TRAIN Youth Club: Jay’s Story

Jay* is a Year 5 young person about to enter Year 6 and has been attending youth club for a while. He’s one of the funniest young people you will find in any group, with a sense of wit and maturity beyond his years.

TRAIN Youth Club Workshop

However, Jay’s older brother is known for being a school refuser, and Jay had kept his own personal challenges well hidden—often masking by using humour and avoiding deeper conversations. Jay is the first to crack a joke and always quick to respond, but after that would previously spend a lot of time at the youth club scrolling endlessly on TikTok.

Over time, with trust built between Jay and the youth workers, were able to go beyond the superficial chats and banter. In informal conversations each week, Jay began to share some of the things he was struggling with—doom scrolling late at night, finding it hard to come off his phone, constant worrying, and keeping everything bottled up. This was recognised as early signs that his older brother had also experienced.

Because Jay is one of our most regular attendees, we were able to keep working with him through those one-to-one conversations and by getting him involved in structured workshops. Through primary mentoring funding, we have been able to link up with his school to offer mentoring for him and his close group of friends. As a group, they often use banter to mask their own feelings, but we are now able to put solid skills in place before they reach secondary school.

TRAIN Youth Club

Jay is still one of our strongest attenders, and we can see the difference from him regularly attending youth club.

“Youth Club has given me a place to say what’s on my mind. I can ask them things that I wouldn’t ask my teachers or parents as well as talk about what I’ve seen on TikTok that is either scary or confusing. I can take a break from my phone here because there is so much to do and people to talk to. I feel more comfortable talking rather than just joking.”

*name changed to protect the identity and privacy of the young people supported.