Lisa from our Children and Young People’s service tells us more about herself, her role within the team and her recent fundraising efforts.
A day in the life of a Children and Young People’s worker
I’m Lisa, a Children’s Worker at West Mercia Women’s Aid and I love my job! How many people get to say that?
As a ‘CYP’ Worker, I work with children either in school on a 1-1 basis, or visit them at home and work with the family unit together. It’s great to offer children time and space to be in control in terms of deciding what is discussed, what we do in the sessions and how to handle difficult problems and emotions. It’s a really creative role, no two days are the same and we use sand, pebbles, cards, stories – anything can be a tool for therapy really! It’s also really satisfying to work with families as a whole; it takes the pressure off any one person to make all the changes or take all the responsibility and I’m seeing families starting to communicate in much safer, healthier ways.
I volunteer as a Scout Leader for 20th Worcester Scouts in my free time too, with 4-6 year olds. I love seeing children grow in confidence and enjoying nature.
I was recently asked to join some family members to do a 25km walk around the Peak District. It’s a charity event and we each got to decide which organisation we would fundraise for – it was an easy decision that I would raise funds for the CYP service at WMWA; we get hundreds of referrals each year and our service became even more essential during lockdown, when so many children were feeling unsafe and anxious at home.
The Scout group helped me with an indoor car boot sale and also let children decorate stones to raise some funds for me.
We also found out about a Charity Carnival in Worcester, set up a stall and allowed children to play games to win prizes.
What started as a personal project to raise £250 became a team effort with colleagues at WMWA, 20th Worcester Scouts and me collaborating to raise £1,200! It still feels like an incredible achievement. The walk was long but beautiful, the amount raised was phenomenal and what I loved the most was the sense of community and purpose while we raised the money. I’m now looking for the next fundraising opportunity!
Find out more about our Children and Young People’s service here.
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