Frustrated and fearful at the lack of opportunities for children in her community back in 2017, Tara Foster wanted to bring back the “lost art” of youth work to help. Aptitude, in the deprived Radford area of Coventry, was the result – and its impact has been phenomenal.
Aptitude gives local children a ‘safe space’ where they can engage in positive, life-changing projects, be empowered, improve their lifestyles and wellbeing and focus on a brighter future. As Tara says wryly: “It’s much more than just playing pool and table tennis!”
Aptitude puts on sessions in football, basketball, dodgeball, streetdance and music. These are effectively ‘tools’ to engage young people and bring them under the organisation’s wing.
Trained youth workers and mentors – all local, relatable and many with lived experience of the same sorts of issues facing participants – form trusting relationships with the participants and begin to learn a bit about their lives. That begins the process of diverting them away from nefarious temptations such as crime, drugs, gangs and violence.
“A young person needs someone who is honest, reliable, trustworthy, non-judgemental, makes them feel safe and who they can have a bit of a laugh with,” says Tara (pictured left). “Youth workers are self-motivated; they do it for the passion and love of the job.”
Tara has been a youth worker in Coventry since 2003 so is well aware of local issues facing young people. When the council started to cut funding for youth services several years ago, she knew the issues she encountered every day were only going to get worse.
She also understands the limitations of some volunteer-led organisations and is all too familiar with well-meaning projects which disappear when short-term funding dries up. That’s why Tara prioritises professionalism, permanence and consistency in the youth services Aptitude provides.
Aptitude gives local children a ‘safe space’ where they can engage in positive, life-changing projects, be empowered, improve their lifestyles and wellbeing and focus on a brighter future. As Tara says wryly: “It’s much more than just playing pool and table tennis!”
Aptitude puts on sessions in football, basketball, dodgeball, streetdance and music. These are effectively ‘tools’ to engage young people and bring them under the organisation’s wing.
Trained youth workers and mentors – all local, relatable and many with lived experience of the same sorts of issues facing participants – form trusting relationships with the participants and begin to learn a bit about their lives. That begins the process of diverting them away from nefarious temptations such as crime, drugs, gangs and violence.“A young person needs someone who is honest, reliable, trustworthy, non-judgemental, makes them feel safe and who they can have a bit of a laugh with,” says Tara (pictured left). “Youth workers are self-motivated; they do it for the passion and love of the job.”
Tara has been a youth worker in Coventry since 2003 so is well aware of local issues facing young people. When the council started to cut funding for youth services several years ago, she knew the issues she encountered every day were only going to get worse.
She also understands the limitations of some volunteer-led organisations and is all too familiar with well-meaning projects which disappear when short-term funding dries up. That’s why Tara prioritises professionalism, permanence and consistency in the youth services Aptitude provides.
She’s passionate about training people as youth workers and providing a secure safety net for children who might fall between the gaps of local health or social care support.
Tara says: “Without wanting to stereotype, young people from deprived backgrounds in poor estates round here are at high risk of ending up down the road of crime or early pregnancy. I’ve seen it time and again and I just felt we had to do something about it. Proper, sustained early intervention that actually works is a huge gap in the market.
“We’ve been here since 2017 and have expanded into another area of Coventry as well to fulfil local need. Not just the need to divert young people from crime but to offer them positive role models. We’ve got policies in place, proper safeguarding, robust working practices, good communication and social media platforms.”
Aptitude’s established practices, diverse participants and emphasis on sport make them an ideal Local Delivery Partner for the Levelling the Playing Field project. Tara plans to designate a Friday night football session to LtPF in which participants are predominantly black 16 and 17-year-old males (some of them pictured at the top of the page).
A range of participants’ outcome data will be recorded and evaluated to build an evidence base of best practice to influence future policy and practice in this area and to enable LtPF to scale up across the country.
“That football session has been running since July and is going really well,” says Tara. “They’re a really good team, the West Midlands violence reduction unit has funded some kit and they recently got to a cup final. They’re part of something that makes them feel alive, that’s not involved with crime. It’s really positive.
“Now we’d like to really invest in them and support them to become young leaders so they can become volunteer coaches when they reach 18. We could then start a new team and have those trained young people doing some peer mentoring. We find young people engage so much more with leaders who are from their own backgrounds. That’s such positive activity.”
Since the end of the spring lockdown, Aptitude have resumed outdoor sports sessions and ‘detached youth work’ (informal outreach work in communities, chatting with young people) and now engage around 50 participants a week.
They run a mentoring programme for youths who are displaying risk factors (rarely attending school or vulnerable to becoming involved in gangs or county lines). Mentors check in on them regularly, engage them in sport or music activities and signpost to other agencies where appropriate.
“We have consistent members of staff who are always there for that young person,” explains Tara. “We change and adapt what we offer depending on what young people ask for, but it goes deeper than just the activities themselves. They’re just methods of engagement. Being able to come here, check in, have a chat and feel supported is vital for them. That opens up the doors to longer term involvement and empowerment to do great things.”
Go to aptitude.org.uk to find out more or follow Aptitude on Twitter.
Tara says: “Without wanting to stereotype, young people from deprived backgrounds in poor estates round here are at high risk of ending up down the road of crime or early pregnancy. I’ve seen it time and again and I just felt we had to do something about it. Proper, sustained early intervention that actually works is a huge gap in the market.
“We’ve been here since 2017 and have expanded into another area of Coventry as well to fulfil local need. Not just the need to divert young people from crime but to offer them positive role models. We’ve got policies in place, proper safeguarding, robust working practices, good communication and social media platforms.”
Aptitude’s established practices, diverse participants and emphasis on sport make them an ideal Local Delivery Partner for the Levelling the Playing Field project. Tara plans to designate a Friday night football session to LtPF in which participants are predominantly black 16 and 17-year-old males (some of them pictured at the top of the page).
A range of participants’ outcome data will be recorded and evaluated to build an evidence base of best practice to influence future policy and practice in this area and to enable LtPF to scale up across the country.
“That football session has been running since July and is going really well,” says Tara. “They’re a really good team, the West Midlands violence reduction unit has funded some kit and they recently got to a cup final. They’re part of something that makes them feel alive, that’s not involved with crime. It’s really positive.
“Now we’d like to really invest in them and support them to become young leaders so they can become volunteer coaches when they reach 18. We could then start a new team and have those trained young people doing some peer mentoring. We find young people engage so much more with leaders who are from their own backgrounds. That’s such positive activity.”
Since the end of the spring lockdown, Aptitude have resumed outdoor sports sessions and ‘detached youth work’ (informal outreach work in communities, chatting with young people) and now engage around 50 participants a week.
They run a mentoring programme for youths who are displaying risk factors (rarely attending school or vulnerable to becoming involved in gangs or county lines). Mentors check in on them regularly, engage them in sport or music activities and signpost to other agencies where appropriate.
“We have consistent members of staff who are always there for that young person,” explains Tara. “We change and adapt what we offer depending on what young people ask for, but it goes deeper than just the activities themselves. They’re just methods of engagement. Being able to come here, check in, have a chat and feel supported is vital for them. That opens up the doors to longer term involvement and empowerment to do great things.”
Go to aptitude.org.uk to find out more or follow Aptitude on Twitter.