The Student Guide On Social Work and Youth Advocacy With Nathan Tuft

Join us in this captivating episode of The Student Guide, where we sit down with Nathan Tuft, Senior Youth Manager at The Roundhouse. Nathan shares his transformative 17-year journey in youth work, from his early volunteer days at the YMCA to his impactful role at The Roundhouse. Discover how Nathan and his team provide unparalleled support to young people in creative spaces, the importance of community involvement, and the ongoing challenges and successes in youth advocacy during and beyond the pandemic. Learn about the innovative programs at the Roundhouse, inspiring stories of youth empowerment, and Nathan's vision for the future of youth advocacy.

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Transcript

  Um, for me, I really like to see that that that kind of outcome driven project. While I don't always believe that the outcome is the only outcome when there is a creative outcome, you know, you see it in people's, uh,  behavior, the way that they change the way that they're like, they're, they feel that confidence that they have done something and they've contributed something. 

So hello, everyone. Hope you're doing well. Hope you're looking after yourselves. Welcome back to another episode of the student guide, where we discuss important topics and. speak to amazing figures doing incredible work to support both yourselves or maybe to support um, people that you know, we bring on these great guests who are showcasing not only work that's impacting the next generation, but is also impacting the current generation of today.

And we've got another amazing guest speaker, uh, who's funny enough, uh, related to not only our MC of the month, but also in the space of recording in because as you can see, we're recording at the roundhouse. But as you know, I don't like to do introductions. I like for you guys to hear from our guest speakers.

So I'm going to hand over to Nathan. Nathan, can we know a bit more about you and what you do? 

Wow. Uh, what a platform. Um, hello. My name is Nathan, Nathan Tuft. Uh, my current role is a senior youth manager here at the roundhouse. Um, I've been in this role for around two and a half years, Um, which seems like it's absolutely flown by.

Um, but kind of previously I've worked in a lot of kind of, uh, youth work spaces. mainly around kind of community youth work, uh, and working alongside young people to kind of, I guess, get the most out of themselves, um, which I'm sure we'll talk about. Um, but yeah, it's a job that I've been doing kind of worked out a couple of days ago.

I've been doing it for about 17 years now. So it's kind of come out to about half of my life, which has just given away my age, but, um, yeah, for about 17 years I've done it. So, um, yeah, it's kind of all I've ever known what to do really. 

That's perfect. And we're going to give a round of applause because that's incredible work.

Uh, and yes, we will be diving into all the different experiences that you've done, uh, both, uh, you know, looking back at the early days, uh, to most recently with your job at the Roundhouse. Uh, but with that in mind, let's start with the first question, um, which is we'd love to know what sparked your interest in youth work and how did volunteering, uh, because based on your bio, you mentioned that you volunteered at the YMCA and Hackney Pirates.

So how did that shape your career path?  

Yeah, um, uh, I've spoken about this many times, and I wish I had this kind of revelationary kind of movie like story that kind of brought me to youth work, and unfortunately, that wasn't there. Um, I went to school, uh, I did okay in my GCSEs, uh, and then kind of went into sixth form.

dropped out of sixth form, went to college, dropped out of college, and I think it was more that kind of disassociation with education. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Um, and there was no real clear career paths around me. Um, whether that was kind of within my local area or the kind of peers I had within kind of the education system and looked up to, it didn't seem to be any kind of viable careers.

So I definitely had a few years of Not doing a lot, is probably the basic way to say it. Uh, I did have jobs, uh, I worked at View Cinemas, uh, I worked at Tesco's, uh, and it was lots of kind of retail jobs, you know, just something to kind of bring the money in. Um, and then the volunteering came as a little bit of a kind of I guess a coincidence.

So, uh, I was kind of out and about and there were people, uh, kind of campaigning on the streets talking about the YMCA, which used to be on Holloway Road, uh, in Highbury and Islington. Uh, and they were looking for volunteers for a youth project, which was called, uh, Youth Voice Matters. Um, and it was a six week program supporting 15, 17 year olds in their local area to basically talk about what issues that they cared about and what they'd like to kind of challenge and change.

Um, and I thought, Why not? Let's give it a go. Uh, I did it with a friend, that friend immediately dropped out on day one. Uh, and I thought, you know what, this is something that I'm going to stick at. I really enjoyed it. Uh, and at that point I was around 18, 19. So not a massive age gap between the kind of young people that I was working with, but still kind of held that element of a role model and someone to look up to.

Um, and I really enjoyed that. I liked that actually that I was in a place of, Kind of real power and I don't mean that as kind of a in a dictatorship way But I was in a place of power is actually the words that I said Resonated with people and so doing that and going through that six week process I really enjoyed it that then opened my eyes up to kind of other stuff within my local area  Places like Hackney Pirates, kind of worked with, um, school children on kind of storytelling.

Uh, so I kind of started to pick up lots of different experiences and the more I went through these experiences, all unpaid, all voluntary jobs, um, alongside kind of paid work. That's where I was finding my value.  So I got to a kind of point in my life where I was like, actually, this is something that I really enjoy.

Um, and I want to find out more and that's kind of what led down the line and kind of wanting to find out a little bit more about the, the industry, the sector and kind of what that looks like really. 

Perfect. Thank you. And, uh, it really links into, uh, a mic check, uh, which as you guys know, is an interesting fact or figure that relates to about today.

