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News

  • Waterside’s 2nd Birthday!

    Today, we are celebrating the second anniversary of Waterside Centre reopening.

    3 August 2023

  • Duck Race

    Our friends at the Rotary Club of Reading Abbey have asked us to share news of the charity fundraising event they’re running at The Oracle on Saturday 9 September.

    31 July 2023

  • Tilehurst Youth Club

    Thank you to youth worker Jessica for this update!

    31 July 2023

  • Waterside – July 2023

    Kelly told us: “The summer months bring a range of activity to Waterside Centre.

    31 July 2023

  • The Wayz – July 2023

    A real summer of fun at The Ways; the month started brilliantly with the Community Fun Day and Bracknell Together Walk.

    31 July 2023

  • Britwell – July 2023

    Britwell Youth and Community Project’s Summer Holiday Club is running from Monday 24 July– Friday 18 August (daily Monday – Friday), 11am – 3pm.

    31 July 2023

  • Updates from our Flagship Youth Clubs

    Please click on the links below for the latest updates from our flagship youth clubs in Slough, Bracknell and Newbury.

    31 July 2023

  • Youth Development and Community Engagement Update

    The school holidays are now upon us and our summer programmes are in full swing.

    31 July 2023

  • Training News

    Here are our upcoming training courses, including posters.

    31 July 2023

  • Staff Spotlight

    In the last update, we caught up with Abbas, who was celebrating his first year of working at Berkshire Youth.

    31 July 2023

Tom’s Take on Social Media

28 October 2021

It was #GetOnlineWeek, 18 to 24 October, focusing on getting online safely. We know that young people are online more than ever, and that it has huge benefits, but it also offers many challenges and it’s important to take steps to protect yourself online.

Sadly, we know that footballers have recently been on the receiving end of online abuse and trolling and that this subject is never far from the news headlines. We caught up with Tom Holmes, our Charity Ambassador and Reading FC defender, to find out his views on social media and how he protects himself online:

“Fortunately I have not experienced any online abuse, any that I’m aware of that is, as I’m not on Twitter which seems to be the main platform for it. Unfortunately in football, like in many other walks of life, players are subject to a lot of online abuse. I understand that football is entertainment at the end of the day and that it is a game of passionate opinions. A lot of the time though, especially over the last couple of seasons, social media especially Twitter has become quite toxic. Comments aren’t just comments, they have become personal attacks that, because made online, are permanent. This alone for me is enough to just avoid it all together. I’ve always seen Twitter from a young age as something extra and something that could only harm me and my game. I know that I know my game best and the only opinion that I should value and consider when looking at my game is my own. By not exposing myself to it I have found that it is something that I have not had to worry about too much. For anyone that has had bad experiences with it then coming off it is something that I would recommend as it is a simple fix that I have found to help.”

What would your advice be for anyone who experiences online abuse?

“For anyone that has experienced online abuse it is important to first block the account and then report it, but then secondly it is also equally important to talk about it however hurtful or embarrassing it may be. Let one of your family members, close friends or someone at Berkshire Youth know. By not talking about it and looking to stop it, it can be something that may happen again and again which is the last thing anyone would want to happen.”

Berkshire Youth are keen to support young people to stay safe online. We run a Be Internet Citizens course which explores media literacy, critical thinking and digital citizenship. If you experience any issues online, please find support by speaking to a trusted adult or contacting agencies such as NSPCC or CEOP for support.

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