Youth leaders

Over half of St John Ambulance's 43,000 volunteers are under the age of 18, making us one of the major youth organisations in the United Kingdom, yet probably the least publicly known. Youth leaders play a crucial part in the development of thousands of young people by broadening their horizons and helping them to realise their potential.

Being a youth leader can be a real challenge, but the rewards are tremendous. You'll get to see young people develop skills and gain confidence in front of your eyes. From sleeping under canvas for the first time, to learning the phonetic alphabet, it'll be you that made that happen.

What does it involve?

Commitment

All we ask is for four hours a month of your time. Many of our volunteers do more if they wish.  Time and effort that is put into this role can also be counted towards the Duke of Edinburgh Award.  Whatever you are into, St John Ambulance can help you achieve your goals as well as improve your CV.

Role

Working with young people and helping them to complete our Grand Prior Award scheme.

As a youth leader, you could help by:

• teaching first aid or other subjects
• organising weekly meetings
• organising games and social activities.

Training

All our youth leaders are offered comprehensive training and support. We have a youth leader development programme, a two-day training event to cover the basics of working with young people. That's supported by other regular training opportunities, and we'll even fund you if you want to complete external qualifications to do things like abseiling and canoeing.

We are looking for people who are:

• committed and passionate about youth work
• willing to learn new skills and help to develop young people
• keen to make a positive difference for themselves and others.

With over 35 youth units accross Cornwall and more units starting theres always going to be an opportunity for you.

The next steps

To find out more about becoming a youth leader you can complete our online form or you can telephone the county headquarters on 01726 815967 or on 08700 104950 to be put through to your local St John Ambulance branch.

As with all youth organisations, we take child protection very seriously. Anyone who has regular contact with young people will be required to undertake an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau disclosure and also complete a mandatory working with young people safely course.