Uh, and today's one, uh, is basically, it says that in the UK, it's estimated that there's around 700, 000 young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or in training. Uh, and as clearly as you mentioned from your, your story, uh, it's very clear to see the importance that youth work and, um, youth advocacy and social work can have.

on not only supporting students that don't necessarily follow the traditional academic path, but also showing them that those other opportunities do exist. Uh, because as you mentioned, you know, even looking back when I was sort of doing my GCSEs, uh, you're not always showed like the way that apprenticeships and internships are sort of spoken about now was not the same when I was back at secondary school.

So to know that there are other options and to know, as you mentioned, like through your own journey that you've been able to see one of those opportunities were shared with you and you're able to get those is really great. Um, so yeah, thank you very much. 

No, and I think, you know, that that as a fact and a figure is, is by no means surprising. 

And I think we, we are now in a current climate where there are. a lot more choices for young people, you know, um, whether that be kind of apprenticeships or, you know, NVQs or more vocational courses for young people that there are a lot more options for young people to kind of take part in and get involved in.

Um, I think the barrier is how do we let young people know about that? And where do we put that value on those kinds of subjects and courses? I think there is still inherently a really clear career path for young people that is laid out for them from a very young age. You do your GCSEs. You do your A levels and you go to university and that is almost seen as kind of plan A.

Where for some young people that's not a choice. I did go to university. I went to university kind of three or four years after I was meant to in the kind of general scheme of life. Um, and I don't know if that's kind of, really promoted to young people, you know, to kind of go to university at a later date or not go to university at all, whether that be a vocational course and apprenticeship.

So whereas I feel that the options are out there, and I think the government do a lot of work in ensuring that there are alternative choices, I still don't think there's enough value put upon them where young people themselves want to say,  I want to go and do that, you know. 

100 percent and it's definitely true.

And even sort of speaking to, uh, uh, my old manager, who sort of, she works at a university and she does STEM outreach work. She was saying that, as you mentioned, for a lot of young people that she's going, they're going into schools, they're speaking to them, sort of seeing, are you interested in sort of, getting into the field of STEM and doing things like that.

Um, a lot of them saying no, like, as soon as I finish my A levels or finish college, I want to just go straight into work, uh, because, you know, university is not for me. And she was saying, oh, but you know, there's like, like, as you mentioned, there's vocational courses, there's apprenticeships, a lot of these things can sort of help with other careers.

Uh, she was saying that a family friend wanted to go into woodwork and she said that, you know, university is probably not for me. the best course for him. But that's why he's now decided to do an apprenticeship. But as you mentioned, if, if she didn't know about that, if his parents didn't know about that, um, then he obviously would have just gone to university, done a degree, maybe have ended in a career that he didn't want to when his passion and his sort of  like the things that he enjoys is woodwork.

Um, so as you mentioned, it's just getting that information out there is really key and definitely important. Um, but yeah, we're going to go on to the next question. It sort of links to what you were discussing about your studies. Um, because we'd like to know how your degree essentially helps to contribute to your approach in community based youth work and supporting vulnerable young people.

Yeah. So I went to university. My plan of action was always to kind of go into university to study social work. That was always something that I wanted to do. And even when I went through kind of UCAS and got my kind of offers from universities, a lot of them were offering kind of youth work and community work, but I was still kind of steadfast.

I wanted to do social work because I believed at the time that it had that kind of prestige to it. Um, it was also at that point it was an NHS funded course. Unfortunately it's not anymore. So that kind of took the contribution of fees away, which was. Perfect. Um, so I went in social work kind of really kind of wanting to understand the processes behind it.

Um, and I mean that from a real kind of process driven way, but also the legislation, what is the law that affects young people in many different ways, whether that be the mental health facts, whether that be kind of children in need, whether that be kind of vulnerable adults, whatever that may be. I really wanted to understand what that, um, policy was that guided kind of the work that people did in that sector. 

Um, so I really enjoyed that part and really kind of picked up on that. I do like kind of analytics and data and I really enjoyed kind of getting into the research of that. But I'd say the biggest part about uni that I really enjoyed and something that's kind of molded me from now was was my placements.

Um, my first placement university was a place called cellar space, which is, um, in Sheffield, um, and was in an area which Uh, had kind of very low economic kind of structure, uh, and didn't have many options for young people, especially that kind of teenage age. Uh, so this was a, it was a, it was a faith based organization.

So it had been started by the church, um, and was basically an alternative provision for young people, age seven to 14. So young people that were kind of outside or, um, sorry, had either been excluded from school or on the verge of being excluded from school. And they would come to this space, which was, The building was incredible.

It was a, it was a disused pub that they'd kind of changed and turned into the space, had a cooking space and music space, I. T. area, arts and crafts area, and essentially was kind of promoting that, um, art based therapy, creative therapy through different forms of, um, work. And it was really incredible. And some of the young people that came there, you know, when you had a young person is, you know, as young as eight years old, they'd been kicked out of school.

But still was managing to engage with someone through some way, shape or form. I felt I found incredibly transformative on. That's what really kind of kicked my thought into thinking, Okay, what does community based youth work look like? So coming out of university, um, I'm kind of completing my degree. I realized quite quickly that social work.

wasn't what I wanted to do. I definitely wanted to pull elements and things out of that course, but it's not, that wasn't the area that I wanted to go into. For me, social work is a very reactive piece of work. You know, you hear about social workers that kind of get involved at, you know, the pinch points of young people's lives when that crisis happens.

