Dialogue: Dr Sue Bagshaw

07 Feb 2011

When it comes to youth health in Canterbury, Dr Sue Bagshaw has been the pivotal figure who has advocated for those who need it most. And when ‘198 Youth’, a free health clinic on Hereford Street and one of Sue’s pet projects, was shut down due to a change in funding by the CDHB – the issues and idiosyncrasies of youth became a hot topic. Spanky Moore caught up with her to discover how her Christian faith and passion for young people intersect.

Working with young people who are on the edge of society must be hugely challenging – why do it?
Young people who don’t have a supportive family, a school they can belong to, or a community that values them need a youth health service more than anyone. They have the same enormous potential that other young people have; they just don’t have anyone to help them develop it. Our society needs young people on the edge. We can’t afford to miss out on anyone’s contribution.

So why do youth even need their own health services?
Young people are still developing – most importantly their brain function, but also their sexual capacity and emotional and social functioning. They don’t have spare cash and they need an environment that is friendly to their age and stage. This is much harder to provide in a health service that is for everyone of all ages.

How does your faith impact the work you do?
Believing that God will provide even though there is no sign of it is amazingly hard! But the fantastic thing is that God really does provide – and the timing is always perfect – the waiting is the hard bit. Also knowing how much God loves me makes it seem natural to want to share that in a “doing” way.

Tell me about this new project you’re working on…
It’s not really new – we’re just trying to keep our original idea of a community youth health service, which tries to provide as many services in one place as possible. We try to provide doctor and nurse type medical services, mental health service with free counseling, social services with help to access jobs, training, housing, food and benefits. A lot of young people say that we are a safe place to go where they find people that actually care about them as people.

It can be hard to work out how to connect and assist young people who are having trouble. What could churches and individual Christians do to help out?
The major thing that a young person needs to develop well is a caring adult in their lives who accepts them completely for who they are - warts and all - and values them no matter what their background is or what they have done. A caring adult can help a young person to develop their dreams and go on to live them. This means getting to know them – spending time with them, and listening to what they have to say. Church youth groups are often a great place where young people can source an adult like this. Individuals can help by volunteering to be mentors, or even being foster parents.