x-plore Online Sessions
Young people have been attending our X-plore sessions online using a platform called Discord. These sessions have gone really well with young people and some have been involved since the very beginning. By moving the sessions online, we've been able to remove the geographic boundaries that sometimes prevent young people from attending our face to face sessions, due to the distance they live away from our centres.
During the online sessions, our X-plore groups have talked to us about staff, young people and trustees using their pronouns. So now we encourage staff that feel comfortable, to add their pronouns onto their name to support LGBTQ+ participants and to improve the general culture within the organisation to be open to this.
When setting up and using Discord as the online youth group platform, we worked through the settings, criteria, limitations, restrictions, safeguarding issues with multiple platforms and in the end settled on using Discord. On Discord we can limit access (invite only) to prevent random strangers joining and can moderate the 'rooms' by having youth workers present in rooms at all times. We already have contact details for all young people using the site, so we can follow up on any concerns. We also worked with young people to put together guidance on use of the system, safety rules (having a private space to use it, not giving out personal details etc) and accessibility issues.
We are on Discord Mondays from 5pm-6pm. If you would like to join, you can send us an email at: xploreyouthdevon@gmail.com OR send us a message on Facebook/ Instagram.
It’s a great chance to meet friends and make new ones in a supervised, supportive environment which can help you develop social skills by interacting with others and taking part in group activities.
We cover a range of topics; including; LGBTQ+ History Month, cyber bullying, online games, face painting and discussing the return to school and exams. We also play online games such as Among Us and do quizzes!
Alex says:
‘’I really like X-plore as it gives you a chance to find new friends, do new things and have a chance to be who you want to be. Even when it's not in person, online X-plore is very fun. At times I haven't been feeling the best and never went on the chats but tonight I went on and it made me feel better even though I don't talk alot, I only really say hello.‘’
