About Us

​

Steve Walker has been involved in Youth Work and Community Development since 1992 with experience in a variety of contexts both across the UK and in Europe.  The extensive experience in varied practice arenas into senior leadership positions is supported by his role as a senior academic and programme leader for youth work courses. A qualified trainer, educator and with qualifications in counselling to promote an effectiveness in providing a support and solutions offer for individuals, organisations and authorities.  enhanced DBS available.

 

The Youth Work Common Room and Steve Walker Training Consultancy operate as a connecting space and business.  Registered with HMRC with up to date financial accounts presented annually.

​

Mission​

​

The Youth Work Common Room brings together youth and community practitioners, educators, and organisations to deepen practice, share knowledge, and extend the reach of youth work in the UK and beyond.
Through articles, training, consultancy, podcasts, and resources, it supports direct work with young people, workforce development, and organisational change so that youth work can have maximum impact in the places young people live, learn, and gather. The Youth Work Common Room exists to strengthen professional youth work and informal education by equipping practitioners, organisations, and communities with spaces, resources, and training that enable powerful direct work with young people and advance social justice.

​

Core Values

​

•    Youth power and participation – Young people are partners in their own lives and communities; practice, content, and training should amplify youth voice, agency, and leadership rather than doing things to or for them.

    •    Informal education as transformation – Learning happens in relationships, everyday spaces, and community life; informal education is valued as a rigorous, critical, and emancipatory pedagogy, not an “add‑on.”

    •    Relational practice and care – High‑quality youth work is built on trust, presence, and reflective relationships that recognise young people as whole people in complex contexts.

    •    Equity and social justice – The organisation stands with young people and practitioners challenging poverty, exclusion, discrimination, and harm, and seeks to align its work with anti‑oppressive and rights‑based practice.

    •    Practice‑led, research‑informed – Content, training, and consultancy integrate lived practice, practitioner wisdom, and contemporary research so that approaches are grounded, critical, and current.

    •    Collaboration and connectivity – Youth workers are connectors across systems; the Common Room mirrors this by connecting practitioners, sectors, and communities, and by showcasing effective practice.

    •    Accessibility and inclusivity – Digital and in‑person offers are designed to be welcoming, inclusive, and usable for diverse practitioners and organisations, across roles, identities, and geographies.

​

Constitution

​

1. Name and Legal Form

    •    The name of the organisation is “The Youth Work Common Room” (“the Organisation”). Steve Walker Training Consultancy as the operating organisation.

    •    The Organisation will operate as a social and trading purpose entity (dedicated to education, youth and community work with an emphasis on informal education.

2. Vision and Purpose

    •    Vision: Communities in which every young person can access high‑quality, relationship‑centred youth work and informal education, supported by confident, well‑resourced practitioners and organisations.

    •    Objects/Purposes:

    •    To advance education and social wellbeing by promoting and strengthening youth work and informal education practice.

    •    To support the professional development, supervision, and wellbeing of youth and community practitioners through training, consultancy, and digital resources.

    •    To cultivate dialogue, reflection, and critical thinking about policy, practice, and social justice issues affecting young people and communities.

    •    To encourage collaboration between youth work providers, education, health, social care, and community organisations in the interests of young people.

3. Activities

To pursue its purposes, the Organisation may:

    •    Provide training, consultancy, supervision, and organisational development services for youth and community organisations, education providers, and allied agencies.

    •    Develop and share digital resources, including articles, blogs, podcasts, webinars, downloadable tools, and online discussion spaces for practitioners.

    •    Host events, workshops, and conferences to support learning communities, practice exchange, and workforce development.

    •    Operate an online store and other trading activities that align with the mission, reinvesting surpluses in the Organisation’s social purpose.

    •    Engage in research, advocacy, and public education on youth work, informal education, and related policy issues.

4. Governance and Membership

    •    The Organisation will be overseen by Steve Walker who is responsible for strategy, accountability, and safeguarding the mission and values.

    •    Membership structures (practitioners, partners, supporters) may be established to enable participation, consultation, and co‑creation of content and activity, with due attention to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

    •    Decision‑making will strive to reflect youth work principles: participatory, dialogical, reflective, and grounded in ethical practice and social justice.

5. Ethics, Safeguarding, and Quality

    •    The Organisation commits to ethical practice consistent with professional youth work codes, safeguarding legislation, and data protection requirements.

    •    It will promote reflective practice, supervision, and continuous professional development for those it trains and employs, and will welcome feedback and challenge as part of quality assurance.

6. Finance and Assets

    •    Income may be generated through training, consultancy, resource sales, events, grants, and partnerships consistent with the mission and values.

    •    Any surplus will be reinvested into the Organisation’s purposes, inclusive of supporting operation of The Youth Work Common Room.

    •    On dissolution, any remaining assets will be transferred to Steve Walker as sole proprietor of the business.  Ancilliary projects will be shared with non-profit organisations to continue the valuable work undertaken.

​

PRIVACY & COOKIES

​

Privacy

​

At Steve Walker, Informal Education, we are committed to maintaining the trust and confidence of our visitors to our web site. In particular, we want you to know that we are not in the business of selling, renting or trading email lists with other companies and businesses for marketing purposes. We just don’t do that sort of thing. But just in case you don’t believe us, in this Privacy Policy, we’ve provided lots of detailed information on when and why we collect your personal information, how we use it, the limited conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.

​

Website Cookies

​

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another.

​

How do we use Cookies

​

In order to provide you with the most enjoyable experience of this website, it uses necessary cookies only. The website itself does not track your activities or record any data from which you might in principle be identified.

​

Google Analytics

​

When someone visits this site we use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.

​

Mailing Lists

​

On occasion and as part of the registration process, we collect personal information. We use that information for a couple of reasons: to tell you about stuff you’ve asked us to tell you about; to contact you if we need to obtain or provide additional information; to check our records are right and to check every now and then that you’re happy and satisfied. We don't rent or trade email lists with other organisations and businesses.

​

Third Parties

​

This website does not make use of any third-party services.

​

Access to your personal information

​

You are entitled to view, amend, or delete the personal information that we hold. Email your request to Steve Walker at steviewalks@yahoo.co.uk 

​