What is it like working with Youth4Youth?
Whether you are paid employee or volunteer, a front-line worker or strategic leader, your contributions to the Charity are hugely valued. The benefits vary depending on your role with the Charity, especially dependent on whether you are a volunteer or paid employee. Regardless of these differences, we strive to operate as one collaborative team working together and ensure that everybody feels valued for their contributions to the Charity.
On this page, you will find information about:
- The benefits of working with Youth4Youth
- The impact that the Charity has had as a result of the contributions of others
- The journey that the Charity has been on to date
- Our core values
- FAQ's for volunteers
As a remote working team, it's hard for us to stay connected. As a team, we put a lot of effort into ensuring that our teams are able to communicate effectively with each other, understand the impact of the work that they are doing and what the Charity is achieving, and feel rewarded and recognised for their contributions.
Benefits of working with Youth4Youth
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Networking & Connection
Regardless of the diverse nature of our team, we are all likeminded individuals striving towards similar goals. As an employee or volunteer of the Charity, you will have access to a whole network of individuals spread right across the UK who you can partner and collaborate with.
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Professional Development
Whether you are in a full-time paid position or a volunteering position, and anything in between, you will have access to a wealth of opportunities that will allow you to grow personally and professionally. Our roles are high-touch and fully embedded in the Charity, giving our staff exposure to so many scenarios where they will be able to develop themselves in different ways.
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Reward & Recognition
All staff have access to a range of reward and recognition programs. Whether it's peer-led shoutouts in our Praise tool, or structural reward and recognition delivered by the Senior Leadership Team, we are always looking for opportunities to shout about the great work that our staff are doing and ensure that they feel valued for their contributions.
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Wellbeing support
The work that our teams are carrying out can be hard hitting sometimes, and alongside the challenges of everyday life it can be hard to manage. To help out, we have given all staff access to an Employee Assistance Program and wellbeing app. The EAP allows all staff to have access to quick support (such as wellbeing support, financial support etc), as well as access to a number of counselling sessions if it's required.
What impact have our volunteers had?
- Young people supported since November 2020
- Volunteers have supported Youth4Youth to date
- Is the £ equivalent to how much time volunteers contribute to Youth4Youth each year
- The approximate number of volunteering hours that have been committed by individuals since Youth4Youth relaunched.
Youth4Youth's Journey
Charity first founded
Initially founded as an Agony Aunt style blog by Josh Towers at age 14, Teenage Helpline began its journey of growth. Due to challenges at the time, the initial inception of Teenage Helpline temporarily closed in August 2015
Teenage Helpline refreshed and relaunched
After careful planning and the appointment of committed Board Members, Teenage Helpline relaunched and began offering its Peer Mentoring services again at a National Scale
First Youth Advisory Committee appointed
Recognising our commitment to ensuring that Teenage Helpline remains youth led, we appointed our first Youth Advisory Committee (or Youth Board) who partnered with the Board of Trustees/Directors to ensure that all decisions made about the charity remain relevant to the needs of young people
Charity recognised by the Diana Award
Our CEO, Josh Towers, was honoured to become a recipient of a 2021 Diana Award. This award was only achieved because of the dedication of a strong volunteering team that demonstrated the worth of the work that we do as a charity.
100 volunteers recruited
By the end of 2021, we had recruited the support of over 100 volunteers who contributed significant hours throughout the year (approx. 30,000 hours) towards supporting young people and developing the Charity.
Significant Lottery Funding received
After working hard to develop and deliver our services, our first significant grant from the National Lottery was recieved. This was a landmark moment for the Charity and this funding enabled us to grow more even more rapidly.
Teenage Helpline shortlisted for a Charity Governance Award
In recognition of the great progress that the Charity was making, we were shortlisted for an award that showcased the strong impact that we were having on those reaching out to us for support.
Youth4Youth was born
In January 2025, Teenage Helpline transitioned to become Youth4Youth. The new brand associated with Youth4Youth was much better placed to demonstrate the services that we offer as a charity to young people.
Our Core Values
Commonly asked questions for volunteers
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That is not a problem at all. We know that we ask a lot of our volunteers and that they are all giving their time up for free. All of our roles are advertised with an anticipated weekly commitment time, but as a volunteer you are not obligated to work if you are not able to. We operate very flexibly with our volunteers, meaning that people can work as and when it suits them with all of their other commitments. All that we ask is that there is regular communication between our volunteers and their volunteer coordinators so that if there will be a period that you are unable to commit any volunteering time, we will be aware of it. Equally, if you are no longer able to commit any time volunteering with the Charity, we ask that you let us know so that we are able to recruit additional resources.
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Our diverse team of volunteers is made up of a wide range of skills and experiences, all of which are valuable to us. If you have never volunteered before, that will not stop you joining our team. We are always looking for individuals who are interested in developing themselves and seek to offer opportunities that will allow for that. If there are roles that you are interested in, please apply! If you are not the right candidate for that role, we will hold onto your details (if you consent for us to do so) and we will explore other opportunities for you to contribute to the Charity with your time.
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Why people volunteer is a very personal thing. It may be because you have spare time and you want to give back, it may be an opportunity for you to develop key skills and experiences that will help you progress in your own career. It is not selfish to take on a volunteering role for any reason - and personal growth and development is an absolutely valid reason to want to give time to a Charity like Youth4Youth. Everybody's contributions, regardless of motivation, are hugely appreciated and enable us to deliver more as a Charity as we grow.
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Whilst there are some paid roles at the Charity, these are few and far between and we rely heavily on the support of volunteers to enable the Charity to grow. Unfortunately, as a volunteer, we are not able to pay you for your time, however we would reimburse you for any out of pocket expenses you incur as a result of your volunteering (as long as they are pre-agreed and approved). Because we are unable to remunerate our volunteers financially, we take pride in ensuring that we are able to 'pay' you in other ways. Our roles are heavily involved in all aspects of the Charity and provide a wealth of opportunities for personal development and growth. We seek to find any opportunity that will allow us to give back to our volunteers in any way that we can.
Alongside pay, we do have a volunteer benefits scheme set up where active volunteers with the Charity are able to access a number of discount schemes in a wide range of areas.
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Working remotely means that we don't have a set working location, or office. Every single one of our volunteers, and the majority of our employees, will work remotely from their homes. To ensure that we are able to operate effectively whilst all being located somewhere different, we have a range of communication and collaboration tools that are used by each team to stay in touch and keep on top of their ongoing work.
Alongside this, we host various get togethers throughout the year, virtually run, that allow our volunteers to connect on a more social level - because strengthening the relationships between our volunteers and all of our teams will only strengthen our ability to work together.
There are some occasions where we have had the opportunity to get together in person, but these opportunities are always optional to those volunteers who are able to make it.
About Youth4Youth Ltd
Youth4Youth Ltd is a critical early-intervention support service for young people aged 25 and under. We provide peer-mentors to those young people who need support. Contact our friendly mentors today via our website or by emailing support@y4y.org.uk.
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