And I wanted to be there.  a long time before that. I wanted to be really kind of doing a lot of the proactive work, uh, working with young people really early in that relationship and whatever they were doing. So yeah, university really kind of taught me and opened my eyes to what that looked like, whether that be alternative provision, community based youth work, but also that legislation and law, which, you I'd like to think even till now, I always try and kind of keep abreast of in terms of what's going on within the sector.

Yeah, no, definitely. And thank you very much for that. Cause I think, uh, you know, uh, I guess two things to touch on is one, as you mentioned the importance of placements, uh, when you're at university to figure out what you want to do. Uh, I definitely mentioned it on the podcast. Um, you know, it's helped my, me personally to figure out what I wanted to do after graduating.

Um, it's helped friends, uh, and it is such a key experience that whether the placement sort of. to or not, there's so much that you can sort of gain from getting that practical experience while you're still at university. Um, but additionally, as you said, like, I think it's really important that you mentioned not only the work that you're doing is quite reactive, you're getting sort of the feedback from the young people that you're working with, but you're also keeping sort of up to date with like legislation and how that can also be used to sort of like implement the work that you're doing and the approach that you take.

Because I think sometimes people think Those two are separate and then they're things that can never overlap and sort of work together. It will be influenced by each other. Um, but as you mentioned, that's clearly not the case. 

No, and I think that's definitely right. And I think, you know, in terms of that, you know, being kind of  ingrained in it, I think any profession you do, you do have to take the time to understand and, you know, really research the work that you're doing in the kind of.

field and sector that you are in. Um, because essentially it only makes you a better professional. Um, if you go in thinking that, you know, the best way to work and that's the only way to work, you'll very, you'll learn very quickly that that's not the way that's not the way it's going to work. Um, so I think, you know, you know, in even in the in the 10 years that it's been now since I kind of finished university, you know, I've evolved as a professional.

I've changed the way that I work. I've changed the kind of the way that I interact with young people, but also with different stakeholders, whether that be teachers, community groups, parents, guardians, carers, whoever that may be. And I think you, you will constantly do that. And I think, you know, what university can help with, especially with those kinds of placements.

Is it, is it it can give you those kind of on job opportunities and really kind of give you that wider experience rather kind of outside of the classroom. 

Definitely. I definitely agree. Um, we're going to go into the next question, which is all about sort of impactful  projects and challenges. Uh, now, as you've mentioned, you're the senior youth, senior youth work manager at roundhouse.

Um, and it'd be really interesting for us to know, uh, because this whole podcast and sort of sharing this knowledge and advice started during the pandemic. It was the discussion of just A lot of young people, a lot of students didn't know about their support services available to them, especially that a lot of them were free.

They didn't need to pay for them. It was something that they could just sort of get involved with and just apply or maybe just pay a small, small amount and they can sort of have this for a long period of time. But we'd really like to know what were some of the challenges or successes, the challenges and successes in creating, um, an embedded team of students.

Youth workers, especially during the pandemic because the pandemic for a lot of people, um, it was a tough time. So we'd really love to know a bit more. 

Yeah, and I think that I think that I think you've posed the question perfectly. There is not success or challenges. I think success and challenges, but definitely kind of came at the same time.

I kind of joined kind of always say kind of at the end of the pandemic, but I feel like it's still not there yet. Ended and was still definitely feeling the effects. And I think we'll continue to see the effects on young people for for for a long period of time. But I joined in October 2021. Um, and the Roundhouse is an organization had had worked with young people for numbers of years and provided projects and spaces for young people.

But I think what the pandemic really taught them was that actually that there's a lot going on for young people. There's a lot of complex needs. There's a lot of complex, complex needs. Um, and actually we need to do more in terms of supporting young people. So I came from a background of my previous role was working and managing a youth center in Northwest London.

Uh, and you know, the pandemic was, was, was, was a tough time, uh, for, for young people, but also for us as professionals trying to work with young people, we were kind of impacted by the national youth agency who are kind of the, they're not a governing body, but they're definitely an advising body that work with the government and they provided, um, different, uh, kind of color coded statuses throughout the pandemic where, you know, at one point we could only work with six young people outside a hundred meters apart.

That was really hard when you work in vulnerable young people and you want to support them to, to kind of  pose that as a, as a way to work with young people can be really difficult.  It's kind of taking that experience and bringing it into the roundhouse. It was okay. Well, what more can we be doing? Um, and youth work had existed at the Roundhouse before me, by no means did I invent it.

Um, but it was very much project based. So, you know, if you had signed up for a project, a six week project, you would have that youth worker working with you for that six weeks. But then, unfortunately, after those six weeks, that contact with the youth worker probably ended. So, the, the kind of ask for us was how do we, how do we get teams embedded within the, within the organization.

And the perfect place for that is our creative studios. Um, our studios are open seven days a week. Uh, we work with, you know, hundreds of young people each week. And that seemed like the best place to target young people. So we've built this team now, which kind of now consists of two youth work managers. 

six youth workers and a great kind of team of casual youth workers as well. And essentially means if you come into the studio at any time of the day, when we're open, you will get access to a youth worker. Uh, and that's pretty much unheard of in terms of cultural organizations. Uh, you will always have maybe a pastoral person, one person.

They can't be there all the time, but we have a team that, you know, anytime you come into the studios to get involved in our projects, you will have access to a youth worker. And for me, I think that's integral. And you know, something that I preach about quite a bit and would love to see more of in kind of other cultural organizations that work alongside young people.

