Bryan MacKay on Community Leadership of Youth Culture

Youth culture is the canvas onto which our values are imprinted and shaped. Seamlessly woven into this is the responsibility to pass the baton by leaving the world better than we inherited it. 

Bryan MacKay has spent the last 20 years holistically building a sustainable legacy at the vanguard of developing youth culture in the northeast of Scotland through community-centric outreach programs. Allowing people to live self-determined lives, unleash their creative power, and provide learning pathways to advance thousands of young people's knowledge, values, and skills. Helping them recognize and actualize their talents by moving them into education, employment, and training.

Bryan provides perspective on his approach to community leadership, how he has instilled a culture of thinking, learning, and doing. What it takes to lead, pitfalls to avoid, keys to success, and his vision for the future of youth culture.

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Transcript

Roy Sharples: 0:07

Hello, I'm Roy Sharples, and welcome to the unknown origins podcast. Why are you listening to this podcast? Are you an industry expert? Looking for insights? are you growing your career? Or are you a dear friend helping to spur your pal o, I created the unknown origins podcast, to have the most inspiring conversations with creative industry personalities and experts about entrepreneurship, pop culture, art, music and film and fashion. Youth culture is the canvas onto which our values are imprinted and shaped, seamlessly woven into this is the responsibility to pass the baton by leaving the world better than we inherited it. Brian mokai, has spent the last 20 years holistically building a sustainable legacy at the vanguard of developing youth culture in the northeast of Scotland, through community centric outreach programs, allowing people to live self determined lives, build their creative confidence, and provide learning pathways to advance 1000s of young people's knowledge, values and skills, helping them recognize and actualize their talents by moving them into education, employment, and training. Brian provides perspective on his approach to community leadership, how he has instilled a culture of thinking, learning and doing and what it takes to lead the pitfalls to avoid keys to success, and his vision for the future of youth culture. Hello, and welcome, Brian. So what inspired and attracted you to become a community leader in the first place?

Bryan MacKay: 1:48

You know, what I didn't actually know that youth work was really a career I had grown up in the northeast of Scotland is you know, and had no real direction, I didn't really know what it was, I wanted to do as a as a career or as a as a vocation. There was no real driving force behind from parents and its school unless you fit in a certain box unless you were very academically minded, unless you had that nurturing teacher behind you, then you're kind of left to your own devices, as long as you don't rock the boat. So I don't really know what I wanted to do. I probably knew what I didn't want to do. And I was kind of spend our life just doing the same old thing dn do, you know, but as I say, I don't really know, to the point that I joined the Royal Navy when I left school, and that ended pretty quickly because I realized that very early on that I didn't like people telling them what to do, you know, so came back worked in the fishing industry and the fish process and factories, you know, but wanted something more was something extra but didn't know what that something extra was. And it wasn't until I moved into Yorkshire because of my sister who was a primary school teacher. That kind of phone, my calling, if you want to call it not perhaps doing deliveries for Royal Mail and was finishing early on in the afternoon. So I had a lot of spare time to myself, I found myself coaching kids football teams. football was something that I absolutely loved growing up and volunteered to culture made to 13 year olds football team. And it was it was just water off a duck's back. I took it really easy because you're teaching kids how to play football. There is no real science, I suppose. And not to find in a pocket SPSS, or passing teacher that really simple drills. And it was one of the the youth workers there said, Are you really good at this? And it was? Yeah, of course. I'm good at it. It's just playing football, you know, and that's an egotistical, you know, but we played football growing up and it was just about passing that on to them. And they said no, the way you're working with the young people the way you're speaking to them, the way that the engaging way, the way that you can get your point across and get them to listen. And you want to help who and youth club now to me youth clubs growing up with authority in a in your left your own devices and you're able to play pool and you were playing five aside football and doors. I mean, probably it was a different time when 1980s and youth workers were probably caught from a different cloth. So I started working an event at the local youth club, again, revved up pool table and put in football teams. But there's so much great work that you can do around the pool table. There's so much information that you can impart the young people know, and the pool table and so much that they can give you soon as you put the pool cue in their hand. It kind of disarms them. And it's an open playing field and you can relax and you can just get great little snippets of information and start building up a picture of who this young person is and what you could do with them. You know And we are going to go and it's a great thing to come sometimes hunker back to do in that type of youth work, there's so much emphasis now on project vs youth working on, there has to be an agenda. And there has to be something when just looking back at our early days of me, you know, the ping pong table or playing pool and just work on these young people. It was, it was a, it was a really great team, you know, so I came, fell into it, by chance, but then found it was something that I really, really enjoyed doing. And I think it was because of their upbringing I had. And I think it was because of the lack of direction that I heard that I wanted to be the youth worker that I needed to be, or that I needed, sorry, when I was growing up, I what. So being consistent, being open and honest. being there, no matter what you know, and following through in your options, you know, so if you've got to do something, do it, you know, explain why you're doing it. If you're not going to do that, it's just as important to tell the people that you're not going to be there. So early on, I just got involved with as many different projects with in many different areas, just trying to find out something that I really, really liked, you know, so there was early morning football sessions on a Saturday night that was roller hockey on on a Tuesday in a bizarre way, I'ma an ice hockey coach, even though I can't stand up on the ice, you know, but I just put myself forward for loads of different projects, because I wanted to immerse myself in this world, and I wanted to be the best youth worker that I could be. So that meant working across many different areas and reads, And can I just soaking up everything that was going on. So for a young lad that was from a small town in the northeast of Scotland to be an S role and Metropolis leads in see an issues I'd never have encountered back home, you know, it made me a more rounded youthful worker for for when I did come back, you know, when I did move back and in Scotland, and I took L and I learned there, back up to Scotland. And I think it kind of really helped me become the manager that I am

