What are the key qualities a Link Worker should have according to our young people?

Meaningful youth engagement goes beyond just consultation. Our ambition is to build a movement for change led by alumni voices, supporting them to become leaders within AllChild and their community.

To help achieve this, the AllChild Alumni Network was developed to bring together young people that have completed the Impact Programme, allowing them to access opportunities to shape decisions, influence practice, and lead change.

In 2025, we held our very first Alumni Advisors Workshop, a milestone in ensuring that young people are truly front and centre when key decisions are made. Our team were making some changes to our recruitment process for new Link Workers when it was decided to use it as an opportunity to invite youth voices directly into the planning. Who better to inform what makes a great Link Worker than young people who have experienced working with them first-hand?

We invited 20 alumni to share their insights on what qualities matter most in a Link Worker. A member of our People & Culture team attended the workshop in person, ensuring that young people’s perspectives were heard and could immediately inform organisational thinking.

Making it meaningful, accessible, and fun

We know that for youth engagement to work, it needs to be both meaningful and enjoyable, so the session was designed to be interactive and creative.

One of the highlights was the creation of the ‘ideal Link Worker pizza’.  Each ‘topping’ represented a quality that young people felt was essential in a Link Worker. This playful approach encouraged discussion and reflection in a way that felt accessible and engaging for everyone involved.

After building their pizzas, the group voted on the top qualities they most wanted to see in a Link Worker.

What did young people say matters most?

Across discussions and voting, three qualities consistently stood out. It was decided that a Link Worker should be:

• Understanding
• Patient
• Engaging

These were the qualities young people felt made the biggest difference in building trust, relationships, and a positive experience with their Link Worker. Influencing this piece of work was also named as one of the group’s favourite moments of the year, highlighting the importance of ensuring young people see their input reflected in real organisational change. One student summed up the impact of being part of the session: “I feel heard.”

The insights gathered from the Alumni Advisors Workshop have now been directly integrated into our Link Worker job description and person specification, ensuring that recruitment reflects the values and qualities young people themselves identify as essential. This marks a significant step forward in embedding youth voice into how we define and recruit our staff team.

Looking ahead

This workshop was one of a series of themed monthly skills sessions designed to equip young people with leadership skills while creating tangible opportunities for them to influence decision making at AllChild.

We remain committed to this approach and to ensuring that youth engagement is not a one-off activity, but an embedded, ongoing driver of our work. When young people are genuinely heard and empowered, everyone benefits.