Sharon
Chief Officer
As Chief Officer at Ynot Aspire, Sharon uses her background in youth support and housing to help young people thrive. Sharon is no stranger to Hyndburn, having previously worked for the Youth Offending Team as an Anti-Social Behaviour Officer. In this role, Sharon worked with local young people and agencies, before founding Ynot Aspire. Sharon started Ynot to make a difference to the lives of young people, and is living her own dream by achieving just that today.
Sharon has two grown-up children of her own and knows first-hand the difficulties of finding activities and courses that not only inspire young people now, but help them build the skills and embrace the qualities they need to go on to reach their goals.
Julie
Project Support Officer
Julie is our Project Support Officer at Ynot Aspire and comes to us with a wealth of job and life experience.
A former bingo caller, amusement arcade manager, Bistro owner and newsagent Julie decided to return to education as a mature student in the 1990s and Graduated from UCLAN with an Honours Degree in Women’s Studies. Her studies fuelled her passion to help those people who for whatever reason had not progressed in life as well as they might have.
After a decade of working on projects for local colleges and the University Julie set up her own business offering career and personal development support. The natural happy progression to all this led her to the doorstep of Ynot Aspire and the wonderful work they do supporting young people in education and the community.
Paul
Chair
Paul is now of an age where he doesn’t mention it’s his birthday.
Running a business in Financial Services means always dealing with people.
While it can be perceived that means money it’s actually also dealing with their lives.
No matter who you are the issues are the same, just that the scale will be different.
“Love, security, self-respect, recognition, creative expression and new experiences – we all need and
being able to help with some or all of these is rewarding in itself”
Being an Accy lad Paul wanted to support a local charity and with some fund raising and being asked last year to be Chair was an honour albeit due to tragic circumstance
Kyle
Wellbeing Coordinator
Kyle is our Wellbeing Coordinator here at Ynot Aspire. Kyle started his journey as a volunteer with us back in 2019. While volunteering, he gained new knowledge and skills that prepared him for when it came to apply for a Youth Worker position.
Kyle loves working with us and helping young people achieve their potential by supporting them with their mental health. Having been a Youth Worker for three years, the chance to become the Wellbeing Coordinator came, and Kyle decided this was the next step for him!
Being offered the opportunity to take on this role has made him more determined to provide early prevention and intervention to support young people.
Daisy
Youth Worker
Daisy is our Youth Worker here at Ynot Aspire.
She was inspired to join Ynot Aspire after seeing the amazing work they do for young people.
“I knew I wanted to help make a difference, and Ynot seemed like the perfect organization to join to help achieve that. The most rewarding and enjoyable part of my job is seeing the difference I make to young people’s lives.
When I was younger, I struggled in school but thankfully I had a member of staff who was someone I could talk to, and he helped me get back on track.
Outside work I love camping with my family and exploring new locations around the UK, I love the adventure of finding new places and admiring the views and nature. “
Bracken
Health & wellbeing support worker
Bracken is our health and wellbeing support worker here at Ynot Aspire. She was inspired to join Ynot Aspire by the clear need for more accessible, flexible, and youth-centred mental health services in Lancashire. Many existing services are limited by rigid thresholds, time constraints, or prescribed curriculums that don’t always reflect the unique and evolving needs of young people.
“I was drawn to Ynot Aspire’s commitment to providing support that is responsive, holistic, and truly led by the needs of the young person, ensuring they are seen, heard, and supported without unnecessary barriers.
The most rewarding or enjoyable part of your job is supporting young people to develop coping skills, resilience and self esteem.”
Jess
Youth Worker
Jess is one of our youth workers here at Ynot Aspire.
She works across three high schools, supporting children and young people who are struggling with their mental health. Her role includes one-to-one sessions throughout the school day, as well as group work covering everything from transitioning to high school to challenging behaviours.
“Having worked in education for a few years I could clearly see the decline in students’ mental health. Early intervention can help make a massive difference with young people, so I wanted to be working in a job that was able to provide that.”
Most rewarding part of the job? – “Seeing a young person come to a 1-1 very shy and reserved and them slowly being able to show themselves fully and be accepted for who they are and seeing what a difference this makes in their confidence.”