And but I think the challenge with that was, was actually  saying what youth work was.  And you know, when we first started, uh, you know, having our kind of youth workers, we're mainly based at the front desk down on the studios. And a lot of young people thought we were receptionists. Uh, you know, they just thought we were, you know, standard staff that were there to just check you in.

And that was it. So actually the, the, the switch for us and the barrier that we found was actually, how do we build these relationships with young people? How do they get to know who we are? How do we get to know who they are, find out what their needs are, what their wants are, and then how do we react to that?

Uh, and I would like to think, you know, two and a half years on,  you know, we're definitely at a place now where we we've built some really key relationships with young people. Young people know who we are. They know what they can expect from us. Um, and now we're able to deliver on a lot of the things that we, we kind of want to do.

So, yeah, I think that was definitely the challenge was, I guess, changing the narrative in young people's minds about who we were, but also how we can support as well. 

No, definitely. I definitely agree. And I think, as you mentioned that, well, to my knowledge, at least there isn't another organization that has, you know, as you mentioned, youth workers supporting, uh, and I always embedded in that space.

Um, but I think it's also very key, as you mentioned, because. young people use, you know, when you look at the creative industries, young people sort of have different approaches to it. There's the, you know, discussion of the topics like neurodiversity is very high within those who sort of work within the creative industries or maybe founded business within the creative industries.

without just the general aspects of being a young person and what they have to deal with as well. Um, so to have someone like a youth worker that you can sort of approach, you can talk to, you can sort of have discussions with, uh, in a space where you're feeling safe, you're also creating stuff, you're creating projects and work that you're also proud of is, um, is really key and is very, really important to sort of pupils and only sort of their, their mental well being, but also to sort of help them to sort of maybe address certain things and that they're dealing with.

Yeah, definitely. And I think, you know, one of the, again, one of the, those are those biggest challenges is we never knew what to expect. We never knew the kind of the, the, the issues that young people may have been facing. And it took those through kind of those building those relationships and being able to do that, that we were able to react to that, um, which by no means was, was, was an easy feat.

But actually, you know, what it kind of tasks me to do, but also tasks the team to do, is, you know, really go out there, find out from young people what we need to do, and whether that's additional training for staff, whether that's sometimes additional staff on additional projects, whatever that may be, how can we kind of react to that?

How can we kind of be proactive again in kind of the work that we do to ensure that young people feel safe, feel supported. And essentially the way I always talk about it with young people is that the youth workers are there for you.  Yes, we're a creative space. I love creativity. Uh, but you know, we have great resources, we have great equipment, we have great staff that can kind of talk to you about the creative stuff.

Our team are there for you. Um, and sometimes just letting a young person know that  means something. 

No, definitely. Because, uh, you know, as you mentioned, like for a lot of young people, they might not always have that, and they might not feel that there is someone in their corner, but to have someone, you know, who's, you know, verbally saying it, it was always reminding of that is so important and so key.

So, yeah, thank you very much. Um, we're gonna go on to the next question, um, which is all about community involvement. Uh, and I'd really like to know, how do you, how do your roles within Uh, different organizations, for example, like Haringey Shed and your work as a writer, uh, complement your efforts in youth advocacy and development.

Yeah, I think definitely. I think the, the, the first point, so with, with Haringey Shed, um, kind of last year I was kind of blessed to be welcomed onto the board of Haringey Shed, uh, which is an inclusive, uh, arts and theatre company that works in Haringey, uh, as the name Gives it away. Um, but specifically supporting young people with quite profound learning and physical disabilities. 

I'm really kind of encouraging them to kind of put on paces, pieces of creative work. Um, and that was something that I felt in my professional career that I really wanted to do. Uh, it's kind of to join a board of an organization. So I guess kind of take that strategic look at an organization, which I hadn't really had much experience at.

Um, and I think what I really learned and I'm still learning from Haringey Shed is there. is they are embedded in the community. Parents for the last 20 years have trusted them with their young people who sometimes would never trust their young people with any other organization because of those needs and kind of I guess the the confidence in knowing those needs will be supported.

Um, so that that's a massive part of the community work that they do building those relationships with different stakeholders and knowing that you know That they, that they are part of the community. Haringey in a couple of years will be the London Borough of Culture. That's going to bring so much more eyes and hopefully, uh, spending in the borough.

And Haringey really wants to be the kind of beacon at that, you know, where they're placed. They're literally down the road from White Hart Lane. And so anytime there's a big show or something that goes on there, there's always a community aspect to that. Community festivals was a massive part that Haringey liked to get involved in as well.

So I think that that, that really showed me that, you know,  regardless of the size of your organization, you can be built on this community level, which I think is incredibly important.  And then I think with the writing, you know, writing is something that I've done, uh, kind of on and off really since, since university.

So it kind of, you know, since kind of my, my early twenties, um, and I started off kind of covering, you know, music, uh, and different kind of artists kind of within different scenes. And I kind of changed a little bit in the way that I approached my writing that actually I realized that I had a platform and I wanted I wanted to give space for that.

Um, so I've started really kind of digging a little bit into kind of subcultures and different kind of community organizations that kind of worked with different groups of people and one that really stands out to me. Um, and actually I never thought I'd be speaking about in this context, but, um, uh, it's a group called Neighborhood Skate Club, uh, and I covered them for, um, a magazine, uh, a skate magazine a couple of years ago called Skatism, uh, and essentially was a kind of female led, um,  uh, group.

