Skip to content

The Health Based Youth Workers’ Group

Project overview

The Health Based Youth Workers’ Group (HBYWG) is a group of professionals delivering Youth Work in hospitals and/or other healthcare or health-based settings who come together as a network to share ideas and expertise.

We meet regularly for Coffee and Chats and have a shared workspace hosted on the NHS Future Collaborative Platform.

Brighter Futures Together is coordinating the network and helping to expand and promote it. However, the network is very much everyone’s – it has a steering group, and we also encourage all members to contribute to the HBYWG’s ongoing development. Any suggestions/ideas are welcome, either via the Coffee and Chats or the shared platform or by email at: [email protected].

If you are already on the HBYWG’s circulation list, please still complete the sign-up form at the bottom of this page. This will help to manage the group and to profile the delivery of health-based Youth Work across the UK.

What is the aim of the HBYWG?

The group supports its members to develop and set standards for positive practice to help raise the quality of health-based Youth Work

It allows members to:

  • connect with other health-based Youth Workers
  • reflect on shared ideas and experiences
  • grow together with your peers

This includes the opportunity to:

  • Participate in a forum for professional peer support and networking
  • Build relationships and work together across organisational boundaries
  • Exchange ideas, experiences, resources and information
  • Receive updates on policy and training opportunities
  • Share and learn from examples of best practice happening across the country
  • Discuss challenges and concerns in a safe space
  • Identify solutions to common problems

How does the HBYWG work?

The group helps health-based Youth Workers to connect via the following mechanisms: 

1. Online Coffee and Chat sessions

These take place every 12 weeks via Zoom . Once you have joined the group, you will automatically be invited to all future Coffee and Chats – we just ask that you let us know whether you’re planning to come along by accepting the invite, or by declining it if you are not able to attend.  

2. NHS Future Collaborative Platform – Health Based Youth Workers’ Group workspace 

This is a virtual platform that hosts our exclusive shared workspace, enabling remote collaboration between group members. The workspace includes a central location for file sharing and has lots of handy resources as well as a chat function via which members can share regular updates. 

When you become a member of the HBYWG, you’ll automatically be invited to join the platform.

3. Ad hoc live projects

From time to time, we organise a specific project to help the HBYWG and the wider health-based Youth Work sector. At the moment we are running a live project that aims to gather evidence and examples of best practice about Youth Work in healthcare settings. The initial stage consists of collecting information via the sign-up to the network to help us to better understand the current landscape. Following this, we plan to work with group members create a framework for best practice and hold a conference in 2023 to disseminate the project’s findings. 

We are also keen to develop creative new ways of facilitating collaboration and fostering networking – we are open to all ideas on how we can achieve this.

Who can join the HBYWG?

Our group is open to part- and full-time Youth Workers from the statutory, voluntary, and private sectors. Our group’s members may be employed by a healthcare setting (e.g an NHS Trust) or by a youth organisation, but all are either linked to a healthcare setting to deliver support to young people.
Because we are focused on Youth Work our work is informed by: 

To become a member, we ask that your practice includes:  

  • Supporting young people through a healthcare setting and/or are based in a healthcare setting
  • Championing Youth Work as an approach in a healthcare setting and/or health organisations/provisions/programmes 
  • Working alongside young people to improve their health and wellbeing and enhance their personal development 
  • Working in partnership with health Multi Professional Teams to provide quality care for young people 
  • Providing positive experiences with non-formal education as a foundation for practice:
  • Ensuring young people have a voice
  • Treating young people as young people and not in terms of their medical conditions

How can I join?

Click here to sign up to join the HBYWG.

Recording of main speakers