Detached youth work seems easier in the rain!

I've not been out in the rain for a detached session before. Somehow the young people we met were more keen to chat than usual. Why?

Well, I can only speculate but:

Maybe the ones who don't have anywhere else when it's raining are the ones who really need a youth provision? Maybe the giggly bitchy girls I find it hard to work with go home when it's raining, and are hard to work with becuase they don't really 'need' youth work? I've often been criticised for having too much of a bias towards less advantaged young people- but maybe it's just becuase the (mostly lads) who are outside in the square whatever the weather are actually easier to work with? If it means good quality constructive conversations, I can cope with rain running down my neck because of course, I couldn't possibly condone the wearing of a hoodie with the hood up...

Am I a manager or a youth worker?

Or can I be both?

Nothing too deep and meaningful going on in my head at the moment.

I'm celebrating passing my uni fieldwork, becoming a JNC Nationally Qualified worker by spending the summer launching a community youth project. In reality this means numbing my brain in getting together a constitution and a million different policies and statements. This was why I don't want to get into management. I do what I do as I like the face to face work with the young people.

It's made me think about the way we train workers though. I'm not trained in accounting, budgetting, or legalese (the language of constitutions). Should youth workers be leaving these to the experts and employing specific people to do them, freeing the youth worker up for face to face work? Or are these essential skills which anyone who's going to do more than sessional work should be equipped with and confident in the use of?

oh... and word of the week is 'hereinafter'. Haven't a clue what it means but it's in our constitution several times!

I fell off...

Just above here! Will try it again tomorrow. The climb is Central Grove at Dewerstone- Hard Severe at 4b and a fantastic two pitch route (by all accounts)