Skateboarding crew, uh, kind of based out of Victoria Park in East London, uh, and they were kind of putting on community sessions for, uh, young women, specifically kind of school age, but also kind of early twenties as well. Um, essentially inviting young women's kind of take part and get involved in skateboarding.

So again, eliminating those barriers, which unfortunately the skateboarding scene has can be quite male orientated and quite male dominated as well, and they were really looking to challenge that. So then that really kind of brought me to the idea of grassroots organizations and what do they look like?

And you know, I've always kind of tried to cover that in my writing that, you know, A community is what you make it. Um, and I've met great people, both professionally and personally, that have been able to kind of build kind of creative communities, um, based on lots of different things, whether that be kind of with youth work and charity, whether that be around skateboarding, whether that be around music or art and culture,  I really think it's about the people.

Um,  And that is kind of one thing that I would love to think that we are replicating here at the Roundhouse. Um, one of another part of my role is I oversee our community program as well. Um, so we are kind of blessed with the resources we have, but also with the partners that we're able to build in the local community.

So working with local organizations that support young migrants and refugees, uh, working with, uh, young people with physical disabilities, working with young care leavers, young people that face the criminal justice system. So again, how do we, you know, as this. you know, massive building, which is a really steeped in history.

Um, hopefully as we all well know, um, how do we use that to, to kind of impact our local community? And I think, you know, I think community starts with the people. Um, and yeah, all, all of those different roles that I spoke about has really kind of shown me the, the power of people. Definitely. Definitely. 

And I definitely agree.

Cause as you said, sort of, whether it's with, uh, you know, coming together and making a change, whether it's with sort of Building a business or founding an idea, whether it's sort of leading on a creative project, it's only when you've got those people together and you're all sort of You've got the same vision.

You've got the same goal. You're working to achieve that, that you can actually see that change and that impact being implemented. Definitely. Mental health is really important to us to pick up the mic, and we love to share resources that can support your mental health. And that's why we are so glad to have today's sponsor.

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So again, that's better help. com.  Slash pick up the mic, M I C, uh, and start your journey today. Uh, so we've come to the last question before we go on to passing the mic, where I won't obviously physically be passing the mic over to Nathan, but instead, uh, he's going to ask me a question or as many questions as you'd like.

Um, But I think this is an important one. It's one looking to the future and also giving any advice. Um, so the question is, what advice would you give to students and young professionals who are interested in youth work? And there's a second part which is, what are your aspirations for the future of youth advocacy? 

That's a really good question. Um, I think in terms of people that kind of want to want to kind of get into the sector and in the industry, um, I would say experience. Um, and I know sometimes, you know, you, you can read, uh, CVs, um, and kind of job descriptions that say you need four plus years, two plus years experience.

I think experience is what you make it. Um, you know, I really encourage people to kind of go out there, look for ways that you can get involved in your local community, whether that's volunteering, whether that's doing session work, whatever that may be. Essentially, it's all about picking up those skills.

Um, and networking as well was also a massive kind of impact of that. I think, you know, by, by meeting the right people, by going out there, by introducing yourself to as many different people as possible, um, can really have a massive impact later down the line. Um, and I guess one of the things that I've always said as well is, is being authentic.

Um, I have done this for 17 years now, and I would like to think that I've always remained true to myself.  I'm not a person that, uh, that tries to to act down with the kids. That's, that's not for me. And I don't think you'll go very far doing that as well. Um, but at the same time, I've also not to act. Kind of like someone I'm not as well.

And I think, you know, all I would ever encourage people to do is this something that you really want to do, chase it, get out there, meet people, volunteer, gain that experience, because that that is really a key kind of thing. Um, you know, what you want to be able to do when you walk into, you know, whether that be interviews or if you do want to go into university.

to, to study kind of youth work as a, as a kind of professional qualification. You're always going to get that question around experience and what does that look like? Uh, and while I don't think experience should be quantified by any stretch of the imagination, you should be able to articulate the experience that you have.

And I think by having kind of, uh, impactful experience and experience that you can kind of talk on, on a great depth and level about, I think we'll, we'll take you really far.  

And, uh, for future aspirations or future vision for the future aspirations. 

Yeah, I think what I would love to see  Um, and this is, this is a, this is a real personal one is that, you know, I'd love to see, uh, kind of the model of work that we do here replicated on a wider scale.

Um, I believe that there are so many organizations that work with young people, but don't see themselves as a youth organization. Um, I'm not gonna throw shade and put anyone's name out there, but there are lots of organizations that work with young people. Lots of young people, but don't, uh, by the very nature, don't consider themselves a youth organization.

And I think that what that does is that that limits the work that they can do. I think, you know, uh, all of the work I've spoken around in terms of kind of pastoral support and youth work that you're able to deliver on a wide scale. I'd love to see that replicated. Um, and you know, that is something that I have spoken a great length with lots of different people about.

Uh, and I think that is something that will have a real impact because  unfortunately, uh, Government funding is not being put in youth services and the money that is going into youth services is kind of being ring fenced by a lot of larger organizations. Um, so if you are an organization that works with young people, get youth workers in that space.

