Working for the Youth Service

How many staff and what sort of jobs?

The youth service currently employs about 125 staff, ranging from part time youth workers working two evenings a week, to full time youth workers leading projects and managing resources and staff teams. The youth service also employs managers, an administration team, caretakers and cleaning staff.

Working for the Youth Service Online Enquiry Form

Terms and Conditions

Wrexham youth service pays all youth workers on a nationally recognised pay scale known as JNC terms and conditions. Salaries vary depending upon responsibility and qualifications. Employment may be permanent or time limited depending upon the nature of the work and funding.

All applicants for work are subject to Criminal Record Bureau checks prior to taking up posts.

All youth workers are expected to work antisocial hours, including evenings and weekends. A full time youth worker may find that they are working up to eight evenings a fortnight, sometimes in quite challenging environments. The youth service offers training, support and the chance to make a difference to young people's lives, the job is not for everyone, however the service has good retention rates and Wrexham youth workers are leading some of the most innovative projects in Wales.

Recruitment of youth workers

In order to recruit part time staff the youth service runs a number of "Introductory training courses". These courses are designed to give potential youth workers a taste of what it would be like working with young people, a data base of people who have undergone introduction training is kept at the youth service office, and vacancies are distributed to these people regularly. Posts are also advertised on the Wrexham County Borough Web-site, in Job Centres across the County Borough and in the local press.

Training for youth workers

Wrexham Youth Service offer a wide range of training opportunities for youth workers and volunteers including a professional development unit (PDU).

• Introduction to Youth Work
• Foundation Course in Youth and Community Work
• HE certificate in Youth and Community Education
• Child Protection
• Risk Assessment
• First Aid
• Substance misuse
• Information delivery
• IT
• Peer Education
• Youth Forum Work

Plus a variety of other in house issue based courses.

Professional Development Unit

The Professional Development Unit is a recently established element of Wrexham Youth Service that incorporates training and staff development and quality assurance, together with line management, to provide a co-ordinated support structure for staff within the Service.

The Unit organises a varied programme of training courses from one-off sessions on issues such as Child Protection, First Aid and Health & Safety, to major training programmes such as the Cert. HE (Youth & Community Education). Various levels of support are also provided for staff including professional and pastoral, together with a mentoring scheme aimed particularly at new entrants into the Service.

The Unit also undertakes a thorough programme of assessment and inspection of Youth Service clubs and projects ensuring that services provided to young people are consistent and of high quality.

Apprenticeship scheme

Wrexham Youth Service, in partnership with the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, operate a trainee youth worker programme, youth workers are employed on a full time basis with time allocated for training. This innovative training programme allows staff to train up to Diploma level whilst having the benefit of on the job training and gaining valuable experience

Support for youth workers

• A wide range of support is available for Wrexham Youth Service staff including:
• A Professional Development Unit
• Regular line management supervision
• An annual professional review and development interview
• A comprehensive in house training programme
• The opportunity for non-managerial supervision
• Opportunities for job shadowing and mentoring
• Support groups and quality circles