Making Wellbeing Part of Everyday Youth Work

Supporting young people’s wellbeing is increasingly becoming part of everyday youth work. Youth workers are often among the trusted adults young people interact with regularly, creating informal spaces where they can talk, reflect, connect with others and develop new skills. At the same time, supporting wellbeing can be challenging, especially when youth workers are looking for practical methods that can be integrated naturally into their existing activities.

The RECOVER Youth Workers Capacitation Toolkit was developed to respond to this need. Created within the Erasmus+ project Youth Wellbeing Recovering Kit (RECOVER), the toolkit provides youth workers, trainers, educators and facilitators with practical and accessible methods for supporting young people’s mental wellbeing through non-formal education.

Rather than treating wellbeing as a separate topic, the toolkit explores how it can become part of everyday youth work through reflection, creativity, body awareness, supportive dialogue and participatory learning. It combines background knowledge with ready-to-use tools and activities that can be adapted to workshops, mentoring, group activities and other youth work settings.

From understanding wellbeing to practical activities

The toolkit starts by exploring mental health and wellbeing in the context of youth work, including the role youth workers can play in creating supportive environments. It also addresses some of the challenges young people may experience, including anxiety and fear, loneliness, low self-esteem, digital overload and feelings of helplessness. But the toolkit goes much further than providing theoretical information.

A strong focus is placed on practical tools that youth workers can actually use. These include mood tracking, stress reflection and self-reflection exercises, alongside creative and experiential approaches such as journaling, mindfulness and body-based activities. The aim is to help young people recognise emotions, reflect on their experiences, identify personal coping strategies and strengthen resilience.

For example, the Weekly Mood Tracker gives young people a simple way to reflect on their emotional wellbeing over time, identify patterns and better understand different emotions. The activity can be used in individual or group settings and adapted according to age and literacy level.

A resource you can bring directly into your youth work

One of the most useful parts of the toolkit is its focus on implementation. Youth workers do not have to develop a wellbeing programme from scratch.

The toolkit includes a complete Facilitation Guide and Workshop Agenda, structured around four areas: building trust and exploring mental health, awareness and self-care, skills for supporting youth, and integration and future action. It also includes a local implementation plan, pilot workshop outline, facilitator checklist, participant monitoring and feedback resources.

The proposed training programme gives youth workers hands-on experience with methods such as body mapping, journaling, mindfulness, roleplay, group discussions and guided reflection. At the same time, it encourages youth workers to consider their own resilience and self-care and to translate what they learn into activities that can be implemented within their organisations and communities.

The methods are designed to be flexible rather than prescriptive. Activities can be adjusted to the age, background and experience of participants, while combining reflective, creative and physical approaches to keep young people actively involved.

Creating space for wellbeing

Perhaps the most important message behind the RECOVER Toolkit is that youth workers do not need to become mental health professionals to make wellbeing part of their work. Their role is different. Youth workers can contribute by creating spaces where young people feel listened to, respected and able to explore their emotions without judgement.

Small activities can become meaningful starting points: a reflection at the end of a youth meeting, a creative exercise during a training, a conversation about stress, or a mindfulness activity incorporated into a longer programme.

The RECOVER Toolkit brings these possibilities together into one practical resource, helping youth workers move from “wellbeing is important” to “here is something I can actually use with my group.”

It is a resource to explore, adapt and bring into your own youth work – whether you are planning a dedicated wellbeing activity or simply looking for ways to make your everyday programmes more supportive, reflective and youth-centred.

Learn more about the project: https://recover-erasmus.eu/

Erasmus+ Cooperation partnership

Youth Wellbeing Recovering Kit

Project No.  2024-1-PL01-KA220-YOU-000243430

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.