Get youth workers working alongside those young people because, yeah, supporting creative journeys or whatever journey that they're on. is one thing having youth workers in that space is  another thing. An example of it, and I don't advocate for McDonald's by any stretch of the imagination, but you know, their campaign and work that they did to put youth workers in McDonald's, I found incredible because they identified that they were working, their workforce was predominantly young people aged 18 to 21.

So they had youth workers supporting the staff that were working at their restaurants. And I thought that was an example. Like I said, not the best example, but was an example that, you know, if you are working with, uh, lots of young people, I think that that youth work element needs to be there in some way, shape or form.

Definitely, 

definitely. I definitely agree. Because even as you mentioned, like when I was working at university, it was only because, uh, like my team manager was very much like an advocate for just making sure everyone on our team was okay. Everyone was felt supported. Everyone was sort of, you know, mentally doing well.

Um, Yeah. Yeah. But I know that that's not the case for everyone. Not everyone's able to do that, or everyone's in a position where they feel comfortable to do that. But as you said, like having youth workers that can support your, the delivery of your work, um, is a really good way to ensure that the young people, whether they're working with you, whether they're sort of taking, getting involved in the programs that you deliver or offer, um, is a really key way to sort of ensure that sort of  Not only personal, professional growth of your, if your employees or the people that you work with, but also the people that you're supporting and delivering work for as well. 

Definitely. Um, we're not going to go into passing the mic. Uh, so I'm going to hand over to Nathan. Uh, please let me know any questions you want to ask. Uh, 

I've got a few. Now I like having the power. Um, I guess one of my first questions to you would kind of get, I guess, reflecting on your life journey. Um, and has there been or  Can you identify any moments in your life where that kind of that impact to kind of youth work or social work or that kind of positive role model really kind of affected you and kind of you can talk about?

Yeah, um, I think the biggest one sort of to start with was my  GCSE and A Level like drama teachers and my physics teacher, um, for A Levels were both very, really supportive with my university sort of journey. Uh, so it came to A Levels and like, I didn't really know what I was doing. Um, like I was really having a tough time with physics and my drama teacher was just like, Oh, you know, um, Like, are you okay?

Are you doing well? Um, and she checked in, like, repeatedly throughout, like, from my GCSEs, the whole time at GCSEs, and the one I was in year seven, um, and she was just, like, making sure that I was doing okay. And then when I was telling her, like, the tough time with physics, and how it meant that I wouldn't, like, I was sort of struggling to manage the workload with drama and things like that, she ensured that, like, there was a room.

That if I needed to like study in between classes, I could just go there, study for a bit, take it easy, sort of away from like everyone else. I'm not getting distracted. I can just focus on my work. Um, but then she was also sort of worked proactively to for me to work with my physics teacher to sort of figure out, okay, What do I want to do once I leave a levels?

Um, and it was a simple conversations of like, what are you interested in? How can you sort of like, what do you think the career for this might be? Um, what do you like with, with all the sort of a levels you were doing? Because, uh, like people find it weird when I tell them I did drama, history and physics, because there's no real connection between the three.

Um, but they were all subjects that I really enjoyed. And, um, that led to me eventually going to university and like from undergraduate doing environmental sciences. Um, and then I talk about my university, uh, my old manager, um, she managed a STEM program there. She was very much the same thing of, uh, I met her in my third year of uni.

I wanted to do a year placement and I got a placement with her and she was very much just like, okay, cool. So what do you want to get out of this placement? What do you want to do when you graduate?  What do you want to sort of show that you've done and achieved with this? So when you're graduated, you've got this experience and this knowledge.

Um, and then she very much was like a huge support, even to this day. Um, both with sort of creative things I've done, like we pick up the mic, um, and with all the works that I've done, but she's also been a huge support in supporting my personal development as well. Um, so, uh, sort of coming up to a year when it happened, but, uh, On last year, I was I graduated from my masters and I did a speech and it was only through sort of that connection with her that she was able to sort of one help to push me in that direction to go apply for the opportunity when she sort of researched and said that there was an opportunity to do that. 

But she was very much just like, Okay, cool. Okay, after we both finished work, just come over like we'll work through the speech or practice it. It was something that I didn't tell my family, I didn't tell my friends, no one really knew about it. But she, she said something that really stuck with me, which was just like, when certain people, like when my family see me, they'll only, for the most part, just see me as, uh, as, you know, their brother or their son.

Um, but she said, This is an opportunity where you can sort of showcase to your family, you can showcase to your friends that you're, you're more than sort of just the, the face value of that, just that interaction that they see. So to me, that was a huge lesson on just essentially sometimes you don't need to share every like once you've got a big opportunity, you don't need to sort of shout from the rooftops or almost boast about it.

Sometimes you can be very humble in your approach. And then when it comes out and it happens, people are more sort of impacted because they're just like, wow, you had this. big thing that you were going to do, and you didn't tell any of us, like, how were you able to, to keep it a secret and things like that.

But more importantly, it's just like, they're able to see, wow, you know, you're actually doing  so much more than we ever thought. Um, so yeah, those would be my my two key ones.  That's really 

good. And I think what it does also explain and actually probably feeds into one of the biggest things that I've Kind of learn and kind of, you know, picked up on the journeys that youth work, uh, or the way you work alongside young people is not an instant gratification, you know, it's not something that, you know, you work at something and, you know, you, you see the effects that day that very rarely happens.

Uh, and if you said that it did happen, I wouldn't believe you. Um, I think, you know, youth work is something that you will say something to someone and, you know, it sounds like, you know, in the stories that you've spoken about there, it may not resonate with you in that very moment. But they'll come that point a year, two years, five years down the line where, where that will, that, that, that will mean a lot to someone and they'll reflect on that journey.

