Month of the Military Child: Q&A with Airplay Station Youth Worker

To mark the Month of the Military Child, we want to highlight the Fund’s national youth work programme, Airplay, and the incredible work of the team involved to make it a success. We spoke with Julia Purton about her role as an Airplay Station Youth Worker at RAF Henlow.

What do you do day-to-day in your role as an Airplay Youth Worker?

I plan the daily sessions and gather resources for the various activities we are planning for the children to take part in, such as collecting ingredients for baking.

How long have you been working as an Airplay Youth Worker and how did you get into it?

I have been an Airplay Youth Worker for nine years now. I started as a sessional after I graduated from university with a degree in youth work and wanted to get started helping young people and putting what I had learnt into practice. I quickly became a Station Youth Worker when my predecessor went on maternity leave, and I have been in post ever since.

What is the impact of Airplay on young people and RAF families as a whole?

The impact that Airplay can be very subtle, but it is massive. For RAF families, Airplay offers a safe place that parents know their children are being looked after and have people they can talk to.

The young people love coming to Airplay. They can come to us when they have had the best day and we will celebrate with them, or if they are feeling low they can come to a safe place and talk to people who care about them and will comfort them and do their best to help them.

It is a big support for young people; by having a similar set up on all the stations helps young people have a smooth transition if they relocate because they know they are going to a familiar space where they can make friends with likeminded young people who understand them, and that the staff are going to be supportive, fun and engaging.

What would you say is the biggest challenge for young people in military families and how can Airplay help?

I think the biggest challenge for young people is the transient lifestyle and the fact they don’t tend to stay in one place for longer than a few years. As soon as they are settled in school and have friends, they often have to leave that all behind and start again. As they get older it can get harder for them to make new friends and find places they fit in – and that’s where Airplay helps.

It is a place they can always go and know they will find military young people who ‘get’ the lifestyle. They can meet their peers in a smaller, safe environment before going to school and once they are at a new school they already know people which makes things like bus journeys and navigating a new school so much easier. It can be challenging being a young person and moving all the time so having youth workers who they can talk to makes a massive difference too.

What do you find the most rewarding part about your role as an Airplay Youth Worker?

The most rewarding part of the job is watching the young people grow in confidence. Especially when we go on trips or residentials and you see them take on challenges that they wouldn’t have done before; they now have the confidence to face the challenges.

What has been one of your highlights from your time working at Airplay?

A highlight has been taking the young people on residential trips – the two Airfest camps were amazing. Watching young people from all over the country come together and make new friendships or carry-on old friendships after not seeing each other for years was just brilliant.

Seeing them rock out to a Queen tribute band, covered in face paint and dancing together was a great experience, as was the residential break in 2023 at Condover Hall, where the young people took on on their fears on the high ropes and worked together to build a raft that then fell apart in the river! Watching them come together and form new friendships and having the best few days together, was so rewarding and a pleasure to witness.