Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

5 Top Tips For Safe Youth Trips

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Safe youth trips
Dave took safety seriously when it came to putting up the tent

When you’re planning a youth trip, the safety of your young people is of utmost importance. You can’t guarantee that there will never be any problems when organizing off-site activities, but there are a number of things you can do to help mitigate risk.

Here are Youth Workin’ It’s 5 Top Tips For Safe Youth Trips:

1) Perform A Risk Assessment

If you’re planning a trip to the beach, a hike in the mountains or any number of other activities, there are different hazards that you’ll need to be aware of. Performing a risk assessment will help you identify those hazards and put in place any necessary precautions.

Check out our guide on how to do a risk assessment – this includes a free and downloadable risk assessment template for you to use.

2) Take photos

No matter what kind of youth trip you’re organizing, there’s always the possibility that a young person could go wandering off by themselves and be separated from your group.

Before you go on the trip, we recommend taking photos of all the young people with your cellphone. That way if someone does get lost, you can easily show the police, theme park staff or whoever a picture of the missing person.

3) Get Permission Slips

If you’re organizing any kind of activity that’s different to what you normally do at your youth group or youth project – especially if it’s off-site – ensure that you have parents sign a permission slip for the activity. That way you’re covered if someone gets hurt or anything else happens.

These slips should also have space for any necessary medical information about the young people. If you want to organize a safe youth trip, you’ll need to be aware of some of the following things:

  • Do they have any allergies?
  • Do they have epilepsy?
  • Are they on any medication?
  • Are they diabetic?

4) Collate Contact Information

Having the right contact details for everybody is vital, especially in the case of a medical emergency on the youth trip. Here are a few safeguards to put in place:

  • If youth have cellphones with them, save their numbers in your phone or make a note of them
  • Provide parents with contact details for someone in charge. This doesn’t necessarily have to be you – it could be a central contact point for somebody at your organization who can relay any messages on to you or vice versa
  • If you do have a central contact point other than yourself, make sure that person has all necessary phone numbers as well

5) Provide Leadership Packs

If you’re planning a youth trip, it’s unlikely that you’ll be the only leader going. You should therefore put together packs for all your leaders/volunteers with the following information:

  • Any information from the risk assessment that they should be explicitly aware of, along with any precautions they should take
  • If you’ll be splitting into separate groups, provide photos of the young people they’re in charge of (or have them take photos on their own cell phone)
  • Any important health information relating to the young people. If splitting into groups, you only need to provide information for the young people they’ll have with them
  • Details of who they should contact in an emergency, along with their phone numbers
  • Details of a meeting point in case you get separated

Following all 5 of these safety tips will minimize risk and keep you and your young people safe, helping all of you to enjoy whatever you have planned for your youth trip.

Question: What other tips would you give to have a safe youth trip? Share your ideas in the comments below.

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How To Plan An Evening Fundraiser Extravaganza

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Fundraising eveningSometimes, running one youth group fundraiser just isn’t going to raise as much money as you need for the project you’re trying to support. So why not combine multiple fundraisers into one big evening fundraiser extravaganza!

For the next few Mondays we’ll be giving you various ideas for this fundraising evening, so make sure you check back to ensure you don’t miss out. We’ll also be updating this post as we go along with links to each of the fundraising ideas, so you can bookmark this post too.

Here are some tips for the overall planning of the evening fundraiser:

  • Empowerment – Encourage youth participation as much as you can by having the young people assist you with the planning and execution of the event. Also include them when deciding what fundraising activities to include and with the promotion of the fundraising evening.
  • Promotion – Try to promote the evening as widely as you can. If you’re fundraising for a church youth group, get it highlighted during the announcements and on the bulletin. Design some flyers and invitation cards to hand out as widely as possible – have your young people give them to their parents, plus get them to distribute them to their friends. Make sure it’s clear that there will be multiple activities going on during the evening – that way people will attend with the expectation that you’ll be fundraising throughout the night.
  • Maximize – To raise as much money as you can, make the event suitable for people of all ages. The suggestions we’ll be providing over the next few weeks will make the evening fundraiser great fun for children and adults alike.
  • Convenience – Set up the evening so that people can pay by whatever method is convenient for them – cash, card or check. Accepting debit and credit cards will also maximize the amount you’re able to raise, as some people may not think to bring cash with them. Check out our post on how easy it is for your youth group to accept credit cards.
  • Location – Another way of maximizing the amount you raise is to have a location that can host as many people as possible. If your church or organization doesn’t have the facilities to cook a large dinner or doesn’t have a room large enough to host many people, contact churches, organizations and community centers that do. An alternative is to see if a local restaurant would be willing to host the fundraising evening. For example, some Pizza Huts hold fundraising evenings whereby you earn a certain percentage based on how much in sales you can generate that evening. They may be willing to allow you to book out the entire restaurant for the evening, perhaps in exchange for you taking a lower cut (to compensate for possible lost revenue).
  • Be Organized – If your event is fun and well organized, people will be far more likely to support the various fundraising activities throughout the evening. Therefore, do your best to have the event running on time and well communicated throughout the process.