Roy Sharples: 7:18

Did you intentionally gravitate towards today, the coaching opportunity when you were in Leeds? Or was it just something that kind of fell out the sky, or you were pulled into.

Bryan MacKay: 7:28

It was part of my route walking home after finishing my deliveries, and they were playing football. And I was kind of messing that I think, you know, that being involved in football. And, you know, I did a lot of fiber side, we're adults, you know, playing football, but they're I don't know why I got drawn towards that. But there was obviously something there, call him and drag me to and pull him into it. So I just started off coaching the main to 17 year olds. And for that led on to the Tuesday night youth club, that Thursday night youth club, the Friday of a youth club the Saturday morning and you know, so it just snowballed from there. So growing up, you know, I didn't have any clear guidance at school about, you know, what to move into in terms of career paths, or, you know, I never thought that university was going to be for me, you know, but then again, it was never spoken about a call, you know, pretty much obscene parenting, you know, so when I moved to Leeds, and immerse myself in this youth, one taper type of work, even though again, it still doesn't feel like you're getting paid to teach kids how to play football. Teach, you're getting paid to simply pull the kids, but it's more than that, you know, but what I saw there was that, I look back, and I tried to be the youth worker that I would have wanted, when I was 12. And I was 13 when I was 14, you know, for somebody who is going to be consistent and is going to get out every week and say they're going to do what they're going to do. That's a big thing for me, you know, even though, you know, approaching 50, even though you know is that consistency of the work that we still do is we have got to carry you and forward through and what we've promised to do, because you don't want to let people down you kind of let them down because you don't know how many times have been like them before in the past. Yeah, and yeah, again, it's Yeah, somebody else who's an idol and a trusted position who's letting them down. You know, I felt very wise, we had words very true. And think about what you're saying to these young people, because then they had a massive loss and effect on them.

Roy Sharples: 9:30

It's clear that you were emerging as a spiritual leader and mentor to these young people who they obviously began to trust, respect and admire you because you are becoming a positive role model to them who were sharing your skills, insights and expertise to help nurture them and their ideas in terms of programming tising your approach? How did you go about developing ideas and converting them into concepts, and then executing that through the programs that you ended up envisioning and delivering.

Bryan MacKay: 10:07

There was a lot of education based work I was doing in schools with those who've been excluded for school. And that's all well and good for doing all of that. But there was an opportunity to move back home. And when I say hold back up northeast of Scotland, with 15 years ago, 16 years ago, and I never envisaged myself coming back and living here, but I came back in. And I was immersed right back and in the community, you know, I was working back at the school that I used to go to the high school that I used to go to, we are were nothing within the voices. And we're a community, you know, that if I can come up with all these great ideas, and I can have these plans for everything, but if it's not what the community wants, and it's totally the community one, so we have to have open dialogue with our communities. Yeah. Just recently, I've had a brand new program come online, and it's been one that's been in the pipeline for the last, I think I had a fresh pile of it back in 2019. But that's only listening to the voices and the community and looking at the gaps around my community, and being able to help the community that we live in what can you know, the process was was very much listening to what was needed, and then removing as many body hours as possible, to enable as many people as possible to engage with this type of informal learning, unstructured learning and quantify it second me two years to get this one, up and down. And you know, but it's barely seen so far, it's really needed

