In a global crisis young people need us more than ever.
At YMCA Exeter we are supporting our residents and all the young people and communities we support in a variety of ways. Lockdown is a testing time for everyone and our focus has been on helping the people we support to thrive during this season. We’ve created a designated area on our website with resources and information that anyone can access.
Specific support for residents in shared accommodation:
- We have clear guidelines in place for our residents living in shared accommodation. This includes steps from cleaning rota’s, to washing stations and clear guidelines on bathroom isolation if residents show symptoms and need to isolate. We have seen great success with this as residents have shown symptoms and gone into isolation but we have been able to stop the spread internally.
- Collecting food and prescriptions for isolating residents
- Goody bags for residents that are isolating.
- Daily calls from support workers to residents
- Encouraging residents to direct questions to us, rather than rely on the endless news reports and potential fake news on social media
- Our aim during this season is to keep our residents distracted from the situation. From competitions, to impromptu concerts from staff, games through the houseparty app, online Xbox gaming parties, silly gifts, online lego building sessions and using Facebook groups to share lovely pictures and messages. We are trying to keep our residents active and engaged.
- Providing blogging opportunities for young people to share their experiences.
Specific support for youth clubs and community connecting services:
Our youth clubs and community connecting services are now being delivered online and through mobile technology. This includes:
- A weekly Zoom video chat on Wednesday evenings at 7pm for our Broadclyst older youth club
- A weekly Zoom video chat on Thursday evenings at 6pm for our ISCA youth club
- Discord gaming voice and text chat with our community connectors
