Are You Listening?: The Oxfordshire Youth Podcast

It's National Youth Work Week and we have a bonus episode of Are You Listening? for you. Courtesy of former Podcast Crew member and contributor, Jord Hailwood (He/Him) explores how the podcast supported him on his journey. On our podcast, he hosted conversations about Black History Month, Queerness in Heartstopper, and transitions in education and work. He did this with such poise and patience. Jord says that, "Are You Listening? Is such a good gateway into social skills, presentation skills, and confidence. All skills are very universally transferable and can be applied to a lot of jobs or sectors." We want to bring Are You Listening? back better than ever before but we need the support and funding. Could you be the missing piece? Contact Ali.khan@oxfordshireyouth.org to register your interest in empowering young people's voices. Jord has his own podcast, The Winning Side, which is an insightful podcast from the viewpoint of a black queer man. He has interviewed many amazing people and he most recently had the opportunity to interview Jordan Stephens at the Cheltenham Literature Festival about his new book, Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs. Jord, we are so proud of the progress that you are making and will always champion what you do! If you haven't already, check out Jord's podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@jordhailwood **** DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions expressed by the podcast hosts and their guests do not necessarily reflect those of Oxfordshire Youth. **** Youtube link: https://youtu.be/33ozFbON75w

Are You Listening? is back and our first episode of 2024 is all about education. Love it or hate it, we have all had to go through it. This episode tackles a question many young people have asked throughout the generations, why is it a one-size-fits-all system? Trigger warning: Mental health, Racism, death **** This episode is brilliantly hosted by Hamzah (He/Him), alongside Syd (He/Him), T (She/Her) and Esah (He/Him), encapsulates a lot of the feelings of young people who have been or are going through the education system. The pressures are all expressed in this episode. If you can relate to what the podcast crew are saying, we would love to hear about your experiences too. As Hamzah said in his closing address, we really want educators and the government to listen to this and hear what young people have to say. The UCL research showed a very clear relationship between academic pressure and mental ill health. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/aug/link-found-between-academic-pressure-and-mental-health-problems-adolescence This isn’t a coincidence. We can all work together, educators, youth work practitioners, children’s workers, and governments to make sure that education isn’t resulting in a depletion of young people’s mental health. **** DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions expressed by the podcast hosts and their guests do not necessarily reflect those of Oxfordshire Youth. **** https://youtu.be/eQhx1ifckR4

Are You Listening? is excited to be bringing you three episodes recorded live at our fifth annual Youth in Mind conference with Oxfordshire Mind. Trigger warning: Mental health, Domestic Abuse, Assault, self-harm Each year Youth in Mind unites those working with children and young people across Oxfordshire. Drawing on cutting-edge research and the lived experience of young people, the one-day conference aims to improve the mental health of Oxfordshire’s young people by equipping attendees with resources and toolkits to invigorate their practice. 89.42% of Youth in Mind delegates said that the conference deepened their understanding/awareness of children and young people's mental health. 100% said that Youth in Mind 2023 helped them feel part of a wider network that supports children and young people and 91.38% said that Youth in Mind 2023 gave them tools to strengthen their work for positive change around children and young people's mental health. We would love to see you at Youth in Mind 2024. In this third and final part, Molly (She/her) continues to guide the conversation, this time with Make It Mandatory campaigners, Ithar (She/her) and Jas (She/her), Dr Anisa-Ree Moses (She/her), Director of Learning & Wellbeing Psychology CIC, Gita Lobo (She/her), CEO of Autism Family Support, and In-Spire Sounds, Hamzah (He/him) and Fabian (He/him). Ithar and Jas explain the Make It Mandatory campaign, its aims, and how they reached 94 thousand signatures on their petition calling for the government to extend RSE to post-16 with the inclusion of domestic abuse and coercive control education. Dr Anisa-Ree Moses, off the back of her talk about authenticity, she spoke to Molly about the necessity for collaborative work across the sector to support children and young people's mental health. Gita Lobo explains why co-production is needed, especially with young people who are autistic, she was part of the panel that spoke about this in a deeper way. Hamzah and Fabian from In-Spire Sounds talk about how the work In-Spire Sounds has done continues to help them in their everyday life, from their mental health to lyric writing, it is a valuable source of support, creativity, and friendship. This episode begins and ends with Oxfordshire Youth's Director of Innovation and Growth/Deputy CEO, Emmy O'Shaughnessy, sharing her reflections and key messages we hope you take away. **** DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions expressed by the podcast hosts and their guests do not necessarily reflect those of Oxfordshire Youth. **** Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/n9wmUG4nVU0

Are You Listening? is excited to be bringing you three episodes recorded live at our fifth annual Youth in Mind conference with Oxfordshire Mind. Trigger warning: Mental health, VAWG, Assault, self-harm Each year Youth in Mind unites those working with children and young people across Oxfordshire. Drawing on cutting-edge research and the lived experience of young people, the one-day conference aims to improve the mental health of Oxfordshire’s young people by equipping attendees with resources and toolkits to invigorate their practice. 89.42% of Youth in Mind delegates said that the conference deepened their understanding/awareness of children and young people's mental health. 100% said that Youth in Mind 2023 helped them feel part of a wider network that supports children and young people and 91.38% said that Youth in Mind 2023 gave them tools to strengthen their work for positive change around children and young people's mental health. We would love to see you at Youth in Mind 2024. In this second part, Molly (She/Her) continues to guide the conversation, this time with Professor of Adolescent Psychiatry, Mina Fazel (She/Her), CAMHS Service Manager, Kelly Garside (She/Her), Actor, Matt Leaman (He/Him), Director of Enact, Amelia Hutchinson and Joint CEO the Cherwell Theatre Company, Nicki Stevenson (She/Her). Mina Fazel opens up about her ground-breaking research, the OxWell Survey. https://oxwell.org/ This is a collaboration between young people, schools, local authorities, the NHS and the OxWell research team at the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry. Kelly Garside is a former nurse and makes sure as a CAMHS Service Manager that neurodiversity and neurodivergence is at the forefront. The Cherwell Company brought us Enact part 2 which was a brilliant performance exploring Violence against Women and Girls. Matt Leaman was one of the performers and Amelia Hutchinson was the director for this performance. This episode begins and ends with Oxfordshire Youth's Director of Innovation and Growth/Deputy CEO, Emmy O'Shaughnessy, sharing her reflections and key messages we hope you take away. **** DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions expressed by the podcast hosts and their guests do not necessarily reflect those of Oxfordshire Youth. **** Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RdvGjRGVBM8