Youth workers from Wirral’s Hive Youth Zone are harnessing the power of the humble cuppa to connect with young people across the borough, while they stay at home during COVID-19.
Their weekly ‘Brew with Lew’ is a live video session, hosted on the Hive’s social media and run by youth worker Lewis Collins. A cup of tea with a friend can make a world of difference to our mental wellbeing. It can be the difference between feeling isolated and anxious, or listened to, supported and cared for. Since starting the sessions, they’ve interacted with thousands online, with hundreds of comments a session as standard.
‘Brew with Lew’ forms just one part of the new-look programme of digital youth work the team have come up with to support the borough’s young people, dubbed #HiveAtHome, while respecting social distancing and public safety measures. Other daily digital sessions are delivered across social media to engage with members including - live interactive games, quizzes, fitness challenges and art tutorials. In the first seven days they reached more than 22,000 online accounts.
A dedicated ‘Talk to The Hive’ email address has also been created giving young people access to support from the team. Messages are followed up with welfare calls and help is provided as needed, keeping up the mentoring relationships which were previously established at the Youth Zone, online. Brew with Lew is live every Saturday morning on The Hive’s social media at 10.30am. Their website and social media channels also feature their other activities. Connect with the Hive on social media at: Facebook: facebook.com/WirralYouthZone Instagram: @TheHive_YZ Twitter: twitter.com/TheHiveYZ Talk to the hive at talktothehive@thehiveyouthzone.org |