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YPAG is a place where you can show your opinions and meet new friends.
Family Action owes its Friendship Works young person’s advisory group (YPAG) a lot… and this summer we got to repay them in summery style with a trip to the seaside.
The half-dozen young people from the advisory group made the trip out from central London to Southend-on-Sea in late July. After some fiercely competitive games of the card game Uno during the journey on the train they were treated to a fun filled day which included traditional fish and chips, ice creams and beach combing.
Mobile phones were abandoned as they hit the beach and splashed around, played ball games and simply laid down staring out to sea. It wasn’t all relaxing, however. The day also included a trip to a local amusement park – which had some surprises in store for our staff.
Caseworker Bart said, “I was tricked onto a scarier ride than I would normally brave, and the young people were very amused by my messed-up hair and shell shock afterward!”
This day is already a 9 out of 10!
The weather was with the crew right up to the end of the day, as they left just in time to avoid a downpour.
Although there was no expectation other than having fun, Bart was still surprised by just how valuable the day was as a bonding experience.
It was lovely to see how a newer member to the group, who was initially shy, was befriended by one of the more established members, and they ended up getting on like a house on fire.
Friendship Works young person’s advisory group
The group works with the service on how to better engage and support the young people it provides with mentoring experiences. Their support is integral to how the service works and allows it to co-produce things like assessments, recruitment videos and interview process to ensure they work best for other young people.
The group members come from a range of backgrounds and include young carers and those who live in foster care, so in many cases they don’t have the time, funds or opportunities to experience a trip like this under other circumstances. Bart added: “Having the chance to treat the young people to a fun day out for all their hard work was really rewarding and I hope this is a happy memory that will stay with them. They enjoyed it so much and seem to have gelled even more as a group- I’m really looking forward to using this new energy at future YPAGs.”
Find out more about Friendship Works here.
It was just so much fun, I don’t know where to start!