Conversation & Youth Work

We didn't really do anything apart from tell people a time and place and provide a few nibbles...the rest was up to who ever came for however long...it was like an open-house or drop-in kind of thing, people could come and go when they liked or just pop in, although most were there from 7-9 and some arrived at 6.40 while others left at 11. It was chilled out and people sat and talked or played games like pool or the wii or singstar - table tennis 'round the table' was popular and got alot of people mixing, but there was no plan and no pressure...

It was good to see some new faces and some old faces and to hear about what everyone is doing and relive some old stories and create links to make some new ones.

Subjects discussed included the following:

• The US Presidential Election
• The book The Art of War
• Table Tennis
• Study of Theology
• The round carpet of club being a representation of the missing round window that was the sun (and being handy for circle games)
• Fatherhood
• Pool
• SA/youth work at the training college, Poplar present & past, Clapton, Nunhead, Mile End Climbing wall, secondary schools and more
• Sign language
• Youth work training & qualifications
• Mountain Leadership Training
• Weddings
• Birthdays
• Making links across corps
• Essentialism
• Child protection training
• Wii games
• Separation
• Cheese boards and knives (seemed novel to some)
• Volunteers
• Babies
• Choice of subject of study at university & personal statements
• The rise of popularity of the pitta bread & humus in the Poplar area's young people accounting for Thomas' only vegetables in his diet apart from tomato sauce
• Poplar's facilities
• People who people would like to have seen to catch up with
• Bulbs in a building that's had them all installed at the same time having them all go around the same time
• Growing vegetables
• Working with young people with special/complex needs
• Study Support
• Young people
• Funding
• Music, songs & singstar
• Ownership
• The educational system of Germany
• Children
• Fireworks
• Meeting the needs of young people
• Racism
• The X Factor
• Skiing
• Poplar the oldest existing Salvation army Corps
• Breast feeding
• Facebook
• Playing the guitar
• The French Language
• Cooking
• Obama's autobiography
• A Levels
• Hair cuts
• Bicycles
• Art
• Studying for a PGCE
• Food
• Studying childcare at college
• Wheelchair Access
• Relationships
• Meeting up again
• Contact details
  

...and these were only the conversations I was part of or overheard.

One conversation, though especially illustrated what youth work is about. A conversation between a worker who that night returned to the centre after many years to see one of the young members he worked with now grown up and now a youth worker like he was. A conversation about relationship and all that grew from that. Youth Work.