Youth Commission for Guernsey & Alderney

Who we are

Our Vision

Empowering Youth; Shaping Futures: enabling young people to be inspired and prepared for the future they dream of...

Our Mission 

Inspiring young people to thrive, ensuring their voices are heard, and creating opportunities for them to grow, connect, and lead in their communities.

Our Strategic Pillars

Empower Young People

• Equip young people with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to make positive life choices and reach their full potential.

Promote Inclusion and Accessibility

• Ensure all programs and services are accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the diverse needs of young people from all backgrounds and abilities.

Support Emotional Wellbeing

• Provide tailored support to foster resilience, mental health, and emotional well-being in young people, helping them navigate challenges.

Create Safe Spaces

• Develop welcoming environments where young people feel valued, respected, and empowered to express themselves.

Champion Youth Voice

• Advocate for young people’s views, ensuring their voices are heard and reflected in decisions that affect their lives.

Develop Meaningful Partnerships

• Collaborate with families, schools, communities, and organisations to create a network of support for young people.

Our purpose

The Youth Commission is a local youth organisation dedicated to supporting and empowering young people by providing services that enhance their well-being, personal development and opportunities for participation in society.

Operating across Guernsey and Alderney, the Youth Commission offers a wide range of programmes, including youth work, advocacy, mentoring and support services. Our work focuses on ensuring that young people have a voice in decisions that affect them, as well as access to safe spaces, guidance and activities that promote confidence, resilience and life skills.

Since becoming an independent charity in 2013, we have evolved and adapted, partnering closely with the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture and other key stakeholders. Our commitment is to provide innovative, needs-led services that respond directly to the voices and experiences of young people across Guernsey and Alderney.

Youth work across the Bailiwick plays a crucial role in supporting young people’s personal, social and emotional development. It provides a safe and inclusive space where young people can build confidence, develop essential life skills and form positive relationships. Through informal education, mentoring and recreational activities, youth work empowers young people to navigate challenges, make informed decisions and contribute meaningfully to their communities. It is a voluntary and youth-led process that fosters engagement, resilience and a sense of belonging, ensuring every young person has the opportunity to thrive in a supportive environment.

Our culture and values

1. We believe all young people and families deserve to be safe, valued and heard.

We recognise that every child, young person and parent has inherent worth. We work from a foundation of respect, dignity, compassion and trust, ensuring that all interactions promote safety and belonging.

Working practices:

• Create emotionally and physically safe spaces
• Maintain professional boundaries and trauma-informed communication
• Embed safeguarding in every aspect of our work

2. We believe relationships are the foundation of positive change.

Supportive, consistent relationships help young people and families build resilience, develop confidence, and navigate challenges. Relationships drive outcomes far more than programmes alone.

Working practices:

• Prioritise connection before correction
• Offer predictable, reliable and attuned support
• Provide continuity of care and trusted adult relationships

3. We believe in being a trauma-informed organisation.

Understanding the impact of trauma, stress and adversity is essential to how we design services, support our workforce, and respond to behaviour.

Working practices:

• Respond with empathy, curiosity and emotional regulation
• Avoid practices that shame or punish
• Embed co-regulation, predictability and psychological safety
• Invest in reflective supervision and staff wellbeing

4. We believe in inclusion, equity and accessibility for all.

Every young person and family should be able to access support regardless of background, identity, ability or circumstance.

Working practices:

• Adapt activities and communication to meet diverse needs
• Challenge discrimination and exclusion wherever it appears
• Remove barriers to participation (practical, cultural, emotional)
• Work in partnership with specialist organisations

5. We believe young people should shape the decisions that affect their lives.

Youth voice is a right, not a bonus. Young people are experts in their own experiences.

Working practices:

• Co-produce programmes with young people
• Ensure youth voice is present at all levels—including governance
• Use youth feedback to design, evaluate and improve services
• Encourage youth leadership and youth-led projects

6. We believe in early intervention and prevention.

Supporting families early—especially during pregnancy and early childhood—improves long-term outcomes and reduces harm.

Working practices:

• Offer antenatal and early years support
• Provide early help before crisis
• Work in partnership with family-focused services
• Promote secure attachment and positive parenting

7. We believe in collaboration and community partnership.

We cannot achieve our mission alone. Strong partnerships benefit young people, families and the wider community.

Working practices:

• Build effective relationships with schools, health, ESC and community partners
• Share information responsibly and appropriately
• Engage in multi-agency approaches to safeguarding and wellbeing
• Support community-based and outreach models of youth work

8. We believe in professionalism, accountability and continuous learning.

High standards of practice underpin trust, safety and quality.

Working practices:

• Uphold confidentiality, GDPR, and codes of conduct
• Deliver evidence-based and reflective practice
• Participate in supervision, ongoing CPD and team learning
• Monitor quality through governance, feedback and evaluation

9. We believe in hope, opportunity and empowerment.

Every young person and family should be supported to dream, grow and shape their own future.

Working practices:

• Build strengths, not focus on deficits
• Celebrate successes and personal growth
• Provide meaningful opportunities for learning, leadership and development
• Support aspirations, independence and confidence

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We are committed to creating a fair, inclusive and respectful workplace where every member of staff feels valued and able to thrive. We actively oppose discrimination in all forms and ensure equality of opportunity across our organisation.

We achieve this by:

• Promoting an inclusive culture rooted in respect, dignity and compassion, where discrimination and exclusion are challenged.

• Embedding strong policies on equality, conduct, safeguarding and anti-bullying, supported by regular training for all staff.

• Ensuring fair recruitment and progression, using transparent criteria and competency-based assessments to reduce bias.

• Providing equal access to development, supervision and training, ensuring all staff can grow within their roles.

• Maintaining psychological safety, encouraging staff to speak openly about concerns without fear of judgement or retaliation.

• Upholding accountability, addressing inappropriate behaviour promptly and modelling inclusive practice at all levels.

Through these principles, we ensure that fairness, equity and respect guide our decisions, our culture and the way we work with each other, young people and families.