GoVirtual: Scaling Inclusive Digital Youth Work for Isolated and Marginalised Young People: Adam Leech and Tom Rickard

Traditional, in-person Youth Work often struggles to reach the most vulnerable young people due to physical, geographic, or social barriers. Foróige, the national youth development organisation, launched GoVirtual as a reimagined model to meet young people where they are. Initially piloted as VRógie, the model utilises Virtual Reality (VR) to provide immersive online spaces for youth work. GoVirtual specifically targets those who are geographically isolated (young people on islands, rural isolation), physically isolated or experiencing significant social anxiety and neurodivergent young people.

Between 2023 and 2025, GoVirtual underwent an extensive national scaling, expanding to 130 VR sites and training over 300 Youth Workers in Foróige. The project provided 400 Meta Quest headsets to facilitate engagement in virtual environments like Rec Room, Dala (school-related anxiety), and PatchWorld (for collaborative music creation). The GoVirtual team adopted a locally managed model for headsets, at VR site level, while also providing centralised support in developing pedagogy and methodologies. Coupled with a rigorous onboarding process and the development of GoVirtual Child Safeguarding Policy and Procedures provided the environment for staff integrating VR youth work into their own practices.

The efficacy of this model is best illustrated by the Alternate Spacers, the virtual youth group that meets weekly in VR. This group serves as a primary proof of concept for reaching young people who are geographically or socially isolated. The project successfully engaged physically disabled young people, geographically isolated young people, neurodivergent young people and young carers.

An independent review completed in early 2026 confirmed that GoVirtual successfully established a proof of concept for reaching marginalised young people. Key observations from the research included the following:

– Skill development: 90% of surveyed youth workers agreed that VR is a powerful tool for fostering digital, creative and communication skills.

– Social impact: Parents and practitioners reported significant improvements in social skills and self-confidence, noting that the use of avatars reduced the barriers of eye contact and facial expressions that often hinders neurodivergent young people in physical settings.

– Accessibility: For wheelchair users and isolated carers, VR provided a sense of independence and peer connection without the logistical stress of travel or physical spaces not being designed or accessible for them.

The project highlighted several practitioner level challenges, including the high admin burden of keeping headsets charged and updated, internet connections in rural areas and the need for regular refresher training to maintain staff confidence and competence. To ensure sustainability, the review recommends moving towards a national or regional funding framework that is disentangled from local geography, allowing specialists to reach isolated young people across country/funding borders.

This presentation will share the practical journey of GoVirtual, offering a roadmap for other practitioners looking to integrate XR into non-formal education. It demonstrates that while technology is a medium, the core remains high quality and youth centered support that empowers the most isolated young people to build connections, gain skills and develop a sense of belonging in the digital age.