The following video was created to showcase some of the brilliant work that the Game Change Project does with young people who are alienated from more formal educational settings.
You can find more about their vital work here; https://www.thegamechangeproject.co.uk/
Recently BBC Journalist and Documentary Maker Catherine Carr visited Carmarthen Youth Project DrMz to spend some time with their Girls group, what follows is an extract from an article written about that visit and the wider series About the Girls:
A felt‑tip sign taped to the door of a private room announces “GIRLS ONLY”, “Boy’s don’t Eneter!” [sic], and, by way of a cheeky flourish, “don’t worry boys!”. The sign is covered in colourful hearts and stars. A group of around a dozen girls at DRMZ youth club in Carmarthen, Wales, are already deep into a competitive card game when I join them at a large round table. Conversation flows easily as we chat and pizza is duly ordered.
This visit is part of my Radio 4 series About The Girls, for which I spoke to roughly 150 girls, the vast majority aged between 13 and 17. What we discussed at that table echoed so many of those conversations.
Savvy, chatty, funny and bright, the girls were uplifting and brilliant company. Full of ambition and plans for their futures (“I would like to have a fridge that you can have a vase in… And be a doctor!”), love for their friends (“I can tell her anything”) and a great awareness of the value of caring for family members (“I go to town to top up my Nan’s electric. I love looking after her.”)
The conversation hopscotched between the card game at hand, school dramas, teachers they like (and those they don’t), stuff they’d seen on social media and debate about whether there were enough slices of Cheese Feast to go round. There were.
This project follows my series About The Boys, for which I also spoke to teenage boys from all over the UK. In the wake of Covid-19, #MeToo and all the noise about Andrew Tate, I was curious to know what they were thinking. I also found them excellent company: thoughtful and articulate and brave. Repeating the experiment with girls next seemed logical and fair. It happened that the Epstein files were released just as I set off for Carmarthen, and the work suddenly felt even more urgent.
What I was not expecting was that across all the conversations I had, one theme kept resurfacing: teenage girls still tend to see themselves through the lens of boys. And, importantly, there seems to be an acute understanding of this.
When I asked my opening question “What is it really like to be a girl in 2025/26? Tell me the truth, don’t be polite!” The answer almost invariably began with the words: “Well boys think/say/want/ feel…”. These conversations felt like some odd real-life version of the Bechdel Test. Which, in case you are not familiar, provides a metric for evaluating female representation in films. To pass the test, a film (1) has to have at least two named women in it, who (2) talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. None of my interviews would pass.
“Growing up as a girl,” said one “so much of that is about how boys are behaving around you and what they’re doing to you. So there isn’t really a way to talk about that without mentioning boys… and it is frustrating.”
So why does this dynamic persist? The girls I met talked fluently about the weight of gendered social expectations, the influence of boys in school environments, versions of feminine “perfection” seen endlessly on social media, and described something deeper about how girls learn to behave while trying to safely navigate the world.
After the girls in Carmarthen had all gone home, I spoke to Alison Harbor, manager at the youth centre. She was delighted that they had all talked so freely.
“The boys at the club are quite vocal” she told me, “and pretty confident in telling you all their opinions and thoughts. Well today, the girls have been the same! My worry is that they usually internalise a lot of their troubles…”.
Though the girls did not hold back, the irony was that almost all of them said their behaviour was different than when boys are around.
Girls told me about not wanting to be seen by boys as “too much”, “too loud”, “weird”, “annoying”, a “pick me”, or “a beg” (someone looking for attention). They told me how boys can be loud and funny, but that girls had better not. They described not wanting to “take up space” and trying to be “smaller and quieter” in mixed company.
You can read the rest of the article and find out more about the series here; The surprising reality of how teenage girls still define themselves – BBC News
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Wales has a Vacancy for an Operations Officer Wales;
Following the successful secondment of a valued team member, we are looking for a proactive and enthusiastic individual to join our Wales team as an Operations Officer on a fixed‑term basis.
This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in supporting the operational delivery and development of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), helping more young people to access our life‑changing programmes.
As an Operations Officer, you will manage and support a portfolio of Licensed Organisations (LOs) to ensure the delivery of a high‑quality DofE programme. Most LOs are schools, but you will also work with a diverse range of partners, including colleges, local authorities, charities, pupil referral units, youth groups and young offender institutions.
You will work closely with a team of Operations Officers across Wales, each responsible for their own portfolio. The role is field‑based, involving regular travel to meetings and events. When not attending meetings, you will work from home, and applicants must live within or very close to the allocated portfolio area.
Reporting to an Operations Manager, you will be responsible for day‑to‑day contact with LOs and for supporting delivery of the Wales Business Plan. You will be a passionate advocate for the DofE, motivated to help achieve our ambition of giving more than one million young people the opportunity to participate in our programmes.
Application Deadline; April 26, 2026
Employment Type – Fixed Term – Full Time
Location Wales – Fully remote
Salary – £30,247 – £35,585 / year
View application documents and apply here; https://dofe.pinpointhq.com/en/postings/a3c99430-a9f2-46e9-892a-5c2a84328f54
Please see below an opportuntity with Scouts Cymru to join their team.
We have an exciting opportunity for a Community Engagement & Programme Officer to join our Headquarter team based at Castle House, Caerphilly
As Scouts, we believe in empowering young people with skills for life. We encourage our young people to do more, learn more and be more. We believe in bringing people together. We celebrate diversity and stand against intolerance, always. We’re part of a worldwide movement, creating stronger communities and inspiring positive futures.
The purpose of this role is to design and deliver a programme of community engagement activity that removes barriers to volunteering for under‑represented communities in rural Ceredigion, Newport and the wider Gwent area, in line with the Opening Doors project plan.
Term: Fixed‑term to March 2028 (aligned to Opening Doors Project funded by Welsh Government’s Volunteering Wales Main grants Scheme, administered by WCVA)
Hours: 21 hours per week, including some evenings and weekend work
Salary – £27,500 per annum pro rata
Holidays – 23 days per annum + bank holidays (pro rata)
Benefits –
The post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Check
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to join our fantastic team!
For further details and an application pack please email:admin@scoutscymru.org.uk
Closing date for applications: midday 30 April
Interview Date: W/C 11 May (date to be confirmed)
Ty Enfys is a local charity that offers a free service for children, young people and their families living in or around Llwynhendy.
We are inviting applications for the Post of Youth and Community Worker, from enthusiastic, suitably qualified and experienced people to join our neurodiverse team in Llwynhendy, Llanelli. They need to have had a minimum of 12 months experience working with vulnerable young people and (their) families.
The ability to communicate through the medium of the Welsh Language is highly desirable.
This is a part time Post, for 18 hours per week, funded by National Lottery Awards for All, Community Foundation Wales – Principality fund and The Moondance Foundation. Funding ends in February 2027 but further funding is being explored. The ability to be flexible around days and times of delivering activities is essential.
The Salary will be £14.50 per hour.
The closing date for applications is midnight on 26th April 2026 and it is intended to hold stage one interviews during the week commencing 25th May 2026
For an informal discussion and an application pack please contact Sharan Condon, the Project Coordinator, via Email at tyenfys@gmail.com
or by telephone on 01554 749396
Please note that unless specifically requested information will be sent to applicants via Email.
A new civil society council has been established to “put partnership at the heart” of the UK government.
Voices from across the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector have been appointed to the new Civil Society Council, you can find out more here;
New civil society council established to put partnership at the heart of government – GOV.UK