In this edition of Train the Trainer, our aim was to get ideas for all the societies to use. Therefore the main questions were made in the way that the societies answering them would give as many ideas as possible, so other societies could benefit from them and make their own activities! Answering in this particular report are by representative(s) of team Finland
Main Questions:
What kind of activities you have found the most succesfull during Covid? If you have not held any activities, what kind of activities would you like to have?
The most successful activities have been skeds and social media activity for youngsters. We also participated in an online hobby fair which was a new way of introducing our hobby to a new audience. We participated with a video. (which you can find from the bottom of the page)
How have you been able to get youngsters to communicate during Covid? (Telegram groups, Skype calls, etc.)
We have a WhatsApp chat and it has been active throughout the pandemic. We have been thinking of ways to improve activity in the group like starting conversations and sending news types of messages. The chat group is also one way of informing the youngsters about our activities.
Other Questions:
What are your plans for the spring?
For spring and summer we are planning to have more regular skeds and to activate our social media more often. We have also started to plan for youth activities at SRAL summer camp. We also have a date and place for a youth camp scheduled for September.
We have planned a newsletter to be sent out to our society’s youth members. The idea for a newsletter came from the realization that still not all of the youth members know or participate in our youth activities. In the newsletter, we are going to introduce our youth committee, social media, and upcoming events.
We also try to post on our blog regularly about youth activities and YOTA news. The blog posts are printed in our society’s magazine. That’s also a way for us to show people there are youth activities and youth work at the moment.
Currently, we are also looking for a new youth committee member to our team.
What kind of problems are you facing with youth work in your member society? Do you need any help with it?
In a national society, the change of ways to do youth work, marketing, and getting new ideas and projects started is hard and slow. Especially with youth involved, we need to follow the current trends. Social media as a tool is one example of that.
Many people still don’t recognize YOTA and youth work being done.
Anything else you want to share? / Ideas or feedback for the future of TTT?
The role of YOTA is big during these times as providing events and leading the way. Not all societies have the resources and people to do youth work. For many people organizing online activities and social media is still a big challenge.
From our experience in Finland, youth work needs to be part of the top priority in every society. Youth is the future.
