highlights why projects like this are vital in providing young people with the opportunity to reflect on their own lives and help inform local change in a safe and inclusive environment. He led creative sessions to encourage other young participants to explore their lived experiences and civic identity through arts-based workshops and multimedia storytelling.
“When I hear ‘community’ I think of people in my cultural or ethnic group. But the idea of a community of people coming together with a shared experience looking to unwrap and understand issues and being able to vocalise that in a creative way – that’s really interesting,”.
Jack, who led the youth cohort in Yorkshire, describes how the young people in his area expressed a need for opportunities for young people to move beyond limiting beliefs and expectations of others. He explains the concept of social haunting and intergenerational patterns: “With mining communities for example there’s a long history of certain challenges being normalised – such as crime or limited opportunities. It’s their environment shaping behaviours. Education links to opportunity – if people feel they haven’t got a clear path, they do go down different routes.” Jack’s insight underscores the importance of youth work in providing guidance and practical pathways, helping young people navigate complex social landscapes and make informed choices.
In the southwest, Scarlet, led on collaborative storytelling sessions with other young people, providing the space to debate, reflect, learn from each other and then take that learning to local decision-makers. She said: “We started the violence against women and girls project and talking about what it means to be a young woman in Plymouth, particularly after the death of Bobby Anne, who was killed on her way home in November 2021. Through surveys, we found a lot of young people didn’t feel safe and didn’t know how to report if something happened. We’ve been working with schools to educate young people on how to keep themselves and others safe.”
Sandra Vacciana explains the approach: “We used a grounded theory: we don’t come in expecting participants through this research to prove or disprove ideas. Instead, we explore together, learn from what young people share, and build recommendations from the ground up.”
The NYA Youth Work Exchange podcast series has been designed for practitioners, managers, educators and policymakers and brings the National Youth Work Curriculum to life, sharing innovative approaches, allowing listeners to reflect on their own settings and access ideas to strengthen their work. By combining lived experiences with professional insights, the podcasts provide a rich resource for deepening understanding and improving practice across the youth sector.
