Layla is the newest addition to the team of sessional workers at YMCA Tayside. She has a real ambition to become a youth worker but who is she and what is her story?

Layla has been involved with the YMCA since 2014, with her journey beginning at one of our local church partnership youth groups when she was in P6. Layla progressed the Youth Committee at the Junior youth club and then also attended the Teen Drop-In, securing a position on the Teen Committee. Layla has always had a strong desire to pursue a career in Youthwork, based largely on her positive experience and her passion to help young people.  During Lockdown Layla turned 16 and made the decision to leave school to pursue this dream. Lockdown has been a challenging time for her with lots of unknowns: loneliness and the worry of what the future holds for her aspirations.

However Layla reached out to us and quickly got involved with our virtual schedule, attending on average 4 to 5 workshops per week. This has included Walk & Talks, International Connections, Creative Writing and Role Play groups. Layla also expressed a desire to join our latest Youth Voice group, where she hopes to be an advocate for the young people of Perth & Kinross, enabling the YMCA to provide relevant support specific to young people’s needs at this time. Layla is also working through a PDA in Youthwork with her YMCA Youth Worker and hopes that the experiences and learning through her time with the YMCA will help her reach her goals of becoming a Youth worker.