We’re delighted to welcome our new lead for Youth and Development, Faith Andrews. With a comprehensive career caring for young people, she is sure to provide them with that vital voice in our work.
“Hi everyone! I’m Faith, I started at Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership on 14thApril 2023. My role is the lead for Youth and Communities as the Development Officer. I have worked with children and young people for my whole career, and I am particularly looking forward to supporting the reduction of youth violence in communities.
I joined Liverpool City Council on 1st April 2020 (Yes! Right when Lockdown started!) as a Youth Worker. At this time, I completed 1:1 work with young people, as well as being the lead for participation within Targeted Support. Through this job, I supported young people to have a voice in the city and held many events to make sure it was captured and more importantly taken on board. A key part of this was to support a group of young people from all over Liverpool who were called Young Inspectors, their primary role being to inspect youth clubs, as well as events aimed at young people.
Capital Experience in London and Merseyside
I am a trained Social Worker and have qualifications in youth work which have led me to have a varied and wide career so far. I have worked with young people who are care experienced within residential homes and as a Personal Advisor supporting 16–18-year-olds with the transition from care to independence.
I also worked as Young People’s Development officer at Camden SENDIASS (a service for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), as well as completing the role in Knowsley, Liverpool and the Wirral. There, I was responsible for making sure that children and young people knew the law and that they and their parents could self-advocate at meetings, whether that be about transport, exclusions, or Special Educational Needs support.
Faith and a Deep Commitment
Partnership working means everything to me, and I have been fortunate to work with colleagues who have become friends on many different projects. I was a partner agent on the Hope Hack which successfully engaged around 80 young people across Merseyside to gain information around topics that meant the most to them, such as racism and division, and education. I was also a partner agency for the PAC project that was coordinated by YPAS. This project employed 14 young people from across Merseyside, aged 16-24, and looked at youth violence and the causes and impact on young people living in Merseyside. As a project, they engaged around 500 young people and completed social action with hundreds more.
Supporting young people and working together with other professionals is a passion of mine, and I can’t wait to continue in my role with Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership.”