Community youth workers are suffering from ‘empathy fatigue’ after a tumultuous 18 months working on the front line, according to one Levelling the Playing Field local delivery partner.
Lloyd Samuels, Youth Coordinator at Zest in Sheffield, has suffered severe staffing issues during lockdowns and due to enforced Covid-19 isolations. Adapting support for severely impacted children and resuming services amidst fluctuating coronavirus restrictions has proven extremely tough.
“In Sheffield we’re running really, really low on workers,” says Lloyd. “Statutory youth services have disappeared and people have gone off into different trades. We’re losing ground.
“Our team is feeling it. They don’t want to stop because they know that there isn’t anyone else to come in and replace them. I’m watching my workers really intently at the moment.
“I feel that if we don’t give workers a solid two- or three-week break soon, thank them for their service and give them some counselling to get rid of all that residual empathy fatigue, we’re going to see workers drop like flies from breakdowns.”
Zest has four full-time delivery staff to front its host of youth engagement programmes, including their designated Levelling the Playing Field football sessions on Thursday evenings. Lloyd is in the process of recruiting two more, but the pressure on maintaining services is constant.
“The admin has increased massively because of Covid and although we’re all on the same hours as before the work has intensified hugely,” he explains.
“Isolations have created massive problems. Last week I had three staff off – one was positive and two were negative but they all had to isolate because they’d been on the same session. Later on in the week, another youth worker went off. As soon as you start getting into a good place, you get a phone call saying, ‘I can’t come in’.”
Lloyd recently snapped his Achilles tendon – “that’s my football career over,” he winces – but even with his protective boot on, he had to hobble from his office to cover his staff shortfall.
“Everyone is acting like this cohort of workers can just keep going forever,” he says. “But if this lot fall over, what are my options? I’ll have to get some students in.
“I’ve had to dip into my phone book really deep to find teaching assistants who I knew would be floating around. I’ll have to employ more junior people and just keep them on the books for when these crisis moments happen.
“The knock-on effect is that activities will probably get more expensive as we have fewer workers. My staff cover all-day sessions. They start at 11am and they won’t see their front doors again until 7pm.”
It has also, of course, been a very difficult time for young people, especially those from under-privileged communities where existing inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Despite their own internal struggles, Lloyd is proud of the positive impact Zest have been able to make on participants since sessions resumed.
“Young people feel that their voices haven’t been heard,” he says. “They feel a sense of injustice. Us listening to them and giving them activities they are requesting is going down a storm.
“The lack of regular activity has been tough, because if it’s not the government locking us down it’s the app telling them to isolate. Some of them are finding it hard to be normal and engage because they are always getting let down. I’ve seen a rise in conflict and bullying. I’ve had 12-year-olds bawling on me on the football pitch. They can’t control their emotions, but we’re getting back towards normal gradually.”
As we work our way back towards ‘normal’ and some breathing space, Lloyd finishes on a resolute note. “I’m proud of the fortitude of the team to keep things going, even when they’re breaking their backs at work. It’s just about keeping the boat afloat at the moment. Even though it’s tough we have to crack on.”