The amazing and inspiring Sue Atkins reached the end of this life’s journey on Saturday, April 20th. She died peacefully in her bed at home leaving all of us, who loved her, to shake our heads in disbelief at the heartbreaking news. Her contribution within and without youth work to the struggle for ‘another, better world’ remains remarkable. The story of her passionate commitment demands to be told and in the coming days we will begin to piece the drama together. With this in mind we would welcome your anecdotes to fill out the script. Send them to Tony Taylor at tonymtaylor@gmail.com
And to give you a flavour of Sue’s journey here she is in 1966. In her words, The Rt Hon. Jennie Lee, visited ‘our Youth House ‘. That’s my wee Mum on the right, and me on the left. I was working with a group in ‘Improvisation in theatre’ . ( IDYW ‘rehearsed and improvised!) Jennie Lee as Minister for Arts had wanted to ‘see young people in Arts and at Ickenham Hall, she saw what was the best of both worlds. Open Access and Arts Groups from a youth orchestra , to puppet making, to youth theatre to slot car racing, young farmers, Ballet, Ballroom dancing Canteen, and not forgetting the wee pool table, the library and more , all under one roof. My Mum was ‘Warden’ which meant that she and my Dad managed the place .
1966 ~ I had just completed my youth work training at Leicester and believed I was back in Hillingdon for good . 16 months later I came to Sheffield
In her last 2023 annual report to her beloved Youth Association South Yorkshire [YASY] she noted:
For the last 150 years, some form of Youth Work has taken place. On reflection, this has always been about creating spaces for young people, maybe originally to convey certain aspects of lifestyle and ‘build character’. Yet, for me, Youth Work has always sought to enable & facilitate young people within that space to test, explore and flourish, to discover their hopes & dreams and find their focus and direction.
Enough for now – so many memories, smiles and tears, joy and sadness.
SUSAN ATKINS RIP
IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH WORK 
[…] or can also read Sue Atkins, our friend, comrade and inspiration – Rest in Peace and Power – IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH … […]
Sue Atkins was an inspiration for so many of us working in youth work over decades. She ensured that those of us who working in academia had to reflect on our language and keeping the core values always at the heart of our work with students as well as young people.
RIP Sue Atkins
Atkins ! It’s generally good to get someone’s name right – especially at a time like this.