'Brilliant' youth worker sets up own club at 17

Yasmin Betteridge (centre) with some of the young people who attend Wallingford TRAIN

A woman who set up her own youth club aged 17 has said she was inspired by her own youth workers.

Yasmin Betteridge leads Wallingford TRAIN in Oxfordshire, an offshoot of Didcot charity TRAIN Youth which she attended as a teenager last year.

She said her youth workers were some of her "biggest role models" and helped her "build up a lot of confidence".

Yasmin won a "highly commended" title at the Oxfordshire Apprentice Awards last month.

Volunteer Michelle (left) said the young people were "always keen to speak" to Yasmin

Yasmin grew up in Didcot and started going to TRAIN Youth aged 11, but said she later found herself drawn into trouble in the town as a teenager.

"In secondary school I got into a different friendship group, and would say I was involved in anti-social behaviour," she said.

"In towns like Didcot and Wallingford there isn't really much to do or anywhere to go.

"We played to stereotypes of what [adults] and pretty much anybody thought of us."

Yasmin said she wanted Wallingford TRAIN to be a "safe, inclusive space"

Aged 15, Yasmin was asked by TRAIN Youth to help with interviews for a new staff member.

She said: "I turned around to one of our trustees and said 'that'll be me you're interviewing one day'."

After doing her work experience with the charity she said she "begged" her manager to set up an apprenticeship, which she then successfully applied for.

She then worked for the charity while studying for a youth work diploma and is now a youth worker alongside her university studies. .

'She calms me down'

Michelle, a volunteer with the Wallingford group, said Yasmin was an "amazing" youth worker who the young people at the club identified with.

"I've known Yasmin for a long, long time. She's got a super relationship with all the young people that come through. She's a brilliant individual," she said.

Dorian, who attends the group, said Yasmin was a particularly good listener.

"When I'm angry I talk to her and she just calms me down. I have a feeling she's gone through the same thing."

Charlotte, who travels to the group from her home in Benson, agreed: "She's a very easy person to chat to and she's... very understanding."

Yasmin said she wanted Train Youth in Wallingford to be somewhere that was both inclusive and safe.

"I think the young people of Wallingford know if they need something that they can call my work phone [or] come to us if they need anything.

"That's pretty much what my idea has been," she added.