Towards the end of February at asphaleia, we celebrated Young People’s Week 2021. From 22nd-28th February, we took the time to remind the young people that we work with of asphaleia’s pledge to them.
The pledge comprises six commitments that we make to all of the young people that come through our doors. These commitments are to:
● Your difference
● Your health
● Your safety
● Your education
● Your voice
● Your future
The emphasis on this year's Young People’s Week was 'your voice'. This is an integral part of our pledge to young people. We work with all of our young people to make progress and achieve, regardless of their history or background.
In our weekly SAFE workshops that we hold at the training centre, we focused on supporting students to understand asphaleia’s pledge. As part of our commitment to young people having their voices heard, we also asked all of the young people to give their feedback on asphaleia.
This is especially important for those who struggle with written or spoken English, as we do not want their opinions to be overlooked because of a language barrier. Getting feedback from all of our young people is an integral part to making sure we are fulfilling our pledge to every young person that accesses our services.
We received an amazing amount of positive feedback from the young people. One young person from an OnTrack class wrote:
“They always keep us safe. No matter what, we don't feel under pressure, they give us time.”
We also encouraged our ESOL students to give feedback. An ESOL student wrote:
“I love asphaleia because I am learning English. I always love to learn and study everything so that I can talk to people and work too.”