Roy Sharples: 11:38

The undercurrent within your points there, Bryan is just how important education is. Yet we do not educate in terms of how we actually learn. But our education systems were designed to meet the bygone needs of the Victorian Industrial Age, where recall, is valued over imagination. And we have an education system that benevolently steers children away from the subjects they like, instead, mandating a teacher, a teaching model, based on ease of administration, and replicability and re specialization, teaching to test and micromanagement. Instead of embracing creativity and flexible on structured learning, deliver us a model that destroys free thought, and crushes innovation, and ultimately, it polarizes people that don't fit into that regime. And so in relevance to what you and your programs are doing, Bryan, is you're given the ones that fall through the system, and perhaps get ignored and are excluded.

Bryan MacKay: 12:44

Absolutely. And in through all of my career, the 20 odd years that I've been doing youth work and been involved in what can we young people have always been drawn to those who literally are fine in this town, but the team them hard to reach, you know, what the hard to reach young people are those at the edges, the communities, those who have kind of disengaged education, or those are both in criminal activity, that's always been my, my kind of client group, but I've always waited that I've always worked with that I find a real challenge and, and working with those type a young people and working with just working with young people who need follow up or who need somebody who believes in him, you know, because the talent is there. They just need somebody to listen, and to somebody to kind of point out, if you keep on doing a, in essence, what's going to happen, you know, if you're going to do B, try B because we know what will happen waves are trying try pathway, you know, and if it doesn't work, go back to doing what you're going to be doing. But I can guarantee that will happen. So when I moved back and I work when I work at the school, I deliberately didn't put myself back in the staff room. You know, I spent I did one week in a staff room. And it just, it was sucking the life out of me. You know, it just wasn't a very positive place to be you know, and I get that. It's a really tough gig being a teacher, you know, it really the years and the flutter targets and what's, you know, it's a big school that we went to, you know, there's a lot of people there, but the pupils I were working with weren't engaged in the school that had kind of dropped off the radar. So I didn't feel I needed to be back. And I started to have my own office when I needed somewhere, that if I was working with these young people, they felt safe to come to that was part of school, but it wasn't a part of school, you know, and I wasn't a Mr. MCI. You know, it wasn't said I wasn't done at all. I'm just Brian, you know, and if you can create a level playing field, where young people are where anybody in your community, then you've got a starting point. You know, I'm no better no worse than anybody else. But we've got that share common goal and the fact that they went to the school and 20 or 30 odd years later things and moved on as much as you think you know, but also in Leeds. You know, we're talking about being discriminated against, because perhaps you're poor school. against your surname or against siblings that had been in that school prior. All of that was happening, whatever I've been, you know. So yeah, it's not just a unique thing to the school I went to, you know, but it's it happens all over that young people have kind of got a label, before they've even got a label.

Roy Sharples: 15:17

Yes, your point on level playing field is spot on. And fundamentally meaning open to everyone, a society that's open to everyone. And that doesn't just start with education or equality. And the workplace, it starts before that. a level playing field means having secure and safe housing, having quality schooling at all levels. And when people feel included, they build meaningful social relationships. They have a stronger sense of belonging.

Bryan MacKay: 15:47

I didn't dislike school too much, you know, I went and I did okay, but I could have done so much better personally. Just educations for you know, that was family life, you know, a nigga and not driving up pushing insane. No, because it was all very that, you know, boy, so you must go in at this type of work. But you must be, you know, went home and said, I want to be a youth worker, you know, sort of what, you know, what can I jobs? You know, in fact, it took years I have worked in the voluntary sector, practically all my days, you know, and my folks didn't understand them for years, you know, because they were in the word voluntary and thinking, you're not getting paid for this. And it's like, No, you don't understand what I'm wanting from other organizations to be able to do the work that we do it No. So it took a long while for them to really understand what I was doing, and why I was doing it.

Roy Sharples: 16:36

How have you went about designing and bringing to fruition? The outreach programs that you've developed in a way that improves learning through addressing a societal need?

