ANYONE who has experience of dealing with youngsters of today would know the wide range of skills needed to be a youth worker.

Ann Baldaro, a key member of the team at Kidderminster's Bromsgrove Street Youth Centre, could hardly be better equipped.

A trained teacher and sports enthusiast with much experience of dealing with the young both in her career and as a mother, her qualifications on paper are impeccable.

But she would also rate less easy to measure talents such as those needed to win the confidence and respect of the young.

They range from a genuine enjoyment of young people's company to having the perseverance and experience to solve problems.

Ask her the secret of getting on with youngsters and she will say one of the more important points is "having not only a sense of humour but also a sense of fun."

It also means being able to understand how the young think. A commuter from Birmingham, she takes care always to be home in time to have meals with her youngest son aged 17. "He knows what my job is so it is specially important he does not feel other young people mean more to me than him."

The ability to keep cheerful and approachable is vital in a job that has its fair share of worries.

Many of the children who take part in the social, sports and other activities at the centre are happy and well-balanced which Ann says is important to give the less fortunate the chance of experiencing "normality".

But Ann also meets many with heart-rending problems. She is especially concerned about the growing number of young casualties from the divorce epidemic.

She encounters many in the relatively new sessions she has started in Wyre Forest High Schools.

"Teachers often pick up on youngsters who suffer from home problems because it affects their work. The sessions make specialist advice easy to access for those, especially boys, who would not easily seek help."

There is no real cure for the wounds caused by a broken marriage however, she suspects. "The solution is to stop it happening. We need to get it across the grass is not greener on the other side and the price is very high, especially for children."

Other distressing problems are the rise in the incidence of drug-taking, alcohol abuse and lack of proper provision in Wyre Forest for the young homeless.

She would like to see a "foyer" in the district offering sheltered accommodation with social and training facilities under the same roof and providing the protection and help disadvantaged youngsters need to get their lives together.