Detached youth work is purposefully meeting and working with young people out on the streets. It involves regularly walking round and ‘hanging about’ on the streets in pairs, come rain or shine, meeting and listening to young people who choose to spend their leisure time on the streets.

We are usually out at least twice, and sometimes as many as four times a week in each area, for 2-3 hours each time. This enables us to become well known by young people and other community members, shop-keepers, etc and gives us opportunity to get to know young people.

When out on the streets we simply use our listening and conversation skills to meet with and engage young people, build relationships and stimulate interest and learning. We’ll talk about anything and everything, from what happened on TV the previous evening, football, music, to what’s been going on in young people’s lives and local issues.

Having worked in the M13 neighbourhoods since 1995, we are fairly well-known to many young people, particularly in the Brunswick and Grove Village areas. Often young people will know of us – we may have worked with their friends or older siblings – and will come and introduce themselves when they are ready. Others may be hanging out with young people we know well, who introduce us to their friends.

In a new area, the early stages of detached work and making contact take time; it can take anywhere between three months and a year before young people begin to know and trust us. In 2008, we started detached work in Coverdale and it took six months to move relationships to the point of working together with young people on productive developmental activities. ‘Cold contact’ – the process of making first contact with young people – demands care, patience and some skill in reading situations and young people’s responses to us. Moving too quickly can put young people off altogether. As workers, we need to be clear about how we introduce ourselves to young people and the basis on which we build positive and empowering relationships.

Our aim with detached work is not necessarily to get the kids of the street or funnel them into an activity. Our aim is to develop relationships, and if this then progresses past a street based relationship then that is great, but it is up to the young people.