YPBS in Schools – In Depth Service Description
itt_61992, Mentoring/Youth Work including External Tutors/Additional Support for Young People.
On referral to YPBS, the young person and their family are contacted by the Befriending Support Worker for the relevant Learning Community and arrangements made to meet and discuss the service available. Where a different Support Worker is more appropriate – eg where gender is important, this will be arranged. Service benefits and structure will be clearly explained so that the young person is able to make an informed choice about participating.
Support Levels
Young people will engage in support at 1 of 3 levels
- An Assessment and Wellbeing Programme co-designed by the young person and Support Worker to identify goals, profile a Volunteer Mentor and use activities to reduce isolation, build resilience and increase community activity and access to other services.The Programme will comprise 12 weekly sessions of 3 hours each. Initial sessions will identify the young person’s goals, preferred activities, their current “scoring” on SHANARRI Wellbeing Indicators and any other measures that the young person identifies for themselves. Different “tools” for different young people will accommodate differences in age, learning style, level of understanding and interests.Activity at all sessions will be recorded so that future sessions can be planned, issues addressed, resources identified and progress recorded. As sessions progress, the young person’s ability to trust in the relationship with the Support Worker will develop and they will be better able to express their aspirations for the Programme and for subsequent Mentoring.Over the 12 sessions the young person will develop skills, confidence and an awareness of “steps forward” and the Support Worker will provide links to supports and community activities of benefit and clarify the profile of the “best” volunteer Mentor.
- An Assessment and Wellbeing Programme after which the young person indicates that they wish to continue engaging with the service, followed by 6-weekly activity-based sessions and fortnightly check-ins until an appropriate and mutually acceptable Volunteer Mentor is identified.Fortnightly “check-ins” would ensure that the young person knows support is still available, that the Support Worker has a very up to date picture of the young person’s circumstances and that arrangements for further activity-based sessions are secure. Check-ins would also include contact with parents unless that was age-inappropriate. These would last around 30 minutes. 6 weekly sessions would enable the work on goals, skills and confidence building, community engagement and accessing other services to continue.
- An Assessment and Wellbeing Programme followed by, on successful matching with a Volunteer Mentor (ie, the young person and the Mentor are happy with the match), 34 activity-based weekly Mentoring meetings of 3 hours each. These mentoring matches with a trained, selected and supported volunteer would enable longer term goals to be tackled and an additional trusted relationship to be established with the added value brought by the Mentor’s voluntary status.
Success Stories
In 2022-23 Volunteer Glasgow delivered Wellbeing Programmes to 10 young people who were awaiting a befriending match and whose mental wellbeing was fragile. All of the young people gained in confidence and self-esteem – either self-reported or observed by family members, school staff or other engaged adults.
Of the 8 families who engaged with Programmes, 6 accessed support from for eg, Carers’ Centres, SFAAD, Family Holiday Association. 3 families received practical help – funding from Aberlour for household items, donations of bedroom furniture or assistance with applications for travel passes.
All of the young people increased their level of positive activity during their programme, and developed skills in practical and social situations and activities. 8 out of 10 of them continued with some of the activities beyond the programme.
Here are some examples of the successes enjoyed
Lenny (15) used one of his programme sessions to do a “practice run” of a bus journey which had previously prevented him from meeting up with his pal.
Lenny also practised relaxation exercises during sessions. He said “I’ll do them when I go to my ‘Get Ready for Work’ course”.
Hilary (16) was initially anxious about going to a cafe or shop as she thought “people might stare” but in a later session successfully chose and paid for a new pair of trainers.
Rita (14) hoped a Wellbeing Programme would support her in trying new things. Health issues prevented her parents from providing support as they wanted. Rita had missed a lot of school because of her own health and had become anxious and withdrawn. Rita wanted to go cycling, bowling and trampolining because she wanted to “be fitter”. She also wanted to see if there were any groups locally that she could join and wanted her Support Worker to go along with her until she was settled. Session 1 was spent visiting 2 local groups.
Then Rita and the Support Worker repaired to a local café to draw and chat about whether Rita wanted to follow up with either group. Rita thought Include Me 2 would suit her better and took the paperwork home for Mum to complete. Over the next few weeks Rita enjoyed cycling, bowling trampolining. She began to attend Include Me 2 and was able to tell her Support Worker that he didn’t need to go with her because she already knew some of the other young people there.
Rita and our Support Worker spent time in a local café and in Nando’s (which she was very keen to try). These trips encouraged Rita to engage with staff, ordering food/paying bills. She was delighted to report her success back to Mum. During one session, in the café Rita suggested that “we could pop into Bellahouston and see if there’s anything interesting going on in there.” Rita subsequently joined a skiing group.
By the end of the programme, Rita was better able to engage with appropriate adults, was more confident in her own abilities and more engaged in her own community. Mum says “she’s looked forward to every week and after each week has been brighter and more engaged. She’d had a really difficult year, being ill and in hospital but the sessions have helped her feel well and got her doing things again.” Rita still goes to Include Me 2.
Hannah (16) was low on confidence and self-esteem; had missed all of her secondary education, has physical and mental health issues and was spending all of her time in her bedroom. Her Wellbeing Programme helped her recognise her existing skills and abilities and how they could be used to manage her daily challenges. It provided a much-needed boost in confidence, fun and visibility in her community. She was able to identify things she would like to do to make her feel healthier, fitter and happier – she and her Support Worker spent lots of time just walking and talking. After 3 sessions Hannah put her name forward for a local counselling service and applied for a place at her local College. She also explored Volunteering to gain experience of the workplace and to challenge her perception of trust in others. Hannah was subsequently matched with Andy, an experienced befriender. They worked together to support her choices, prepare for college and continue to improve her health and fitness by walking and exercise. Hannah is also making appointments with other health professionals to address issues and conditions she has lived with for years.
She recently told Andy ‘I don’t need to be at home all the time anymore and now feel safe to do things I’ve always wanted to do. Befriending has changed my life.’
