Deborah’s ambition as a student at St Martin’s was to become a qualified youth worker. Since graduation she has achieved this ambition and much much more… Deborah has worked as the Principal youth work specialist for the National Youth Agency, has gained her MA in education and recently achieved her senior Fellowship in HE. She now works as programme lead and senior lecturer for two course areas in the Institute for Health at the University of Cumbria as well as being director of her own youth work not-for-profit organisation for which she has just won a prestigious King’s Award. As a ‘mature student’ and the first in her family to attend university Deborah has a lot to be proud of.
Name
Deborah Terras
Which institution did you attend?
St Martin’s College and University of Cumbria
Which campus did you study at?
Lancaster
What years did you study with us?
I completed my undergraduate degree in youth and community work in 2003 and I graduated from my MA in Education professional practice in 2020.
What made you choose University of Cumbria?
I was originally going to be going to Sunderland because I’m from the North East. But I moved down to Blackpool for my daytime job and started work part time in youth work at Lancashire Youth Service. It was there that I was told that the best place to go to for the youth work degree was St Martin’s College so that’s where I went and they were right, absolutely 100%!
What did you study and why did you pick your course?
I ended up studying for two qualifications actually, class of 2000 Youth work and then later in 2016 I studied for my MA in education.
I wanted to start my practice to become fully qualified as a youth and community worker.
Do you remember your tutors, do you have any favourites?
The teachers and the tutors that we had at the time were outstanding. The likes of Margaret Ledworth, Danny Bradley and Pete Crossley. They were knowledgeable youth and community workers.
Who were your friends and have you kept in touch?
I wasn’t in halls, I was living in Blackpool and commuted into campus every day. I was 30 so considered myself a mature student at the time. There was an expectation as part of the course that you had a certain level of experience, so many people were in their 20s and I wasn’t the oldest, there were people in their 40s as well. It was a good diverse range of people. I’m still friends with people, still good friends with Yak who runs the CVS in Lancaster, and one of my close friends John is working in youth work for the armed services.
What is your fondest memory of your time as a student?
The opportunity to do my dissertation was a turning point for me in terms of reflection on my open values and ethics, the course lent itself to being so flexible and open to ideas about how I wanted to shape my own learning. and I was able to do a study on my own mother. I also really valued my placements, I was very fortunate to be able to do work with Fylde Coast Women’s Aid and this is where I really began to develop as a youth and community worker. To go into placements as a student and to have that real support and supervision from not only my lecturers but also my work place was huge and there was a real investment in work place practice, I really valued that, you got a real chance to test but in that safe environment so for me that was outstanding.
Current employment information
Director – United Youth Alliance
Programme Lead – Working with Children and Families and Children and Young People Health & Wellbeing at University of Cumbria
Briefly explain what your job entails
I am a programme lead and senior lecturer within the institute of health and I am programme lead for working with children and families and also children and young people health and wellbeing degree.
When I left St Martin’s I started my youth work career and then went to work at UCLAN for a while. I saw a different side at a different university, but I missed the vibe of UoC. I had had some guest lecturing opportunities at UoC. I was working as the Principal for the National Youth Agency so I was the principal youth work specialist for our awarding body. I had done three years here which was fantastic, a great opportunity to be strategic. I had worked alongside colleagues in the commonwealth as well colleagues from across the country to help shape and design youth work practice.
I had experienced some amazing development opportunities, but I felt as though I needed to go back to be able to support and develop future youth workers. Then at the time an opportunity for a lecturer in working with children and families came up at UoC, so I applied as I knew we were starting to think about bringing the youth work qualification back to the university. I loved teaching, I developed level two and three for the National Youth Agency Academy so had always been in that realm of teaching, learning, and training. I had also turned 50 and I was starting to think about what I wanted to do and I felt like the time now was for me to really start coming back and mentoring and supporting students working with children and young people.
What is the most satisfying aspect of your job?
I really enjoy the role of programme lead as it enables me to share my skills and experience from industry while working alongside some outstanding colleagues to help shape our offer to students and give them the bets teaching and learning experience.
I am currently leading on the validation for the new youth work apprenticeship which is due to start hopefully in September 2024 and I’m working with a fabulous team to develop that.
