Connexions

The Connexions Centre in Newcastle is on Percy Street (the back of Eldon Square opposite the Magic Box).

The Connexions Centre is open Monday-Friday 12 noon to 5pm. If you need to speak to an adviser in the morning on a weekday, you can call 0191 277 1944. You can also look for information on our website or contact us on-line.

If you need to speak to an adviser at any other time, you can contact Connexions Direct. Connexions Direct Advisers are available from 8am right through to 2am seven days a week. Call 080 800 13 2 19 or text 07766 413 219.

At the Connexions Centre on Percy Street you do not need an appointment to see an Adviser but there are appointments available if you would prefer one. If you do just call in you need to remember that we can be very busy in the middle of the day (between 11am-3pm) so you may have to wait. Early mornings and late afternoons are less busy.

Connexions Advisers in schools and College often hold drop in sessions where you don't need an appointment but it is best to check. If you are not sure what the arrangements are you can contact the Connexions Centre (telephone number 0191 277 1944) and they will arrange for your Connexions Adviser to contact you.

Connexions is a service for all 13-19 year olds that specialises in giving Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) on a whole range of issues. Connexions can help you with decisions about courses and jobs, housing issues, money worries, benefits advice, your rights in law and also help with more personal issues to do with health, sex and relationships. Connexions continues to support young people with special needs until the age of 25.

Personal Advisers (PAs) work for Connexions services and are based in a variety of settings such as schools, youth projects and community centres. Many young people have contact with PAs at school in careers lessons or careers interviews. PAs will often be present at parents evenings. However you will also meet PAs at your local Connexions centre working with unemployed young people or with specific groups of young people such as young mums and dads or those who have drug and alcohol problems.

Many larger towns have a Connexions Centre you can visit to make an appointment with a Personal Adviser (PA). Most Connexions services have their own websites and produce written publications for young people which you can check out to see how to make contact. Through the Connexions Direct website you can find the details of any local Connexions service in the country.

Connexions Direct is a national helpline for young people enabling support to be offered 20 hours a day by phone, email, text or webchat. Connexions Direct is staffed by trained Personal Advisers (PAs) who can give you instant help either through answering your questions straight away or by referring you to a specialist. Young people phone Connexions Direct for all sorts of reasons such as how to find an Apprenticeship to what someone should do if she thinks she is pregnant.

Some people never need to talk to Connexions. They are able to make their own decisions about the things they want to do with their life and they are lucky enough to have the support they need to help them deal with anything that comes up. However, most people will find that at some stage they do need some outside help and someone to cast a different eye on things. If you find there are things stopping you from achieving what you want it may be that a good place to start is a chat with Connexions.

Most young people will turn to parents/carers, friends, teachers and other important people in their lives to help them. Research has also shown that young people like to gather a wide range of views about what they should do in certain situations so that they can weigh up the odds. Talking to Connexions shouldn't take the place of this advice, it should be seen as taking on board another points of view. Talking to Connexions could also help you make sense of all the pieces of advice you receive from everyone else!

This depends very much on what situation you find yourself in. In school not everybody will need to see Connexions so appointments will not be made for you, but you will usually be told how you can make arrangements to see your PA. For example, you may have an assembly or a lesson given by your PA then he or she tells you how to make an appointment. If you do not want your appointment in school you can always ring your local Connexions centre and they will arrange a meeting for you.

Connexions is there for 'all' young people aged 13-19 regardless whether you are in school or not. Connexions Personal Advisers (PAs) work in the community as well as in school and whatever situation you find yourself in there will be a PA in your local area who can help you. Often the PA will seek you out - Connexions knows which young people have been excluded from school or which have been in custody for example - but if not you can always find help from you local centre or by contacting Connexions Direct.