Get a degree in BA Community Development and Youth Studies

Want to study at a university that puts students first? The University of Bolton, ranked Top 5 in the UK for Teaching Quality in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020, offers a positive and supportive learning environment.

Community Development and Youth Work are areas that people don’t need extra inspiration to get involved in. The best and most selfless types see the problems that exist in their communities and with young people and often just want to throw themselves at it. 

When we grow up in a community that has good mentors and provides guidance, it can make a world of difference. It can change what we believe we can achieve, and give us access to the resources that help us realise those beliefs.

Inspirational community and youth workers have the power to change lives for the better, and that’s something we should all want to do. If you needed further encouragement, look at a couple of the world’s most famous and influential people, who happened to start their careers in community work.

In his early years in Chicago and while studying law at Harvard, Barack Obama was deeply committed to community work. His decision to study law was based on his desire to better influence the community level challenges he was confronted with, from voting rights to housing, social care and taxation.

It was through this that Barack met Michelle, and is actually a big reason why Michelle was so impressed with her future husband. That selflessness and desire to do good is brilliantly reflected in Barack’s own words.

"I think I figured out once I got to school that if I am chasing after my own success, that somehow, I am going to end up alone and unhappy," he said.

"And that's why I ended up going into community organizing and the work that I was doing because when I thought about how I want to spend my life, what I looked at was what those civil rights workers had done... And the freedom riders had done. And I thought, you know, that looks like hard work but it never looks like lonely work. That looks like hard and risky work but it never looks like selfish, isolated, meaningless work."

Supporters of the future President Obama would say that these qualities are what made him such a successful and beloved leader.

If you’re interested in applying your talents towards helping other people and getting the same great sense of fulfilment, then Community Development and Youth Studies could be the perfect career for you.

The University of Bolton Faculty of Health and Wellbeing is dedicated to providing students with the best education and support they need to enjoy community work.

Learn more about BA Community Development and Youth Studies at the University of Bolton and find out how you can apply now.