Working Life At Brathay: Andy in the Community Team
At Brathay, every role plays a vital part in empowering young people to meet challenges and unlock their potential. Whether you're working directly with individuals or behind the scenes, our mission is the same: to inspire young people build their brighter futures. The diverse skills, experiences, and passion of our employees create a lasting impact.
Andy is one of our passionate employees. He works in our Cumbria Community Team with a focus in the Barrow and Furness area. In this case study, Andy shares his story of working at Brathay, from the wonderful moments to the challenging times, highlighting what it truly means to make a difference.
Hi Andy, thanks for taking the time to tell us more about your experience of working at Brathay. What inspired you to join us?
I used to work as a teaching assistant at a local school, but due to funding cuts, I lost my job. I was gutted, it crushed my passion to work in schools again. When I saw this job advertised on Indeed, I remembered coming to Brathay years ago on a residential with the school I worked at. It stuck in my mind how good it was, and I’ve always thought about how great it would be to work in a place like that. What inspired me is the opportunity to work with young people and offer them the support they need which might be different to the support they get in schools.
What do you find most rewarding about your role?
It’s doing something I really enjoy and I’m passionate about. I feel like I’m making a difference here. I’ve almost worked here for a year now, there’s not one day I haven’t looked forward to coming to work. There are obviously tough days but seeing when you have made a difference to someone makes it all worth it. It’s usually small things like a young person opening up to you or sharing some good news. Young people see you differently as a youth worker. You can build relationships as a trusted adult in their life, that they’ve probably never had before.
What skills would you say set you up for success in your role?
I think the most important skills are:
- Knowing how to work with others.
- Listening and understanding what young people are trying to say to you.
- Building relationships with young people and understanding the importance of getting to know them before you can help them. It’s important to take that time to build the relationships, no matter how long it takes.
- Understanding your role and articulating that to young people.
- Adapting to the range of programmes we deliver, and the type of young people targeted by each programme.
What is the biggest challenge in your role, and how do you overcome it?
As a project worker, I need to adapt to each programme and each young person I support. It’s important to recognise every young person is an individual, with differing needs. When you are working with a group of young people, someone might need a 1:1 chat so you can take them aside, but your colleague is then left holding the rest of the group, so you’ve got to be aware of that and balance everyone’s needs. We always work closely as a team and trust each other to do a good job.
What advice would you give to someone considering a role at Brathay, in the community team?
Be open minded, because I don’t think two days are ever the same! It’s a bit like a rollercoaster. Sometimes you get those moment when it’s busy, you’re going down and it’s like ‘woooaaahhh’, and other times you’re on the slow climb to the top of the rollercoaster but you know what’s coming around the corner! Wait until you do a loop the loop, they’re the best ones!
Interested in working with Brathay? Check out our current job vacancies and see if there's a role for you.
What's the role of a Project Worker?
A project worker is crucial in the lives of many young people. We support them through issues and difficulties faced at one of the most important periods of their lives. As a team, we support young people to navigate adolescence, learn new skills, develop a sense of identity and independence, embrace their passions and take control of their own futures.
Through 1:1 work, group work and specific projects, we support young people through a range of issues such as mental health, wellbeing, social isolation, bullying, unemployment, family difficulties and antisocial behaviour. We design and deliver specific activities or programmes to support young people to make better choices, or to be aware of the choices available to them. Most importantly, we build trusting relationships with young people, away from the many pressures they may be facing in their lives.
Read Toby's story to see Andy's work in action!
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