My Time With Brighton Youth Centre

You might have seen my posts last month about B.Fest, if you didn't, you should ... you can find those here. B.Fest was something organised by an events team at Brighton Youth Centre and since the festival I have been spending my Wednesday evenings with some of the loveliest people I've ever met.

Before I got to know everyone during B.Fest I didn't know about Brighton Youth Centre, I didn't know what they did, what they were there for or, to be honest, where the youth centre even was. Considering I have lived in this city my entire life and was a "youth" not that long ago, I think it's a shame to think how many other people in Brighton don't know about the amazing work they do there and what they have to offer to young people.

I have worked with young people and teenagers in every job I've ever worked in, but that has mostly been in schools and colleges which are not always the best environments for teenagers being heard and treated like young adults. This is something I noticed immediately at BYC, there's no "us and them" mentality when it comes to the youth workers and the young people that use the services they have to offer. Everyone treats each other with respect, recognises differences in opinions and because of that everyone is constantly learning from each other. It really surprised me what a difference it makes to the general atmosphere.

I've really enjoyed the last month or so and spending more time getting to know the way the youth centre works as well as the staff and the young people that go there. One of the biggest things that struck me was how incredibly talented everyone is, there isn't a single person in there who isn't mega artistic, musical or crazy intelligent and it's such a hive of activity and full of people sharing skills that every session is varied and produces different results. Exploring Senses, which is another amazing business that I have been getting to know over the past few weeks, run a Young Inventors Centre at BYC every Wednesday evening from 6.30 - 9 and this pulls in people keen to learn and use digital media. They have everything from 3D Printing Pens to actual futuristic 3D printers, face scanning into the 3D printer (which truth be told I still can't quite get my head around), people building quad-copters that are then zipping through the air by the end of the session and all of this is done by people who have so much knowledge to share it's unbelievable.

Last week I was talking to some of the young people who frequent the Wednesday sessions and who I've been seeing a lot of over the last few weeks. I wanted to know what it was about BYC that kept them coming back and made them want to bring their friends. I expected the pizza was a big part of it, but the responses were so varied and definitely not as food related as I'd imagined they might be. One girl told us it was somewhere she felt safe to spend time with her friends, another said it was somewhere she considered a second home, the indoor skatepark is a big draw as well. Something that came up with everyone I spoke to was that it is a safe place that they know they can come to every Wednesday - it's a constant and I think that's so important.

When I heard from Hannah, who is someone I know from a few years ago, and she asked me to come down to B.Fest at the Level I thought it would be something I'd do for that one day, write about and then that would be it. I didn't expect to meet the amazing like-minded people I have or to care so much about it all. Mike and Hannah who are the two youth workers at BYC who I've spent the most time with genuinely care about the young people that go there, they want to make things better for them and they go out of their way to do that at every chance they get. The young people that go there want to be there because it's somewhere they feel safe and also somewhere they learn, but they learn through doing things, not just being told what to think and how to act. Everyone there is encouraged to be who they are or who they want to be and that to me is one of the most special things I've seen in my short time at BYC.

Brighton Youth Centre is now a place I consider to be a part of my week, I know that on Wednesdays that is where I'll be and I plan to continue that for as long as I'm in Brighton. It's somewhere that isn't as out there or as known about as it should be which is a shame. The youth centre and the lovely people who work there have shown me what youth work is and what a youth centre can bring to a city and also how young people can thrive in an environment that isn't a school.

I could go on, I've done that already, but you can find more information about them and the services they have to offer on their website.