A day in the life of : Tim Gough, Youth Centre Director

Over the past eleven years I have at various times dressed as a chicken and given out chocolate eggs on the high street. I’ve been arrested whilst dressed as Santa Claus for skateboarding on church premises and had my ginger hair professionally dyed pink for charity.

I have stayed awake all night armed with a salt-water pistol to deter teenage boys from sneaking into teenage girls’ dorm rooms. I’ve white water rafted in level three rapids on the Great American River in nothing more than a rubber ring and been cream-pied in the face until rendered literally unconscious.

I’ve been slapped hard in the face by a very upset mum, had to stop a fight between a leader and young person, put my body between a room of kids and an angry member of the "welsh mafia” and have had to drag two drunk men out of a youth worship meeting.

I’ve had heart melting conversations with teenagers and parents and counselled both in the midst of the loss of a friend and a child. I have spent several sleepless nights in tears and have 'taken custody' of every sharp item in a young person’s house to stop them hurting themselves.

I am, of course, a youth worker, and there is no such thing as ‘a typical day.’

The Journey So Far

All humble bragging aside, this past eleven years have been a rollercoaster ride! It has at various times been terrifying, exhilarating, depressing and sometimes even downright boring. It's gotten me out of bed early with anticipation and sent me to bed late with a migraine. The bottom line though is that it's been an amazing eleven years that I wouldn't have changed for the world.

I'm currently the Centre Director of Youth For Christ, Llandudno in North Wales. I’ve also worked in North and South London, Blackpool and a small stint in California. On the side I do a little youth work consultancy and a lot of whinging on my youth work blog.

My current role in Wales is incredible. I have an amazing team, very supportive trustees, passionate young people and the privilege of working with the most innovative youth work charity in the country. Add to this the North Wales coastline, immense local food, stunning beaches and breathtaking mountain scenery, and God has clearly spoiled me!

A Typical Thursday

I usually wake up at 8am, get showered and make my patented epic-smoothie-of-awesomeness (naming it is a trick that my parents taught me in order to force down disgusting health stuff). After a short reflective time, I head to the office which involves a 5 minute drive down a mountainside overlooking an ocean. None too shabby.

This office time is prep time. I look through Bible notes, old power-points and resource books to put together sessions that are coming up in the week. Although in truth this can too easily descend into death-by-facebook and answering emails I’ve been strategically ignoring for a while.

Early in the afternoon I swing by a volunteer’s house to pick up a team-mate and rock up at school for our two lunchtime clubs. This early in the term we’re still playing ‘room aerobics’, trying to find out which room will be free for the two separate lunch breaks, in a timetable which (helpfully) alters every fortnight.

These two sessions are always great! We come with a basic concept prepped to talk about, but really the young people set the agenda. It’s usually Q&A and conversation driven and it always gets pretty deep. Quality stuff - and easy to bring mates to. Oh, and there’s doughnuts, but I’m sure that’s got nothing to do with it.

Sometimes I’ll meet my wife for lunch, then rush over to our community centre to set up an after school drop-in program. This is a big operation that involves five rooms, an outdoor games area, food, computers and more cushions than a Disney princess palace.

Our drop in session is managed by an amazing team of volunteers and always runs through mercifully smoothly with plenty of room for both fully-fledged mayhem and authentic, quiet conversations. It’s a great hub for the young people we connect with from all of our groups.

Recently, about thirty minutes after Reverb closes and packs up, I’ve been heading into a neighbouring town for worship team practice. This usually finishes at 9pm making it a 9 to 9 day. Pretty full on, but varied enough to keep up momentum.

The highlights are always the small conversations I get to have with both team members and young people. These conversations are the reasons I keep going and are always where the best youth ministry magic happens.

I’ve done this long enough now to see youth group members grow up, go through Uni, get jobs, marry and have kids. Seeing their lives now has kept me going and keeps me hopeful. What a ride!