Rob Oulton, 24, is an Adolescent Practitioner at Surrey County Council. His experience championing young people’s needs within his local authority area spans almost a decade, starting out as a volunteer with his local youth club in Guildford, before gaining a Level 2 qualification in youth work and progressing to become a youth support worker.
A journey of support and recovery
At 15, Rob began attending the Park Barn youth group at a community centre on his estate. Both Rob and his twin brother had suffered trauma which had led to his brother attempting to take his own life.
Rob said “Going to the youth club, having fun and time away was so helpful. When the youth worker asked me how I was, it was the first time that someone had really listened. School never asked about it. Nobody asked about it. The first person to ask was a youth worker.”
Rob, 24
BA (Hons) Social Science, Community Development and Youth Work graduate from Goldsmiths, University of London
Rob’s youth worker introduced one to one mentoring and mental health work, such as looking at self-esteem and self-image.
He explained “I appreciated the support and I wanted to give back. When I was 16, I began volunteering with the junior group and the team saw me as one of their own, and took me in.”
Funding a future
Through a local volunteering network, Rob secured funding which allowed him to gain a Level 2 qualification in youth work.
Seeing Rob’s potential, Surrey County Council youth service offered Rob a part time role, which cemented his desire to pursue a career in youth work. He explained:
“This meant I could start putting my learning into practice. It opened up doors for me.”
When the pandemic struck the youth group closed, and Rob began working at Henley Fort in Guildford, which provides outdoor learning activities, such as horticulture and woodwork for young people with specific learning needs and those in the youth justice system.
During this time Rob was also a student on the BA Hons Social Science, Community Development and Youth Work course at Goldsmiths, University of London. After the course, he secured a role as a qualified youth worker delivering targeted provision in the Southwest of Surrey for the Council.
After two years Rob was offered a career move, and now as Adolescent Practitioner he supports young people and their families referred by school or council services, working closely with social workers.
Learning through diverse perspectives
Studying at University in London allowed Rob to meet people from all walks of life, helping to enrich his learning experience. Rob explained:
“Everyone had different life experiences to bring to the table. I learned so much more about my background as a white practitioner and how to move into more anti-oppressive practice. It was humbling because University provided me with cultural education as well.”
Rob feels one of the key benefits of the course was how much it built his confidence in group work:
“The changes I went through were palpable because I hated conflict. By doing the theoretical learning I became able to apply a critical mindset in situations where there was a lot of emotional passion, and breakthrough the barriers to listen, communicate and read the subtext behind the conversations.”
“This meant I understood how to support young people to have a voice and how important being that advocate is, to ensure they have a space to share.”
Leading change
As part of the course, Rob undertook three work placements which helped diversify his experience.
He explained “My experience up until then was all local authority informed. I was able to take up a placement with a regional violence reduction unit in Lewisham, where I was working with gangs. It was a major turning point, and I knew I had found my niche.”
Rob feels his resilience to now lead cases where young people have been coerced into crime was developed through providing one-to-one support to vulnerable young people during his placement, alongside his university course leader’s supervision and guidance on the degree.
Rob explained “Social workers have one of the trickiest jobs. A lot of their work is administrative, and they don’t get to build relationships. Teachers don’t get a chance to build relationships because they have a class of 30 children. But youth workers can build relationships by listening and then working with young people so they can then grow. It’s about being their personal cheerleader.”
“It’s not just a job, it’s who you are. You have to be a youth worker in your heart, I think.”
Lifelong learning
In the future, Rob hopes to lead a service providing holistic, wraparound support to young people and their families affected by exploitation and antisocial behaviour – helping them feel safe, supported and empowered to achieve lasting change.
He summarised: “As a youth worker, you’re always developing – learning is never done.”