Fundraising Evening Ideas

Here are some suggestions on the different activities you could organize for the evening fundraiser extravaganza. As mentioned above, we’ll update the list each week with links to the different ideas:

1. Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser – The evening fundraiser should be centered around a meal which enables you to charge an entrance fee to cover the cost of the meal (and to help raise funds on top of that). Any kind of meal could work, but a spaghetti dinner is easy to cook and should be a safe option that nearly everyone will enjoy eating. Ensure that there are vegetarian and gluten-free options available if necessary.

2. Summer Kit Fundraiser – Depending on the time of year you’re planning the evening fundraiser, consider selling Summer Kits (or a winter equivalent).

3. Entertainment Book Fundraiser – Selling Entertainment Books as a fundraiser is especially good between November – February as the next year’s books will have come out, but they could still be sold throughout the year.

4. 75 Ideas For Silent Auction Items – As the name suggests, this post has a list of ideas for silent auction items, as well as advice on how to get them donated in the first place.

5. How To Run A Silent Auction – Part 1 – This post provides a guide on how to do the initial planning for a silent auction.

6. How To Run A Silent Auction – Part 2 – This second part covers what needs to be done on the day of the auction.

7. How To Run A Silent Auction – Part 3 – This third part details what needs to be done at the silent auction itself

8. How To Run A Silent Auction – Part 4 – This fourth and final part covers what needs to be done after the auction has ended

9. Paper Airplane Competition Fundraiser – This might be the most fun part of the night as people of all ages can participate

10. Flip-flop Fundraiser – This is a great way of both raising money and providing footwear to donate for mission trips or a charity you support

Question: What activities would you include for an evening fundraiser extravaganza? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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How To Communicate Your Youth Work Event

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Youth work event communicationThis is an English translation of today’s post by Rachel Blom of Youth Leaders Academy that appears in Dutch here.

If you’d be interested in writing a foreign language post about youth work or youth ministry, please contact us.

A while back, I was in a church where a women’s conference was being promoted. They hung large posters in the lobby and there was also a special registration desk where you could register for the conference.

The welcome package I received had a very neat flyer about the conference and stated where it was, when and how much it cost. During the service, there was a special promo video shown and the conference was not only mentioned during the announcements, but also during the sermon.

You could say that this was sufficient to direct me to sign up, but that wasn’t so – even though I belonged to the target audience. Do you know why? Because in spite of the many forms of communication, I had not been told the “what” about the conference.

The church had communicated via the name of the conference that it was for women, but beyond that I had no idea what the conference was about. Nothing was said about what we ought to expect: music, worship, workshops, speeches? I had no idea what the objective of the conference was and that was after I had read a flyer, seen posters, watched a video and heard two statements. Not useful.

When planning a youth event, you shouldn’t forget these important communication elements:

1. What

What is the event? What will happen, what can people expect, what is the purpose? Identify this explicitly.

Tip: Ask an ‘outsider’ to look at your invitation critically. Does he or she understand what the event is about?

2. When

It’s a beginner’s mistake, but I still see it regularly. Always, always make sure you advise ‘when’ the event is on the invitation.

Tip: Write the actual day on the invitation too, so people remember it more easily. So instead of December 24,  write Saturday, December 24.

3. Where

This is also one that is easily forgotten, especially when churches have their own building where everything takes place. Young people from outside your church should also know where they should be. Indicate the name of your building, street and city and possibly the area where the event is being held in the building, so they don’t have to search when they get there.

Tip: Many people use GPS to get somewhere (for example, parents of teenagers), so for their convenience provide the postcode or GPS coordinates. If you have a large building, put up signs around the building so that they can find their way once they arrive!

4. Who

Ensure that it’s clear who the event is for. ‘Teenagers’ is such a vague concept and everyone between 12 and 20 is included. So if you mean high school students, put that on it. This means that everyone who is eligible to attend will know they can come.

Tip: Have a clear idea on whether the youth work event is for a particular age (e.g. 12-16 years) or for a particular group (everyone involved in the teenage group).

5. Why

Where possible, always try to communicate the reason why people should come to your event. What is there for them to pick? What will they miss if they don’t come? This aspect is often forgotten in event communication, but young people often need a reason to be persuaded to come!

Tip: If you have difficulty clearly articulating why people should come, it’s wise to think again about the event. The ‘why’ would really be clear to anyone who is involved in the organization.