Bryan MacKay: 16:49

Seven years ago, it was we used to run a program that was just for people with substance misuse or substance dependency issues. Yeah. So it had run its course we'd run it successfully for for lots of years, you know, we weren't, again, real outcomes out of it, you know, it was a place for people at home, and it was a place for people to come in and just meet their pals, you know, but there was no real learning going on there. You know, that. It just wasn't taken any boxes for anybody, you know? So we sat around a table and came up with what is really going on, you know, what do we need to look at, in order to again, meet the needs of our communities, you know, and at that time, we were seeing a large uptick of clients who had mental health issues, people who had long term unemployment, physical, long term physical complaints, as well, you know, but they weren't able to engage in our programs. So we devised this brand new program, a 12, week, unplayable e program that met the needs of that. So we opened up recovery to the broader sense. So therefore, it's no longer just about substance, therefore, it's not just about long term unemployed and low competence and motivation. If you bring everybody together, and I smell import, you know, the entry and make the difference, the entrance into that program is definitely the exit. Everybody's looking at moving either education, employment or training, you know, so it's what we do, you know, and we sat down this table, and I borrowed heavily from from, I used to run a program doing reads that had the same acronym, is the one I've got no, you know, but I just changed the words around meet the need. So we've got a program called reach know, that is in four different areas within the northeast of Scotland, working with upwards of 400 clients per year, you know, across Community College for one of a better phrase, you know, we work in a communities that the college can't get into, you know, because they've got this big build into the deliver the college programs are, what our organization is really great at is being able to get into these communities that the colleges can't get into, because of the way we work, because of the fact that we deliver and how we deliver it. Because on the college program, and you will gain college accredited qualifications, but it's what we identity, there's different, you know, yeah, I always joke with the staff. It's like the hashtag, it's more than a college course. Because some days you're doing yoga, or you're doing mindfulness or stretching toward, or that is cooking sessions, online cooking sessions next to your college stuff. Next, a community project. It's, it just connects really well with your community, but with your peers as well. At the end, people are left with a much better sense of self and a much better feeling of what the future holds for them.

Roy Sharples: 19:38

Those are really key life skills. And also, I think by having that self awareness at a young age, and being really clear around, know who you are, what you are, and what you are not, and who you are not, and to really appreciate the difference and to feel confident and secure within you. yourself to be aware and, and feel good about your, your taste and your emotions and you feel free to then excel at what your passion.

Bryan MacKay: 20:12

And ultimately craftable will become, I mean, these programs, so 12 weeks where we are 16 different 25 year old age, you know, 16 to 25 year olds for 12 weeks is only 60 days, when you boil it down, you know, 60 days to start making change in a young person's life, you know, it's not a lot of time at all, if you're working with somebody who's at a really negative experience at school who's really switched off the learning who has had maybe some trouble with a police, you know, to start that journey right on day one and get them to buy in and what you're doing and get them to believe in what you're doing. And believe in them, because of maybe they had somebody believe in them for a long, long time, because they don't believe in themselves. You know, so 60 days is not a long time at all, we've got a course it's a way to start on just at the end of this month in September. And our last thought process, in my mind came as a selling point when I was delivering these programs was to say to young people was, it's still going to be the exact same year. So it'll still be 2021, when you start a course will still be 2021. When you finish report, and applying and changing your name, you're not planning to enter these life, massive life changes, and none of this is going to happen. So give me 60 days, and we will see what we can do. But I need them to come along with me on a journey because they do all the work. It's easy for me to set the agenda that's given up but they're the ones that need to turn up every single day. And they're the ones that need to buy in and what we're doing best how you sell it makes them buy what you're doing. And that's what I'll come back to you know, that I think points up being open and honest with you know, by all means praising them up, you know, and saying well done, I can't believe your monitor give up. Also, sometimes people need a little word of the year to just be told, if you keep doing this, then this is what's going to happen to you. Yeah, I've seen it in different areas I've worked in, you know, the consequences of risk taking behavior, know where people end up, and, you know, so be in that consistent voice for them for up to 60 days. And it's, it's, you know, it's as inspirational for me know, 20 odd years old, as it was when the first time I did it as well, you know, seeing these young people come in with no hope and, and not believing in themselves to then 60 days later, we hold a graduation ceremony followed by three. So right at the end, because a lot of them, like I said they've never completed school. You know, a lot of them have never got on university, you know, a lot of them have never been to school prom, you know, because it's never finished school, you know, so for one night, we flip on its head and make the night all over them. You know, so we hired a local hotel, people get dressed up. The problem is that they have to stand up and do about public speaking in several graduations of 250 people in the audience, but people are there to hear their stories people are genuinely interested in see what they've been doing in the communities and what the difference is, because they wouldn't be telling their parents the one but telling their friends what they're actually doing. They know they'll be asked how you get in on it, okay, you know, but it's when they come along and hear stories of, you know, never met in a day in 60 days. You know, 40 never did a full week of school for four years. For 60 days. And that's for one of my programs. We did a massive project, project we we installed Pepsi and we have been using the Royal we're here. I oversaw the project, my DIY skills are terrible, but we put in a safe play decking area for pupils at school for additional support needs and Peterhead. So the young people that were on our program, had never finished school, etc. had never in criminal activity, we're kind of run this cost by being long term unemployed. And we did a three week project whereby we had to fundraise to raise the money to carry out this project. But then they had say everything about that project. So they had a project manager, they had to dig out 30 tonne of soil, they had to move the soil, they had to get the land, flight and the concrete and coarse so from start to finish that whole project took them 11 days, see how I'm going to them? No, so they'll get what it was now. But in 11 days, you had young people there who never missed a day now they weren't going to get any benefit for that project. You know, they weren't going to go to school. But I kind of sold us like all we're going to be doing today is what they're going to haul and then we're going to be doing so we broke it down into small manageable chunks. They also sold it to him in the fact that they're going to be changing the pupils lives. They're going to be changing their family's lives. They're going to be changing the teachers lives, changing the community flakes and see when you get that buy in from our young people through. It's probably the best piece of work I've been involved in because it was a huge project. But it was so rewarding. It's somebody who had been to a funeral in the morning, but turned up in his funeral soon Barney Euler got stuck in. Wow. I mean, he never completed school, but he was able to do that. Yeah, it still speaks to me to this day, you know, it's just very humbling to be part of that journey.

