Bekki - Aged 26

“I first became involved in participation as a young person in Rotherham at the Participation Project run by the Children’s Society when I was 16. From this work I went on to be part of the group that developed the Charter of Participation and deliver training to adults in the borough. I first came to CHILYPEP or YEP as it was known then, as a volunteer and then sessional worker, to support the training of young people in Sheffield. The training was on the Charter of Participation and training them to be trainers like I had previously done. Later that year I became a permanent project worker at CHILYPEP.

I have really enjoyed the way my work has evolved from when I was a young volunteer, I can talk to young people with real honesty about the processes (as I went through most of them myself) but without trying to get them to do things exactly the same way I did. In fact it’s more the opposite really; the rolling process naturally allows for reflection and learning from mistakes and successes, and young people will always surprise you with new and better ideas. I’ve been in this post for over four years now and one of the best things about it is seeing the development of individual young people and the results of the work I’ve done. One of the first young people I worked with here is now a project worker too, having gone through his own journey through participation. This fluid process of participation is at the core of what makes Chilypep so special for individuals, groups and communities.”

Bekki has now gone to university full time to study sociology!