6. How

The ‘how’ is the practical information about the youth work event. For example, whether or not they have to sign up (if yes, where, how and what is the deadline), what young people should bring along, how much it costs and how to pay.

Tip: Make it as easy as possible. You might be inclined to refer to a website or Facebook page for extra info, but this is an extra step many young people may not take and will keep them from registering. Always try to put all the info in one place to provide to young people, as this makes it as easy as possible for them to come.

 

Rachel Blom is of Dutch origin, but has lived two years in southern Germany. She is a very passionate and experienced youth worker who wants to serve youth workers worldwide by helping them grow in their role as a youth leader. Check out her blog www.youthleadersacademy.com and find her on Twitter.

How To Do A Risk Assessment

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How to do a risk assessmentOne of the most important safety considerations as a youth worker is knowing how to do a risk assessment. This is a method of identifying potential hazards you might encounter in your youth programs and evaluating if there’s anything that can be done to either prevent or reduce the risk of an accident occurring.

To help you know how to do a risk assessment, we’ve provided a step-by-step guide below. There are also free risk assessment templates for you to download – these are in Word format (so that you can edit if required) and PDF format.

1) Identify The Hazard

Hazards in youth work and youth ministry could be anything – there are so many possibilities that will vary based upon the activities you do, where your programs are run, etc. Here are some possible hazards to look out for:

  • Electrical hazards – faulty wiring, overloaded plug sockets, electrical appliances next to a water source
  • Mobility hazards – poor lighting, items left in walkways, uneven walking surfaces, upturned carpeting
  • Emergency hazards – blocked fire exits, lack of fire extinguishers
  • Activity hazards – hiking in the mountains, swimming, heatstroke, bonfires, chubby bunny
  • Other hazards – badly stacked items, lack of seatbelts in vans

2) Identify Who Might Be Harmed

Some hazards will affect everyone, such as electricity, bonfires or lack of seatbelts. Some people may be more susceptible to hazards than others though.

Therefore, take extra care when considering whether people – youth or adult volunteers/helpers – have particular needs. Some of the students may not be able to swim, a volunteer may have poor eyesight or a young person may be on crutches or in a wheelchair. Factors like these will affect their susceptibility to hazards.

3) Evaluate Risks

Now that you’ve identified the hazards, it’s time to evaluate the likelihood of the hazard occurring. If you’re going hiking in bad weather or the height of summer, you may deem the risk of slipping or dehydration to be high. Going swimming in a pool with two trained lifeguards will be regarded as a lower risk.

The likelihood of an incident occurring will depend on a variety of factors, whether that be adult to youth ratios, weather, location, activities, age of the youth, etc.

Once you’ve considered the chances of a hazard occurring, identify if you can eliminate the hazard completely or if there’s anything you can do to reduce the risk of it happening. Here are some examples of how this can be done:

  • Prevent access – if there’s a room or cupboard at your church or youth center that has hazardous materials in it, make sure it’s always locked
  • Avoid the hazard – when setting up a bonfire, ensure it’s away from flammable material, dry trees, propane tanks, etc
  • Choose less risky options – when going hiking, consider using a less dangerous route
  • Provide protective equipment – make sure all transportation has seatbelts
  • Organization – with bonfires, set up the seating a safe distance away yourself, rather than having the young people grab a chair and putting it too close to the fire
  • Knowledge – make sure everyone is aware of fire exits
  • First aid – always have a first aid kit on hand, along with someone trained in first aid
  • Communicate – make sure you have a fully-charged cell phone if doing activities in the middle of nowhere

4) Record Hazards And Risks And Implement Precautions

This section should be read in conjunction with the downloadable Risk Assessment template below:

Download Risk Assessment Template – Word

Download Risk Assessment Template – PDF

After identifying all the potential hazards and risks, write down the results of what you’ve found so that you have a record. This will serve as a good reference point when organizing activities and will prove that safety was considered in the event of an accident actually happening.

One way of recording hazards and risks is to rate them on a scale of severity and likelihood. The severity scale ranges from Negligible (1) to Very Severe (5), while the likelihood scale ranges from Very Unlikely (1) to Almost Certain (5).

Depending on your preference, you can choose to use either the colored scale or the numerical scale (whereby you multiply the two numbers together) in order to assess the overall risk for each hazard.

If a hazard falls within the yellow or red risk levels, or has an overall risk rating of eight and above, it’s worth considering whether it can be avoided completely, or whether anything can be done to lessen the potential harm or likelihood of it happening.

While identifying hazards and risk levels are important, setting out a plan to address hazards and lower the level of risk is the most critical part of the risk assessment process. To do this, look at each hazard individually and determine what action (if any) can be taken to reduce the likelihood or severity of the hazard – these are called control measures.

