Jayme’s Journey As LGBT+ Student Placement Worker

Hello! I’m Jayme and I’m a student placement LGBT+ youth worker at Off the Record. I am currently studying for my degree in Sociology at the University of Bath, and as I’ve always been interested in working with young people, I started volunteering for OTR in January 2019. As a volunteer at Space, I supported the young people each week and gradually became more involved in the team as a whole, attending team meetings where I could, writing up notes after each session, and even running my own poetry/creative writing workshop with the young people.

When the Apprentice LGBT+ youth worker, Perry, left the team, I was looking for a suitable placement for my course, so I approached OTR. I worked with Harriet and the team to adapt this role into a student placement role. I was really lucky to be able to talk about what kind of things I’d like to gain experience in, and what kind of skills I’d like to develop, so my role felt like one I could really make my own. But I was also able to learn a lot from Perry, and I knew I had big shoes to fill! I began my placement at the beginning of July 2019, and immediately felt like one of the team. I was really grateful to have already worked with the team, and it felt like a natural progression from my role as a volunteer. One of my first tasks was assisting in planning the upcoming summer event, which took place in August, and I was also part of a trip to Bristol Pride with some of the young people from Space. The increase in responsibility was reassuring in a way- it felt great to not feel as though I was ‘just’ a placement student, as I have always been given tasks that have challenged me and pushed me to become better at what I do.

I have so many highlights from my year working at OTR that it would be difficult to list them all, but I really enjoyed taking the young people on trips, for example to Bristol Pride, Bristol Aquarium and to see Youthquake at the Egg Theatre in Bath. I’ve been able to work with young people on a 1:1 basis in school and support young people through safeguarding issues which have been invaluable experiences during my placement. I also co-delivered LGBT+ training on several occasions to professionals in BANES, and attended lots of training sessions specifically about safeguarding, which I have come to learn is something I am very passionate about. I even talked about my placement experience at the OTR AGM in January and got to dress up and go to the 25-year OTR anniversary ball, which was a lot of fun!

Since starting my placement, my confidence has continued to grow, I’ve got so much learning and training under my belt, and I’ve become even more passionate about supporting LGBT+ young people. I also have a better understanding of the importance of supporting young people’s mental health. As a bisexual woman who went to school in Bath, I have some idea of what it’s like to be an LGBT+ young person in the area and know how important somewhere like Space would have been for me if I had known about it when I was younger- during my time at OTR I have been open about always wanting to be the person I needed when I was 14, so I have been so proud to be part of a team that demonstrates to LGBT+ young people that there is a bright future for you out there, no matter what your identity is. 

I am very lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with the team and with the young people at Space for a few months after my placement officially ends, and will most definitely be making the most of my final few months here before I go back to university.

Thank you so much to everyone at OTR for being part of my OTR journey- for all of the cups of coffee, the Zoom catch-ups, the conversations with everyone in the organisation- all of whom I have learned from and been inspired by. Finally, thank you for what has been an incredible opportunity, for investing in the people the service provides for and carrying out vital support for young people in BANES.