Roy Sharples: 25:16

Where you're helping build there is a set of beliefs and moral habits that prepare and qualified people for working and social integration with a shared purpose and collaborative approach, which helps people believe and feel confident and connected to something better, as well as develop a more positive and kondou attitude. Would you mind given an example of a hero's journey of one of the the people that you helped enable moving them from where they were, to where they ended up getting to?

Bryan MacKay: 25:50

Absolutely, I mean, the one I'm going to use is kind of an obvious one, because there's a lot won awards for his time in his life around you know, that he met Prince Charles, we went down to London, and he met all these celebrities and was hoping openness as a young light from your head I grew up in as well, you know, and to see the journey that he went on before he started my program, having been referred by a criminal justice worker, he'd never completed school, he'd been involved in knife crime. And he was only coming on and you'd be honest with us, he was only coming on to appease his criminal justice worker, you know, so he was doing it to keep people happy. He was doing it and just not because he wanted to do it, but because it would get people off his back. And then slowly, he was coming, because he wanted to come here to put on leather work. And he had to be the one that was coming up half past nine for 10 o'clock star, which wasn't a wage. But if you were a young person who's the as Nate and Nate is there, you know, then a half past nine for 10 o'clock start and I'm 10 o'clock, and the doors get closed on my sessions, you know, so I said, You've got to be here for 10 o'clock, and it's one minute past 10. You know, I'm sorry, all the way to break time, you know, so it was a tough love or not, you know, you need consistency. And you need to be knowing that there are rules in place for a reason. He shone through this program, he absolutely nailed it. He was coming. He got off his order early. He came back on and volunteered. And my next program, he, like I said, I nominated for an award, he won his Scottish award, which then meant even enter the port and he was selected to go down to London. He was in the top three finance currently, he didn't know when he's currently right. They were all in his trailers. But they were all winners, because that's a young lad who they've no belief and who thought his life was marked down for him. He knew when he was going to end up because he'd been told by so many people as well, you're gonna end up this is what's going to happen to you. You know, and then he would, so this is a this is a great way, right? So he had a career fair, there was a recruitment fair at the local high school that he wasn't allowed to go to whilst the school was on, because he had been excluded from school. So he wasn't allowed on school grounds when there was pupils. So he had to go to the jobs fair, when all the pupils had gone. So I think it was a half past five, six o'clock, went to this career fair. So this job he was interested and spoke to them, they asked them to send in a CV, he then went Cardone CV, got an interview, beat 93 people for that job. Wow, the job that 93 people, he beat for that job. And yet, at one prior, you know, he had been told that it was never going to be for me was going to be X, Y and Zed, you know? Yeah. And that's really, really powerful. And that's how it's done all that work. We were then at points through his journey, you know, to kind of point out what was going to happen if he did this, what was going to do that, but it's like you said that consistency and being there for him. If he makes mistakes, you know, all through my programs. I encourage your mistakes to be an Android, you know, once you've made the same mistake, every single thing, then there's no learning, make the 100 mistakes, because there's 100 lessons you're going to learn and they're you know, and it's a safe space to make these mistakes, because people are all too worried of making mistakes, or what has happened so fast. Well, if it happens, we'll deal with it, you know, but at least within say, We've tried and we can rule that one out, you know, so that's like, came on and did three things, you know, and it's Yeah, but then the replay somebody else who did my very first program, then messaged me a living years later to say that she'd moved in at a fraction of the job. And she just like to thank me for taking that on that very first program. You know, and that's delivering years later. And it you still looked back on that 12 weeks that 60 days is a really fun time.