For example, if you’re going to be going swimming, potential hazards might include drowning, slip and fall accidents, horseplay/flips in water and sunburn/dehydration (if the pool is outside). In this example, you might list the following control measures:

  • Drowning – swimming listed on parental consent form (including water depth); provision of floatation devices and/or life preservers; lifeguard on duty; first aider present
  • Slip and fall accidents – pre-swimming safety talk; written rules on display; appropriate adult to youth ratio for supervision and correction
  • Horseplay/flips in water – pre-swimming safety talk; written rules on display; appropriate adult to youth ratio for supervision and correction
  • Sunburn/dehydration – safety talk about signs of sunburn and dehydration; sunscreen provided; water provided; limit swimming session time

n.b. This isn’t an exhaustive list of potential hazards or control measures – the responsibility falls on you, your team or your organization to identify and address all potential hazards and risks.

5) Communicate

If there are risks that your helpers or youth should be made specifically aware of, ensure that this is communicated to all of them (such as location of fire exits).

6) Review The Risk Assessment

Just before doing potentially hazardous activities, review the risk assessment again. Check whether any of the hazards have changed or if there are any new hazards. Other factors may have changes too – the weather may be worse than you were anticipating, or lifeguards may not be available at a swimming pool.

Update the risk assessment accordingly and ensure any necessary changes are communicated as appropriate.

Hopefully this guide means you now know how to do a risk assessment in order to keep your youth group safe.

Question: Do you have any advice on how to do a risk assessment? Please share any tips for best practice in the comments below.

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5 Youth Work Lessons To Learn From Waffle House

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Youth work lessons Waffle House
Yes, they really did give us Waffle House hats to wear!

My parents recently came over from the UK to visit, so while they were here we did a tour-de-food. There are loads of restaurants in the US they don’t have the other side of the Atlantic, so some places we went to included The Melting Pot (fondue), Golden Corral (buffet with anything and everything), Coldstone Creamery (best ice-cream ever) and Waffle House.

Yes. Waffle House.

For any non-Americans who don’t know what this, let’s just say it doesn’t really have the greatest of reputations as an eatery (n.b. fellow Brits – think of it as a national chain of greasy spoon cafes).

The funny thing is, my parents had a great experience at Waffle House and the things that made it great for them are principles we can equally apply to our youth work or youth ministry.

Lesson 1 – Make Room

When we got there, we were welcomed warmly by two or three workers but as it was so busy, they didn’t have a booth available for 4 people. Instead of them just saying we’d have to eat at the counter, the manager offered to move things around to make room for 4 people to sit together. We told him we were happy with eating at the counter, but appreciated that he was willing to make the effort anyway.

Being honest, do we go to this much effort for new youth who join our programs? Do they get welcomed warmly? Do we do what we need to make sure that they’re comfortable, even if it disrupts our routine and plans?

Lesson 2 – Communicate

Waffle House make their food fresh and many menu items can be customized. Once the server’s taken your order, they stand at the edge of the kitchen and call out your order to the cook, who then replies back the same order to the server to make sure they got it correct.

Communication is vitally important in any organization, but especially so when young people are involved. We need to ensure our communication with youth, volunteers, supervisors and any other stakeholders is clear and that communication is two-way.

Lesson 3 – Integrity

Waffle House has an open kitchen, so you and everyone else in the restaurant can see the food being made. The cooks therefore have to be aware of their behavior at all times, so they can’t be picking their nose, sneezing over food or dropping food on the floor and serving it up.

As youth workers, our lives are on display to our young people. Does our behavior live up to the example we want to set for them – both when they’re looking and even when they’re not?

Lesson 4 – Accepting

When I ordered hash browns topped with chilli, onions and ham for breakfast, the waitress didn’t even raise an eyebrow (like I’m sure you are reading this 😉 ) She could easily have made a comment about my breakfast choice, but wasn’t judgmental.

In our youth work, young people will do all kinds of weird and wonderful (and not so wonderful) things. Do we say or do things that show that we’re judging them negatively? Do we expect them to Behave, Believe, Belong, or are we happy for them to Belong, Believe, Behave?

Lesson 5 – Unity

When the servers realized that 3/4 of us were British, they couldn’t stop talking to us. They loved that we were different to their usual customers – it was the differences that made us interesting.

We should let our differences unite us with youth, not divide. It can be easy to look down on various aspects of youth culture and youth behavior that make no sense to us. Instead, we can use these differences to show young people that we care and are interested in their lives and well-being. That their uniqueness is a positive thing.

Who knew there was so much to learn at a Waffle House?!

Question: Which of these 5 lessons do you think is the most important one in youth work? Share your opinion in the comments below.

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