It means that we will get youth work back for the university, we will be a leader in developing youth work. At the moment we have about a 10,000-person shortage of qualified youth workers and we need on average about 40,000 volunteer youth workers as well. So we are hoping that with the course and the youth work connections we can really start to shape the future of youth and community work, so it’s a really exciting time. We are working with employers to open up opportunities for people who maybe hadn’t seen a degree as an opportunity so really widening that participation gap.
I was the very first person in my family to go to university at the age of 30. I come from a working class background. My mum was a miner’s daughter my dad was a police officer nobody had ever been before, I know it was a struggle but I really enjoyed it.
We are hoping that in the first year we will have 15 students and then at the end of the three years we will have at least 50. It's going to be a hybrid that we offer throughout the country, some elements will be face to face and some online but with the focus that they do a lot of their practice within their job as an apprentice.
What were your career ambitions when you were studying and have you achieved them?
My career ambitions were that I wanted to become a qualified youth worker and I think that I have far exceeded that.
In 2010, the youth service across the country saw funding cut and the loss of key youth work provisions. Youth work took a huge hit and we saw 100s of youth workers leave the profession as well as 1000s of young people unable to access services and projects.
I was one of the first youth workers to set up an independent youth work organisation as a community interest company. I got the opportunity to go out and manage services across Chester and the North West and without my degree I would not have had the opportunity to do that. I sat on a board as a chair of organisations and we were able to bring Investment into Lancashire youth and community services. I really think having those opportunities and having the youth work degree behind me and especially from St Martin’s opened up so many doors.
How did university influence your life?
It was the best experience that I have ever had, it challenged me and who I was. I came in as Deborah Whelan, fresh faced to youth work and when I left, I was much more informed about my practice about my professional status and that opened up so many doors for me, it was unbelievable.
Tell us about your organisation, what is the name, when did it start and what services do you provide?
I founded an organisation originally which was in Blackpool in 2010 and I stepped away from it after seven years. While I was working for the National Youth Agency, I saw there was a real need to develop youth work on the Fylde coast, so we set up United Youth Alliance originally called the Washington group in 2018. It’s a hub of different practitioners who are still able to deliver their practice, which in turn keeps our identify alive and supports our role as informal educators within the wider community. We are not for profit organisation and so all profits are invested back into the community, this aligns with our values. We offer co-designed time limed projects that are led by young people and community members.
Please explain a little about the King’s Award, how did this come about?
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service celebrates the outstanding work of local volunteer groups across the UK.
We were nominated by somebody for the award, it is the equivalent of an MBE for voluntary community sector organisations. The process is very in-depth and intense with a thorough scrutiny of all your process and procedures and rightly so, it’s a prestigious award and awarded by The King. It’s in recognition of the work we are doing collectively as an organisation. That’s what matters most, that this was given to the organisation, a huge thank you and recognition of the role and impact that volunteering, social action and community spirit, and the difference that this makes for every young person we have worked alongside, every person with complex needs, every volunteer, every business organisation. It really matters that your collective action has really made a difference in your community.
We get to keep the award for life! We have an event in January where we go and meet the Lord Lieutenant who gives us the official award and then we go down to Buckingham Palace in June for The King’s garden party.
Find out more about The King’s Award for Voluntary Service here https://kavs.dcms.gov.uk/
How does it feel to win the award, what does this mean for you?
I feel proud. For me it’s about the organisation, when I looked at setting this up I didn’t expect anybody to put us up for an award or anything like that. I think getting the recognition from The King and from peers and the scrutiny that we went into it for me validates that we are doing works and we are doing ok, because you get a little bit of imposter syndrome sometimes. Anything that we can learn from our youth and community practice certainly helps when I am looking at the apprenticeship degree. Being able to share some of that experience with colleagues and students. think it helps so much that you are still in practice and that you can give some of those real-life situations.
I’m really proud that I’m a youth and community worker and I came back to UOC and gained my Masters in education. I’ve always been proud to say that University of Cumbria is a place that I have not only valued as a student but now also as an employee as well; It matters a lot.
Find out more about United Youth Alliance here: https://twguk.org/
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