A Happy Accident

A Happy Accident

Youth work has taken Alona from her local youth group in Blantyre to residentials, national events and opportunities to meet young people from across the UK and Ireland. Along the way, she has built her confidence, taken on new responsibilities and discovered a passion that is now shaping what she wants to do next.

But her journey into youth work was never planned. In fact, it began entirely by accident.

Alona first became involved with HyperCyber, a Youth Scotland member group based just around the corner from her home in Blantyre, in 2021. It was a difficult period. COVID-19 had disrupted the end of her primary school years and meant she went straight from lockdown into starting high school without the usual transition.

‘I stopped going to school. And then I just went straight to high school […] that felt difficult at first because I felt like I was questioning myself, like, am I definitely ready for high school, you know?’

Her introduction to HyperCyber came shortly afterwards, although not quite in the way she expected. Alona had been accessing a mental health service based in the same building when she heard about another session taking place there.

‘I actually did HyperCyber by accident. […] They talked about HyperCyber and I thought that was just another, I thought I could just go to that mental health group for another day. But no, it turned out that was actually Hyper Cyber.’

Despite the misunderstanding, Alona enjoyed herself and decided to stay.

HyperCyber offered a relaxed space where young people could connect, play games, take part in activities or simply spend time on their own if that was what they wanted.

As Alona explains: ‘You can come in and do your own thing. You don’t have to socialise with people; you can just sit and chill by yourself if you want.’

Taking the First Step

Through HyperCyber, Alona began to encounter opportunities beyond her local group. One of the first was Step into the Arts, delivered by Youth Scotland in partnership with Creative Scotland. Taking part included residential experiences in 2023 and introduced Alona to Youth Scotland, but its impact went beyond that first connection.

‘At first it started with meeting new people and then of course starting to work with other people as well, which I thought was a really good opportunity.

‘I felt more confident as well. Of course, after working with other people, like to hear their ideas as well, which helps me with my ideas.’

It became the beginning of a much wider journey. From Step into the Arts came new connections and, before long, another invitation – to Youth Scotland’s Big Ideas Weekend.

A Big Idea for the Future

Alona attended Big Ideas for the first time in 2023. This national residential brings together young people and youth workers for a weekend of workshops, activities and opportunities to try something new. For Alona, it made an immediate impression.

‘I thought it was really exciting. Like, I remember after I came home, I was like, I don’t want to go home. Like I want to go back, you know? It was like that feeling.’

One set of workshops in particular was to have an unexpected impact.

‘The music workshops, like House of Electronics and DJ, that actually gave me my career inspiration.’

Before Big Ideas, Alona says she had no clear idea what she wanted to do after school. She already knew she was passionate about music, but taking part in the workshops allowed her to experience something new and imagine where that interest might lead.

‘I had no idea what I wanted to do for my future career […] but then when I took part in the workshops, that immediately gave me inspiration because it just looked really fun.

‘I already knew that I was passionate about certain kinds of music and stuff. So yeah, the workshops just kind of inspired me to want to work in music in the future.’

Finding Her Voice

As Alona became more involved with Youth Scotland, she continued to take up opportunities, including Inspire 2022 and Reach.

Having previously attended Reach – the national event for the Generation CashBack programme, designed and led by young people – Alona decided she wanted to become one of the Young Advisors responsible for helping to plan and deliver the event. She had seen another young person from HyperCyber take part and began wondering whether it was something she could do too.

‘At first […] I thought it would be a bit difficult, like being responsible for such and such. But then I eventually thought about it more and I thought to myself, I think, I think I’m actually capable of something like this.’

‘I didn’t really need to worry about this.’

That experience also marked a change in how Alona saw herself.

‘I thought to myself, I think I can do more things like, yeah, become a young leader, for example.’

Alongside those experiences, Alona has worked towards Youth Scotland Awards, including Hi5 Award, Dynamic Youth Awards and a Youth Achievement Award. For her, learning through youth work felt very different from gaining qualifications in the classroom.

‘It felt better than trying to get a qualification from school. […] I definitely didn’t feel pressured that much.

‘It just felt like a better way of getting a qualification because I’m doing something but also enjoying it at the same time rather than being pressurised.’

There have been other, sometimes unexpected, tests of that growing confidence. At Big Ideas 2025, Alona found herself on the judging panel for the Big Ideas’ Got Talent show, giving feedback to performers in front of a packed room.

‘I thought it was a cool experience because I don’t think I’d ever done something like being a judge before. And, of course, talking in front of a lot of people kind of boosted my confidence as well.’

Widening Horizons

Youth work has also given Alona opportunities to travel and meet young people from further afield. Through the Cross Nations Partnership, she travelled first to Carlingford in Ireland, joining young people from different nations to share experiences, make connections and discuss issues affecting young people and island communities.

‘I think it was just Amy that got the opportunity, but then someone dropped out. So Amy asked if I wanted to come and I was like, I’d love to come. I think that’d be a great opportunity.’

Further opportunities followed in Dublin and Belfast. In Dublin, young people came together to discuss issues of importance affecting their different nations. By the Belfast event, Alona was not simply joining the discussion but helping to lead it, facilitating a conversation with other young people around digital citizenship.

Finding Her Sound

Now 18 and having finished school, Alona is preparing for her next step: university. In September, she will begin studying Music Technology at UWS in Paisley.

The connection back to that first Big Ideas Weekend is clear. What began as the chance to try an unfamiliar workshop has become something much bigger: an area of study and, potentially, a future career.

Alona also intends to stay involved in youth work and HyperCyber, continuing a journey that has already taken her much further than she could have anticipated when she first walked into that room in 2021.

Give It a Go

Looking back across those experiences, Alona’s advice to other young people is simple:

‘I just think if I was to give advice to young people about opportunities, I think they should definitely just give it a go because you never know how far it’ll actually take you.’

For Alona, “giving it a go” began literally by accident. Five years later, youth work has brought new friendships and experiences, helped her gain qualifications and confidence, given her opportunities to lead and travel and even helped her discover what she wants to do next.

Her journey demonstrates the opportunities that can grow from community-based youth work when young people have the space, support and encouragement to try something new, and to find out where it might lead.