Winston Goode
Case Study
How would you like to be described?
Now that’s a tricky one to start off with, I’ve been described as many things such as youth work legend, champion of young people, community activist so take your pick.
How would you describe what you do?
Youth work is complex series of professional principles, practices and methods which we often describe as the science of enabling young people to believe in themselves and build positive futures.
What is your greatest achievement?
Becoming a father first and foremost, working for myself & becoming the founder of my own charity called Juvenis, plus without knowing being introduced as one of London’s most influencial people in 2019 via the Evening Standards’: The Progress 1000. I also made The Independent’s Happy List in 2019, which celebrated 50 people whose kindness, ingenuity and braveness have made Britain a better place to live, doing extraordinary things without their personal gain in mind.
What was the cause or ’trigger for this journey of making the world a better place through being useful and kind? And how old were you? When did you realise you could make a difference?
I don’t think there was a cause or trigger; someone saw something in me when I was a teenager myself and said give it a go and that’s where my passion for youth work developed. My ability to build relationships with young people and develop a process of enabling change, giving information, choice and advice to them was the start of my journey.
Was it something your parents are/would have been proud of and encouraged?
To be honest I’ve never had a good relationship with my family, I was raised by my grandparents and saw my mum only on school holidays. To this day I have never met my dad but that hasn’t stopped me from being the man/father I am today and raising my own family. So, in essence their behaviour has encouraged me to do better but are they proud of me, who knows!
Who or what were your early influences?
My earliest influence was a conversation I overheard my family having about me when I was younger and repeatedly saying ‘he’ll never amount to anything’. This was the catalyst for change, and I was driven to prove them wrong. Don’t get me wrong I messed up along the way by getting caught up in the wrong crowd, finding myself in trouble with the police but then I met this fantastic woman by the name of Lorraine Ferdinand at college. She was my first proper mentor/influencer I had and needed at that transitional stage of my life.
What were you doing at 16?
Finishing school and wondering my next steps, my dream was to play football but that was soon scuppered by my grandparents who wanted me to learn a trade so that dream died a death very quickly. I also left a sleepy town at 16 and headed for the bright lights of London to live with my mum, as mentioned before that relationship didn’t blossom so towards the latter part of my teenage years, I left home and moved into a youth hostel.
What advice would you give to other young people?
Words or actions can make another person smile or feel better, this encourages others in turn to offer genuine acts of consideration.
What has been the most difficult challenge on the way and how did you overcome it?
I would probably say raising a family through some of the most challenging times for young people, especially around violence that affects the whole community. Being the job has certainly made it easier for me to talk to my children as we often spend time together. I’m trying to really be there for young people (mine included) instead of just being in the same room. How do I overcome this, by paying attention to myself, others, and the world around me with kindness. Presently, we are living in a period of uncertainty with this pandemic, and while there has been a lot of chaos and anxiety, I am also learning to stop and notice. Taking time to wait it out and ask myself what really matters in a given moment, but I do get better at this every day.
What do you think are the changes we need to see in the world and how can being U&K help solve those things?
As we listen to news around the world and grapple with our own daily lives, it can feel like our world is in the midst of chaos and we’re too small to make a difference. So please don’t forget that each of us can make a difference one relationship at a time and bring greater kindness and hope to everyone’s world.
How are you useful and kind to yourself - what helps and hinders?
There’s only one person in the world you’ll always have a relationship with, and that’s yourself. Therefore, it’s time to make sure that you’re a good companion to yourself. Live your best life by being kind to yourself. My top three tips would be
1) accept yourself as you are. You have strengths, and you also have weaknesses. Sometimes you succeed, and sometimes you fail. Sometimes you’re right, and sometimes you’re wrong so allow yourself to fully be who you are
2) Part of being kind to yourself is wanting the best for yourself, and in order to get the best you have to believe in yourself.
3) Every day carve out some time for yourself and do something that makes you smile or feel fulfilled
How are you both useful and kind to others (the easy ones and those who are more difficult to be U&K to)?
That’s an easy one to get to grips with, always remember to treat them with respect. It’s the same as remembering the golden rule “treat others as you would like to be treated” and I’m sure most people have heard this said on numerous occasions.
What is your biggest challenge in the future?
Hoping that I have instilled in my children the right values and they carry these same values plus develop their own and live by them. These values for me are Honesty, Justice, Determination, Consideration and Love
What do you wish you had done differently?
In all honesty nothing, I’m a firm believer that a series of little choices can lead to failure but it’s how you bounce back from those choices. I pay attention to my errors, no matter how big or how small they might seem and recognise that each mistake can be an opportunity to build mental toughness and become better.