Insights into Youth Services
In March, Youth Concern surveyed Aylesbury Vale’s 13-25 year olds to ask what they thought of youth services locally. 86 young people told us exactly what they think – good and bad!
What youth services are Aylesbury Vale’s 13-25 year olds currently accessing?
A third of respondents (30%) access sport clubs, 17% get help from mental health services but fewer than 10% attend youth drop-in centres / youth clubs.
We suspect most of the respondents were unknown to Youth Concern previously. We’ve invited those who asked to stay in touch to visit, telling them about the services we offer.
Do young people know where to go for help/ advice/ support?
Not really. Most people told us they’d usually go online but finding advice or help in person is a different matter. Most of our respondents didn’t know where to start looking.
Whilst recognising that not everyone will need advice about all of these issues at the time of completing the survey,
75% were not confident about where they’d go for housing advice
69% unconfident re finances
66% unconfident re sexual health
63% unconfident re drugs/alcohol
46% unconfident re careers advice
38% unconfident re where they’d go to talk to someone
Most surprisingly, 52% were not confident about where to go regarding mental health issues. And yet we know we’re in the middle of a mental health pandemic…
What’s important to 13-25 year olds when deciding whether to go to a new service?
The number one answer was cost (66%)! The cost of a service matters enormously – it’s best if it’s free. We also heard that services’ social media/website presence is critical in helping young people decide whether or not to engage (38%).
What services do you think are missing in Aylesbury Vale?
There was a long list that included walk-in youth clubs, music studio, more sports clubs, sessions for people with special educational needs and disabilities, LGBTQ+ welcome, services outside the town ie in villages, more accessible mental health services, art sessions where the supplies are provided, puzzle books, jigsaws, cooking/baking, gardening, sewing – and how to fix bikes.
Clearly while some of these services already exist in Aylesbury Vale – many provided by us! – young people don’t always know about them.
We will use the responses to tailor our provision, and to tailor our communications with young people.