Being a youth worker was not what I set out to be as a kid. I wanted to be a bus driver. This dream was shattered fairly early on in my childhood when I realised impressing people with your profession was far superior to idealistic dreams. That's when I became a youth worker.
I completed a degree in Geography in 2005 and in 2006 I started working for Youth Initiatives, a cross community, faith-based youth organisation in Northern Ireland (they must have been mental!). During my first year an opportunity came to start my Post Graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Community Youth Work at Ulster University. I decided to give it a go seeing as Geography had got me nowhere (the irony!). As soon as I started the course, despite having to work exceptionally hard in school for mediocre grades, I realised I was flippin’ good at it and I loved it. For the first time in my life I had purpose, meaning and a sense of knowing why I was on the earth. Since then I’ve been lucky to complete my PGDip, a Masters in Youth Work and am now in process of embarking on a PhD in the same area.
This January I will have been a full time, paid youth worker for 10 years and I am immensely proud of that. I have enjoyed eight of those years at Youth Initiatives and two at a Church in Belfast. Northern Ireland continues to be a place of segregation and division, and through day to day youth work I strive to connect young people of different backgrounds together.
Currently my daily role is to manage and lead the staff team in Downpatrick where we have four workers. It involves helping to shape the overall youth provision, managing a team of young volunteers, and essentially, trying to provide a range of access points. All of this is done through youth work methodology in order to help young people aged 11-25 connect with the ethos and vision of YI, and to grow and develop personally, emotionally, socially and spiritually.
I have the immense privilege of working with an amazing staff team in YI. In total we have around 30 staff across the province and the team in Downpatrick are a great bunch to work with, serve with and oversee. They make my life very easy, for the most part!
My day often starts with making warm milk, fighting over a bowl of Ready Brek and speeding, sorry, driving very carefully, to nursery. Once my real job is complete, I head 30 minutes to Downpatrick.
A typical day for me is usually 9 – 5pm, with a couple of late nights thrown in. At the youth centre we run some after-school drop in sessions from 3 – 5pm, as well as an age specific programme at night which caters for ages 11-14 and 15-19. We also operate a street team twice a week that focuses on the local bus station and housing estates where young people hang out. In addition, one Sunday night a month we run a faith-focused project. Volunteer’s gatherings, advisory board meetings and fundraising activities are also part of our yearly rhythm.
Essentially, every day is different. I am often in Belfast at our HQ for meetings which bring our province wide branches together, but usually I am found in Downpatrick spending time developing networks and relationships with local providers and stakeholders, and meeting with young men and young volunteers on an individual basis.
I love my job and without doubt believe I have the best job in the world. The best thing about being a youth worker is having a chance to play a very unique role in the lives of young people, volunteers and staff. My role allows me to journey alongside young people and staff who are trying to figure out who they are and what their purpose is. Furthermore, I enjoy the challenge that is the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland and the opportunity to mix the worlds of ‘pure’ youth work, faith and spirituality.
I guess the worst, or maybe the most challenging thing about my role, or even stage of life, is the continual need to remind myself why I do what I do. I find that when things are hard, or circumstances change, it becomes very easy to compare myself to friends who have ‘real’ jobs, who earn big money and who go on nice holidays a few times a year. It can be a challenge for me as a (relatively) young man starting a family to think ‘maybe I should grow up and do something else’. The other challenge I face is how my work is never complete. Whilst we may deliver a project or programme or even finish a term of a residential, the complex lives of those we work with go on and as someone who likes ticking off to-do lists and getting things done, this is often difficult.
In terms of the future, who knows? For me, the challenge of a PhD has given me a few sleepless nights, mild financial panic and time management stresses, but it has reminded me that this is my purpose. Being a youth work practitioner is what I’ve been created for and I am excited and motivated now, maybe more than ever, to push on, to celebrate what I’ve experienced to date, and to believe there is more for me in the field.
Being a youth worker is not what I set out to do as a kid…but, being a youth worker is what I love; it’s who I am and what I’ve been made to do.
Mark McFeeters is a youth worker for Youth Initiatives in Downpatrick.