Roy Sharples: 29:39

Your leadership approach comes across as harmonizing in that you create positive and stable environments inspire loyalty, which generates honesty and trust. And as a person you come across as a dependable, reliable type that's focused on the outcome and the Quality execution in terms of how to kind of get there.

Bryan MacKay: 30:03

I've got a really nice life up in here, right, you know that I've got a lovely family, it's great to come home every day, you know, and, and I say that to the, to the people that we the clients that we work with, you know that I haven't got any snail bells and whistles, you know, but you can achieve this as well. You know, there is work, you know, sometimes you really have to work at things to get it. But other wards are absolutely infinitesimal, you know, it's what you get back, I'll never ever be a millionaire in this type of work, you know, when he has never been the motivating factor for me, you know, but for me, it's seeing those people succeed and seeing a client progress and move on and unlock enough potential, because the potentials and it's just about how we unlock it, and the way in which we, we do the, you know, it's kind of unique and different from the education where they've got to teach them a syllabus, we kind of work around for I think I would need if I was 14 or 15. Really given the age, you know, I always use that as my baseline, you know, who would I need? What would I need? You know, and that's who I try to be. That's what I try and tell the staff as well, that the team that we work with, you know, is, is be that youth worker that they needed, you know.

Roy Sharples: 31:09

What do you believe? Are the key skills needed to be a successful community leader, Bryan?

Bryan MacKay: 31:15

Be patient! And also don't take it personal, you know? Yeah, for, for all of us, you know, people look sloppy, they'll say, Oh, yeah, you did this, but you've denied his songs, too, you know, but it's, it's really, thanks to me at all, I wasn't the one who, who walked in the door on that very first day, it's all the young people. So it's about knowing your place as well, for me to scale is open communication with people you know, so I haven't been a really good communicator. And speaking the language, it's people people speak to young people speak in all too often, their scorecard and their voices aren't listened, you know, so listen to what they're saying here. Don't just hear with us and listen to what they're saying, what, what do they want? Sometimes, it's not going to be possible what they want, but you kind of need to communicate that in a fashion to show them what is possible, instead of just shutting the door and say, No, it can't happen, you know, as your options. And also, ever, not patience, and haven't got the ability to just listen to what is actually going on with these young people or real communities or with our clients that we work with. And unpicking it for that. You know, that's the key one for me that the key one is always communication, you've got nothing else, right? You've got nothing else.

Roy Sharples: 32:33

Its amusing listening to your story trowing As you take stock and look back, what are your lessons learned, up together in the same neighborhood, those traits that you spoke about. They're absolutely existant when you were young. And so for example, when we played football together, you were very industrious, you worked really hard, and was committed to, you know, doing the job at hand, and coming up with ideas and better ways of doing things. And you in terms of the pitfalls to avoid, and the keys to success were very energetic. In your application of of work, you were always a direct communicator, in terms of you will give very honest feedback to people. And it was always done with the intent that to improve the performance of someone and to stamp out things that was negative within that behavior, or performance or whatever it might be, with the positive intent that you were helping them, see that see the unseen that you can share with existing and aspiring community leaders? for them, and help coach them along the way. So it's really interesting to see that those patterns from a very young age has became really prominent within your profession.

