Dear Deidre, I want to become an agony aunt...
Aspiring online agony aunts and uncles can achieve a professional qualification for the first time, thanks to a new training course established by charity YouthNet.
The course instructs students how to write supportive answers to young people on a range of relationship issues, such as how to cope with a break-up or supporting a partner with mental-health issues.
Training begins with a volunteering placement as an online peer advisor for YouthNet’s online question and answer service askTheSite, which is hosted on TheSite.org, a guide to life for 16 to 25 year-olds.
Students are supported by a team of trained relationship advisors and psychotherapists, so that this hands-on learning can benefit young people in need straight away.
Patrick Daniels, internal verifier for the course and Online Volunteering Development Manager at YouthNet, says: “AskTheSite receives about 800 questions per month from young people, many of whom have reached breaking point and have nowhere left to turn, so it’s vital that our advisors are trained to a high standard and can deliver the best support available.
“We developed this new qualification to meet a clear need for the young volunteers we train, many of whom wanted recognised skills to help them get into counselling and advice work.”
The course is offered to 18 to 29 year-olds who want to boost career skills relating to counselling, social care or psychology, or simply to develop professional communication and online experience.
No prior academic qualifications are required as formal training for the qualification is delivered through a blend of voluntary work, and group and individual one-to-one online learning.
The majority of the course is delivered virtually, meaning it’s easy for students fit in study around other commitments.
Ranjot Bhogal, 21 from London, who completed the course in March says: “I was volunteering at YouthNet to gain experience as part of my psychology degree when the course was offered. It seemed like a good way to boost my CV, particularly as it fitted-in around my other commitments really well, and help was just an email or call away if I got stuck.
“I’ve really developed throughout the course and can appreciate the depth of people’s emotions much better now, as well as learning how to respond in a non-judgemental manner. The experience helped me decide to choose a profession in counselling, and I’ve now gained a place on a Masters programme for next year.”
The next course is due to commence in June/July of this year. Aspiring agony aunts and uncles should visit http://sites.google.com/a/thesite.org/becoming-an-online-peer-advisor for more information and to watch a video about volunteering as an online advisor.
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Media Enquiries:
For further media information – or to arrange interviews – please contact Gabriella Jozwiak at YouthNet on 020 7250 5716 or out-of-hours on 07766 660 755. Email media@youthnet.org.
Notes to editors
- YouthNet is the UK’s first exclusively online charity and was founded by Martyn Lewis CBE in 1995. It aims to create a socially inclusive environment where all young adults are engaged, informed and inspired to achieve their ambitions and dreams, and does this through three websites: TheSite.org, Do-it (do-it.org.uk) the UK’s leading volunteering website and Lifetracks.com, for young people making decisions about work, study or training
- Run by young people’s charity YouthNet, TheSite.org is the online guide to life for 16 to 25 year-olds. With over 2,000 articles written by experts and journalists, a series of blogs, podcasts and videos, a bespoke question and answer service – askTheSite, and a thriving online community, TheSite.org is the central place for young people to turn to for sound, straight talking, anonymous advice 24-hours-a-day
- Every month, TheSite.org is visited by over 500,000 unique users, and receives around 800 questions on issues ranging from relationships to advice on housing. Content on TheSite.org is also available on mobile, at TheSite.org/mobile
- YouthNet’s Volunteer Online Peer Advisor programme provides expert training and mentoring to enable young people to answer relationship questions through its askTheSite service. The course, entitled ‘Giving online relationship advice’, is accredited by the Open College Network London Region (OCNLR), and is designed as an opportunity for volunteer advisors to gain formal recognition for the learning they achieve. It is not a requirement for people who wish to volunteer
- National Open College Network (NOCN) is the leading credit-based Awarding Body in the UK, offering high quality, flexible, credit-based qualifications and is accredited by the Regulatory Authorities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For more information see www.ocnlr.org.uk.