Youth Focus: North East

Youth Focus: North East 

Reacting to Covid-19

Youth Focus North East are pleased to be working with Youth Work Expert Group to discuss the unprecedented challenges faced by youth work organisations in England as a result of Covid-19. 

 

The Group, convened by the National Youth Agency are currently working on a site which will compile specific advice and resources for Youth Services and Youth Workers. This should be available by the 19th March. In the meantime, we have published some guidance from the NYA Youth Work Expert Group on Youth Work Provision Closures, as well as Support for Young People and Support for Youth Worker: https://nya.org.uk/reacting-to-covid-19-advice-to-youth-services/  

Working Arrangements Following Government Guidelines re Covid-19

As announced yesterday (16th March) the Government has now recommended limiting all non-essential social contact. Given this guidance, Youth Focus North East have decided to close our offices, and all staff will work from home remotely from today (Tuesday 17th March).

As a responsible employer we need to balance our responsibilities to staff, clients and our partners. Based on current information, we believe that social distancing measures are likely to delay the spread of the virus (i.e. ‘flattening the curve’ and reducing risk for the most vulnerable in society) and help protect our staff, partners and clients.

Following consultation with our Senior Management Team and Chair of Trustees, and with effect from Tuesday 17th March, Youth Focus North East is taking the following steps: 

  • All staff will mainly be working from home, using digital and video technology to continue our work with partners. 

  • We’ll be working with clients and collaborators to ensure we can continue to do high-quality work, flexing our approaches where required, and doing what we can to implement social distancing measures.  

  • Our team will not host any large gatherings or events for the foreseeable future – unless these can be done virtually.

  • Our staff will be supported to make case-by-case decisions about attending externally organised events or meetings, including exploring options to participate online or by phone.

This has not been an easy decision for us to make, however our priority will always be the health and safety of our priority will always be the health and safety of our employees, partners and the young people we serve.

All meetings, activities and events will be suspended from Tuesday, 17 March 2020. This suspension applies to young people and adults, and will be until further notice.

We will endeavour in the future to rearrange many of the meetings, activities and events due to take place during this suspension. As soon as we are able, we will communicate directly with people to confirm details of any rearranged events.

Once this suspension ends we will work tirelessly to quickly return our programmes back to normal for you. 

We are confident that we can continue to work in partnership to support the delivery of high quality services for children and young people.

These are indeed uncertain times and we have no idea at present how long this situation will continue. If you have any queries or would like further information, please contact  Caroline Garrity, email: [email protected] or Steve Watson, email: [email protected] 

 

KEVIN FRANKS
Chief Executive Officer

Youth Focus North East is an independent charity with the overall vision to improve the lives of young people through high quality youth work. We exist for the benefit of young people and the organisations which support them. Working together we, invest in the lives of young people, to create lasting change in their own lives and the communities in which they live. Our organisation is rooted in the values of good youth work.

 

Honesty

Respect

Equality

Inclusion 

 

We pride ourselves on being a caring and learning organisation. One in which people are encouraged to take risks, learn from mistakes and achievements, and where young people are central to all we do. 

 

At the core of our work is a number of direct delivery programmes aimed at addressing young people’s issues. We support a network of over 340 organisations and individuals providing information, support and professional development.

 
 

 

COMING IN SPRING: The new Youth Focus: North East website!

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