We hear a lot about the amazing work of Youth Just Us but now it’s time to shine some light on Inside Out, which is also an important part of Youth Justice Voices.

Inside Out is a steering group for care-experienced boys and young men in Polmont and is ran in collaboration with Barnardo’s youth work team, Outside In. The group was established in 2020 and has been running on a weekly basis since then.

Unfortunately the group was put on hold for a period of time due to Covid but we have been back in since August 2021, welcoming old and new members to the group who have been working on creating guidance as well as their first newsletter to share what they have been doing with their peers and to beat boredom and isolation during lockdown. The boys worked hard on this for several weeks writing blogs, creating “gaff” workouts; issue based poetry and lyrics about their experiences as well as word searches and other interesting articles for people to read.

They also worked with a designer to create their own logo which represents what the project is all about “inside, speaking out”.

In addition they have contributed to guidance for young people entering the justice system and have responded to the Bail and Remand consultation.

We take the same youth work approach as we do with Youth Just Us, by creating a safe space where the boys can come together and talk about the issues which are important to them. We focus on team building, pro-social, fun activities and rights. Building positive relationships is integral to everything we do. The group are passionate about driving change and promoting rights-based issues for those in HMPYOI. We are also working hard to ensure that the boys can stay involved in the project by accessing Youth Just Us, when they return to the community.

To find out more please email [email protected]