Young Advisors are experienced volunteers who are actively involved with a community organisation in the StreetGames network. For StreetGames Summer Camp 2022, a team of 14 Young Advisors worked with StreetGames staff to take a lead on all aspects of the camp, from initial planning right through to the delivery of the event itself.
TJ is 16 and from Newcastle. He is a volunteer with Newcastle City Council’s Youth Panel, a group of young people who help to decide where funding goes in the city, and became involved with StreetGames through this work – including volunteering at the Great North Run and attending a residential in the Lake District.
As part of the Young Advisor team at Summer Camp, TJ took on a number of responsibilities including checking in young people and their project leaders when they arrived, leading activities, and regularly chatting to participants to see how they were getting on. He also spoke to visiting VIPs about Summer Camp and the Young Advisor role, and took them on a tour of the site to showcase the impact of the experience for attendees.
For TJ, the StreetGames staff team on site were an integral part of making Summer Camp a positive experience: “They’re always checking in and asking if you’re alright and just making it an absolute amazing experience for everyone”. He is interested in getting involved in events organisation, management and promotion in the future and was grateful that the Young Advisor role, and the “behind the scenes” opportunity that it offers, has provided him with a lot of valuable learning in this area.
TJ has also grown in confidence through his Young Advisor role: “I’ve been doing announcements over the microphone, making sure everyone’s in the right place at the right time, which has provided a lot of confidence and leadership skills.” Having recently started a media channel that produces digital content to help promote sports and music events within the North East, he believes that this experience, along with leading activities and energisers, will prove valuable when interviewing guests.
TJ is full of praise for the Young Advisor experience and the opportunity to volunteer with StreetGames more broadly, and is confident about the benefits he had taken from it: “I didn’t have the best time in school, education did absolutely nothing for me. I am much more of a hands-on worker. I’ve gained more qualification through StreetGames in the last year than I did the whole time I was at school.”
