Working with young people

YMCA Leicestershire uses a coproduced, trauma informed, person-centred approach to ensure that every young person accessing our services has the opportunity to thrive. We realise that young people using our services are likely to have had adverse childhood experiences which are likely to have impacted the way they view themselves and the world around them and we also acknowledge that young people aren’t defined by those experiences and have a wealth of assets, strengths and resilience to explore.

We provide psychologically safe opportunities for young people to engage in a range of programmes, activities and relationships that support and help them to thrive. We work alongside young people to design our service offer and view young people as experts by their experience. This helps us to shape an environment that meets the needs of all, no matter who you are or where you are currently at in life.

We are working towards providing a fully embedded trauma informed environment which includes ensuring staff are provided with the knowledge, support and resources to enable them to provide good quality support. This includes offering range of training and reflective spaces where staff practice the principles of curiosity, enquiry and collaboration.

YMCA Leicestershire is committed to being a learning organisation and continually review and amend our policies and processes to ensure we are practicing in ways that acknowledge the experiences of young people who have become homeless. We treat every young person with respect and dignity regardless of their past actions or behaviours and have adapted our language and processes to promote this across our environment.

Find out more

Explore our services for young people