Just One Question Turns 2 – A celebration of curiosity

This November marks two years since the relaunch of Just One Question (JOQ), UK Youth’s monthly snapshot survey that amplifies the voices of youth workers across the UK. It has asked youth workers across the UK a single monthly question on topical issues for the youth sector.  

More on what Just One Question is   

Youth practitioners are the backbone of youth work, trusted adults who support young people through challenges, transitions, and growth. Yet, their voices are often underrepresented in decision-making on the support required for young people. JOQ was created to change that and give youth workers a voice.  

JOQ is UK Youth’s snapshot survey, which aims to explore and identify the key trends and challenges facing youth practitioners across the UK via a monthly question.  

From one question to many answers 

Since its launch during Youth Work Week 2023, JOQ has become a vital tool for surfacing powerful practitioner perspectives, informing policy, and strengthening youth sector practice. JOQ has posed 19 questions and gathered almost 5000 unique responses. With many youth practitioners contributing regularly. These insights have informed funding campaigns, shaped policy conversations, strengthened our collective understanding of youth work and helped UK Youth advocate for a stronger, more connected and sustainable sector. View our key statistics here.

Youth workers consistently emphasised the importance of listening, empathy, and authenticity in youth work. Many expressed the need for professional development, particularly in areas like mental health support, youth participation, and digital youth work. While also calling for more interactive and peer-led learning formats. Many youth workers feel underprepared to address online harms, while reflections on personal identity and racial equity revealed a nuanced and sometimes divided landscape. 

‘Above all else, young people need time. You may have everything in place – the funding, the team, the plan, the goals…. but without investing in time, young people will feel unheard, unsupported, and unprioritized.’ (November 2023 JOQ, youth worker)  

JOQ has also shed light on systemic challenges and opportunities for sector-wide improvement. Practitioners called for stronger collaboration across education, social care, healthcare, housing, and youth justice to improve outcomes for young people. They stressed the need for shared budgets, better data-sharing, and a shift toward preventative approaches. Despite challenges encountered, youth organisations are adapting by offering flexible support, building trauma-informed practices, and strengthening cross-sector partnerships.  

“We often work in isolation because there’s no clear way to share information between schools, social services, and healthcare—everyone is working on different systems.” (January 2025, JOQ, youth worker) 

Youth voice has emerged as a central theme across several questions, with youth workers stating that the most impactful practices in embedding young people’s voice are via meaningfully involving them in decision-making, governance, and service design. Youth workers further expressed that youth initiatives are most impactful when young people are given real power in shaping services.  

“…dismayed at the way the sector has pigeonholed Youth Voice as if it is a separate, bolt on addition to youth work…Young people’s voices have always been a fundamental principle of all good youth work and should be embedded in all aspects of delivery… “ (May 2025 JOQ, Youth Worker) 

Powerful youth work insights 

Here are some of the topics covered. Click here to view the full Insight Summary from the last 2 years. 

Thank you  

Thank you to every youth practitioner who has contributed to JOQ. Your insights have helped us appreciate, advocate, and act. As UK Youth moves forward, we remain committed to asking the most useful and impactful questions and using the answers to build a better future for youth work. To help us ensure this is the case, please let us know if you have an idea for future JOQ topics. Click here to submit your suggestions.  

Keeping practitioner voices at the centre of youth work  

Moving forward, we promise we will not ask for the same information and will always share the insight to help us all ensure youth work is supported and invested so is unlocked for all young people. For further information and all work on JOQ, click here.  

This month, we’re asking – How do you create an environment that supports and sustains young people’s engagement in social action?

As a token of appreciation and to celebrate JOQ’s second anniversary, we’ll be donating £200 to a youth organisation. All respondents to November’s question will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win.

Look out for the next Just One Question blog on the insights used to inform the National Youth Strategy.