You know, they will say, I worked alongside that young people, or that guy came into my school, or I met this person in this group. And I think that is also a really big thing to, to understand the youth workers. That if you, if you're in for instant gratification, that's not gonna happen hundred percent, but you know, know that your words will have effect.

Mm-Hmm. Definitely. 

Um, and then my second question to you, if it's not too kind of grandiose, uh, was kind of for you, uh, you know, still being a young person really, and kind of seeing, kind of looking at the kind of world around you, what do you think is, is, is the biggest risk for young people at the moment?

Ooh,  that's a very good question. I thought I'd come at you hard, I was coming at you hard with that one. Um,  I think, I think it's, it's the idea that like, you can't achieve your dreams or that you have to sort of wait. until certain things line up for your dreams to come true. Um, because that's not to say that that's not the case.

Sometimes it does sort of things just line up perfectly for people. Um, but for a lot of people, they think if they want to go and pursue something that whether their family doesn't, isn't very sort of sees a problem, potential career aspect from it or whether their friends sort of think it's a bit weird or don't necessarily agree with them doing it.

They feel as though having that sort of like wanting to pursue that is sort of a bad thing or something that they should put off. Um, but I think the biggest thing for me, um, that I sort of learned or took for all the biggest learning from that risk and sort of having done that sometimes is that essentially.

Uh, there's two things. The first thing is, um, the, the people that we used to sort of distribute the audio version of the podcast called Buzzsprout, they did this really cool video talking about, like, why people are nervous about getting into podcasting and releasing that first episode, and they said that sometimes, um, you'll be so worried that, you know, your, your school friends are gonna watch it and sort of comment and judge you.

And he said, for the most part, um, He was just basically saying, like, who cares? Like, you put it out there, you've committed to something, and you've delivered. You should focus on that and see that you've actually done the work and sort of be proud of that and just focus on that. Um, but the second thing was also the idea of you don't, you never want to wake up one day and feel like you've been living someone else's life because other people said, you know, you should keep things safe.

You shouldn't necessarily try and put yourself out there and take risks. Um, and I think even from like speaking to friends recently about stuff I was saying, like with people, pick up the mic. I know I can afford to certain to take certain risks with things because I'm at a stage where, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm living at home.

I'm not dependent on, like, I don't have people who are dependent necessarily on me. I can take certain risks, um, which is not to say that people should, you know, go out there and sell everything and then start up a company.  But that's to say that, you know, sometimes you just got to like, Put yourself out there and just get started.

And it's never, it's never an easy thing. It sounds a lot easier. It sounds very simple. And I know sometimes when people say it, they can make it seem like there was, there's never like any worry or anxiety that they happen. But even with like the first episode of this, podcast, which will launch, pick up the mic.

It was the same thing. It was three of us. None of us had ever done podcasting or audio editing before. Um, we were, it was, like I said, during the pandemic, we were recording on zoom. Um, and we were all just like, we don't know if people are going to like the three of us talking about this, but we're going to talk about a subject, see how it goes.

And if people like it, we'll continue. Um, so yeah, so I'd say the biggest risk is believing that you can't sort of achieve and go for your dreams. Um, and the biggest sort of, sort of reminder I can say to that is just get started and see where things go. I love that. That's great. Thank you very much.

That's a good answer. Thank you.  Um, but yeah, we're not going to go on to our MT of the month, which you can probably guess, uh, from the amazing work that we've heard today, uh, is Roundhouse, uh, creative studios. Um, they support, Correct me if I'm wrong. It's 18 to 24 

year old. We do a lot more than that. 

Um, actually, you know, this is the first time I've ever done this, but I think it would be best to hear it for you.

So please, of course,  

uh, the roundhouse creative studios. We are a creative space in chalk farm in Camden in northwest London in an iconic venue. Um, and we have a number of different venues. offers available to young people age 11 to 25. Um, we have a number of creative projects, uh, that can be based anything from kind of music to performing arts to kind of broadcast and digital, um, for 11 to 14 year olds, 15, 17 year olds and 18 to 25 year olds.

Uh, but we also have a creative studios. So we have a number of rehearsal, DJ and production rooms available to young people aged 13 to 25. That's the only slight difference needs to be 13 to hold a membership. Um, and it's a really affordable, um, offer, I believe, uh, it's 25 pounds a year for a membership rooms can cost anywhere between one pound and four pound for a two hour slot.

Uh, we're open seven days a week. So  You can bring in guests as long as they fit within that age bracket. Um, and it's actually just a really nice space. I think, you know, over the last two and a half years, you know, being able to welcome more and more young people back, I think, you know, we've been able to create this kind of community amongst the studios, which I think is continuing to grow.

And now having that impact to the youth workers is just another element to that. Um, but one thing also to point out as well, that we do also offer financial assistance. Um, so if that's 25 or there's 1, 2, 4. Are a little bit too much. That's completely fine. We offer financial assistance. We can support young people with the cost of the studios, the membership travel to and from the roundhouse.

Um, and I think our biggest ethos is just about getting people in the building, get in, come in, book a tour, come and have a look at the space. Um, whether you're at the very beginning of your journey, or you're a little bit more seasoned and you just need somewhere to kind of hone your skills. Uh, the creative studios and all of the projects that we offer are just an amazing place for young people to be. 

