Youth Work for All

Belgium

Dec 20

Mechelen

Overview

Not every family finds its way easily to youth work. The youth movements of Mechelen are not yet a reflection and representation of the diversity in our city. The youth service has taken up the challenge to change this with the youth movements and their associations. The project aims at: families (children, youngsters, parents) with a migration background and/or a refugee story (aim of guiding children/youngsters to youthwork); and youth movements (strengthening these organisations (and by extension youth associations) in order to reach the above-mentioned target groups more easily, and support them in setting up a diversity policy). The main objectives of the project are: guiding new members with a migration background sustainable towards youthwork; supporting associations regarding diversity, inclusion & accessibility; and raising awareness of the added value of youthwork.

Expected Impact

Youth work as a safe space: Youth organisations have been strengthened in terms of accessibility and diversity by organizing training, networking moments; by 24 individual interviews with youth movements; all 24 youth movements have a "youth work for label"; annually we offer 5 intensive (diversity/inclusive) counselling processes for youth movements.
Sustainable guidance of children and young people with a migration background to youth work in Mechelen: Recruitment of 60 children and young people with a migration background and/or a refugee story as participant/leader; and 100 home visits (on average 1 per week).
Image creation and perception: Parents, children and young people have a better idea of youth work and recognise the added value and richness of it; bij organizing focusgroups with youngsters, volunteers, parents, professionals and employers; development of educational material (videos); collect and share minimum 15 testimonies on storytelling platform; and by organising yearly "warm welcome (CHILL) days".
We foresee a regular staff deployment by the youth service and J@m vzw, and in addition a secondment of Group INTRO vzw in close cooperation with the youth service and J@m vzw so that we can bring in Group INTRO vzw's expertise with regard to children and youngsters with a migration background (and refugee story) into the respective workings. We pay attention to the entire operation of the youth service and evaluate the experiences made. The co-financing ensures more shared leadership and shared involvement, commitment and ownership. It ensures that we build expertise, and can embed it in existing services. The ambition of shared ownership and expertise building is also reflected in the financial proposal: the city provides co-financing. We focus on the positive learning experiences of young people and the long-term impact. In addition, we continue to build up a framework for youth work and scale it up through supra-local exchange.