Bryan MacKay: 33:54

So for me, the pitfalls and successes are really, really closely aligned. Anytime I think, of the things that haven't worked within my community, or haven't worked, or the young people I've worked on, because I haven't listened properly to what you're seeing. So I've went off in my own truck, but I've kind of thought I know what's best for this community, rather than engaging in meaningful conversation and dialogue with the people that you're working with, and be a young people or be a larger community. If I look back and think about the young people, you know, barking, mighty leads dancing, and as a youth worker, you know, working with them, and listening to what they need, as opposed to me trying to impose what I think they need, you know, there's no point in trying to deliver a session on testicular cancer to a group of three people when you've got 24 people inside, getting drunk on a on a weekend, you know, you kind of got to go where the issues are. And I use that because that was an example as I'd started out. Since I was a young Gish youth worker, you know that I couldn't understand why we're trying to flog this session on testicular cancer, when inside, there was a whole patch or group of young people who were sitting there getting drunk. And surely we go to them, and listen to what they're saying, try to get them to fit their narrative. And then lightly, you know, I think the successes, you know, the community projects, that they're learning programs that we've taken on board, it's because we've listened to our target audience, we've listened to our communities. So without that active listening skills and being able to respond and communicate properly, then you're never gonna have that impact that you want to have and that the community needs. So it's, it's really simple. It's It's not rocket science, you know, but you need to be able to listen, and communicate properly

Roy Sharples: 35:56

Tilting forward into the future, what's your vision for youth culture, and community leadership, and how do you see the role of creativity play a more vital role?

Bryan MacKay: 36:07

So this last 18 months for young people has been really, really difficult on the, you know, it's certainly for the clients that we work with some of the young people that we work with, you know, they've had a really, really tough 18 months, you know, we moved all our learning programs online, which meant that they weren't having to leave their houses or whatever they're are coming to our classrooms and kind of do experiential learning, which in some respects, has grexit means that we've been able to tap into a different caper client, and we've been able to open access to anyone, neither me nor anyone, we've looked at the barriers, we've provided, for people to join any learning programs we've provided over the last year, over 470 laptops, and connectivity. So when an African enrolled in one of our programs, which was a huge, huge undertaking, but it's meant that the young people haven't been able to separate learning from home. So they've not been able to come up that door and have not been able to account back for their peers have not been able to go away in a residential experience. So they're kind of further behind the star and light than they were 18 months ago, you know, so for a lot of my young people is, certainly with a pandemic, as well as the industries that that we were kind of getting employment and, you know, as a starting point, you know, as the ones that have been more state, you know, something retail, the hospitality and leisure, you know, all of these have been badly hit by the pandemic. So, we are having barkcloth young people who've gone to qualifications who are now looking ready to move into employment, but have not got employment, they are for them. So we need to be being creative about what comes next for these young people, you know, because otherwise, it's, it's really detrimental to that mental health and to look to the future, you know, if they're not able to move in employment straight away, then that's going to be another school year, the leaves are going to be another university. So that can push further and further apart bank, that's not in line. So we need the government's but we reviewed over a 14 month of trying to come up with initiatives to help young people move in employment. And also, it's, it's heartening, but, you know, it's a hard and fast enough, probably not quite as amazement as so we need to be encouraging young people to think of the jobs that don't exist yet digital access, get the jobs are going to come out of having all these brand new technologies, you know, that's going to be a real investment. And these programs to help upskill these young people, to get them to start thinking about the future and get into thinking about beyond the street that they could walk in, or the road that leads into our town, you know, the world is a big place in there, you know, and to think that it doesn't have to be in this town, you know, it doesn't have to be wherever they think they've got to be. The young people need to be broadened horizons in a way. That's all we're digital learners, caner, showing them that you can be anywhere you know, and you can kind of look here at me and you touching base just knowing different times once but for young people, it's opened up our doors to show them what is possible to show them what they can achieve and to show them what is out there but that needs a little bit of work and partnership you know, because we have just a small coconut that really needs a little bit more joined up working from everybody to kind of ensure that young people are get the remedies positive solutions.

Roy Sharples: 39:42

Realizing your full potential to live a ulfilled life means unlocking nd applying your creative power o excel at doing what you l ve. Remember, our outputs are t e next generations inputs! That omes with accountability and esponsibility, to pass the aton to the next generation by eaving the world in better hape than you found it. So make it count! It is all about Attitude. Imagination. an Execution. You have been listening to the Unknown Origins podcast. Please follow subscribe, rate and review us. For more information go to unknownorigins.com Thank you for listening!