Perfect. Um, I realize actually I didn't ask you this when I was asking the questions, but I would love to know what has been your favorite program  that you've  had around us? 

Yeah. Hmm.  Oh, that's a tough one. Um, I will shout out and this is definitely recency bias. So This doesn't take away from any other projects, please. 

Um, but we, we have a project, a long standing project that was running, has been running for a number of years called behind the lens, uh, which is a project for 18 to 25 year olds, uh, specifically looking to get that first step within the kind of broadcast and digital film at broadcast digital field. And so it was a group of 10 young people that work with us on a kind of seven week program.

They come to us for three days a week, um, kind of nine to five days. And they get an experience to do lots of different things. They created a video for one of our events. They did lots of filming and portfolios. Uh, but the biggest thing they did was, uh, probably about three weeks ago now for our roundhouse poetry slam final, which was hosted in the main space.

The young people from behind the lens actually live stream that and were the ones responsible for putting it on YouTube. Um, and for me, it was that real kind of full circle moment that we had young people on the stage being filmed by young people and live streamed. And I just thought that that was, that was just an incredible, moment and to see them, you know, it's a very long day that day.

I think, you know, every, everyone kind of got off about half 11 that day. Um, to see the kind of looks of like, wow, I've, I've just live streamed an event on, put it out on YouTube and we had,  you know, however many people watching from, from all over the world. Um, for me, I really like to see that, that, that kind of outcome driven, uh, project while I don't always believe that the outcome is the only outcome.

Um, when there is a creative outcome, you know, you see it in people's, uh,  behavior, the way that they change the way that they're like, they're, they feel that confidence that they have done something and they've contributed something. Um, so that's definitely a recently biased, but the reason why I, I mentioned it so much is because I, I was the one kind of working alongside them pastorally, um, kind of a youth worker at length on that project.

Uh, so I had the opportunity to meet with them throughout the project to kind of talk about their own journeys and how they were finding it. And, you know, from speaking to them at  the beginning of the project, where, you know, maybe there were definitely some kind of elements around kind of confidence and teamwork and leadership, you know, by that kind of midpoint and by seeing it in the end, you know, that that had skyrocketed.

And I think, you know, it just shows if you put the time and effort, uh, into young people and their kind of journeys, You know, the results will be endless. 

That's perfect, man. Thank you very much. Uh, we've now come to the takeaway section.  Uh, which, funnily enough, I've been joking about, uh, we're not sponsored by a food, like, delivery app, but we might be getting a snack sponsor for this, so keep an eye on the space.

Love that. Um, but yes, we want you to have a message to go home with, uh, so, Nathan, we talked about a lot today. Um, but if there was one message that you think, uh, Our audience, uh, whether they're watching, whether they're listening, should go home with and sort of take with them today. What would be that message? 

Uh, I think, I think actually I'm, I'm, I'm going to kind of steal a little bit of your, of your little bit as well, is kind of talking about that idea of taking risks. Um, and knowing that, you know, the, if you start to take a path that, that may not be the only path that you take, um, you know, learning and reflecting on my own journey from coming of a place where I didn't really know what I wanted to do.

Um. But I was willing to give things a go and try things and I think that is what I will always kind of push is that kind of giving yourself grace to experiment and take risks, uh, try new things, try new experiences, because ultimately that is how you will grow and develop, um, and some of the best youth workers that I've ever worked with, uh, have that breadth  and whether that be within the youth and community field, whether that be working alongside young people, whether that even be within the creative sector as well, you know, that they have taken on skills that they have been able to kind of transfer and bring to their to their current work.

And so yeah, I think I would definitely encourage people to try things and to not be afraid to give things a go. And to sometimes know that.  It's not working. That's completely fine. Um, not everything works the first time. And I think, you know, by trusting in yourself and trusting in the process, I think, you know, just, um,  stay in the course, I think definitely is one thing I would, I would encourage and always push amongst young people, but also amongst older people as well.

So yeah, 

that's perfect, man. Wonderful words to close the episode. And, uh, Yeah, without further ado, thank you very much, Nathan, for being on. It's been great to not only learn more about your journey, but also the incredible work that you do here at The Roundhouse. Um, before we sort of go into the outro and things like that, um, if people want to connect with you, maybe they want to know a bit more about the Creative Studios, maybe they want to get involved and support it, maybe they want to get involved and even apply.

Uh, what links, websites, uh, Social media for people. That's very good. I 

haven't prepped for this bit.  In terms of finding out more about The Roundhouse, just type The Roundhouse Creative Studios into Google. It comes up with the website. You can find loads more of the information. There's some email links there to get in contact directly with the Youthwork team.

Please feel free to drop us an email. No question is a silly question. Trust me when I say that. Um, if you're thinking it, someone else is definitely thinking it as well. Uh, you know, we're always up for arranging tours of the spaces and showing people around. So even if it's professionals that are working alongside young people, please feel free to reach out, um, and we'll definitely try and get that.

kind of, uh, in the books, terms of LinkedIn, Nathan soft on LinkedIn, always kind of talk. I'm trying to use LinkedIn a lot more. Um, so I'm always talking about my journey on there. Um, but yeah, that's great. 

Perfect. Thank you. And thank you to have a wonderful audience for coming back to another episode of the student guide.

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So that's bye from us here. Have a wonderful day. Look after yourselves and we'll speak to you soon. 

Thank you very much.