An entirely new establishment has recently opened its doors on one of the largest housing estates in Europe, which is located in south London. On the other hand, the youth clubs are experiencing a general trend of reductions and closures.
As a result of budget cuts during the past ten years, 750 youth centers have been forced to close their doors, and activists are pressing the incoming government to make investments in youth clubs.
At the same time that the summer vacations are beginning, Mentivity House, which is located on one of the largest estates in Europe, has recently opened its doors.
The new youth club, which is located in south London and is administered by the mentoring organization Mentivitity, offers a variety of experiences, including workshops and activities.
On the other hand, Patrick Egbuchiem, a former educator who is now a mentor, claims that youth clubs provide youngsters a great deal more than merely sports outside of academic settings.
He communicates to Sky News: “We look at emotional intelligence, we look at sharing, we look at teamwork, all those soft skills which will enable you to go into any space and feel confident about who you are and what you can achieve.”
Located in a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility, Mentivity House is a place where children are closely monitored by mentors. The building features classrooms as well as a sports hall.
The ten-year-old Beata Baiten claims that the club is located just around the corner from her house.
“There’s a big community here, they’re building a lot of houses and there’ll be a lot of children around here so all of those teenagers or tweens can come to this place and enjoy it and have fun,” according to her explanation. “It’s free as well, it doesn’t cost a dime.”
Despite the fact that these doors have only recently been opened to the neighbouring community, the YMCA reports that funding for youth programs has been reduced by £1.1 billion since 2011.
Numerous activists contend that the closing of youth centers has contributed to an increase in criminal activity among young people.
According to the Office of National Statistics, there were around 59,000 arrests of children in 2023. Additionally, the likelihood of a fatal stabbing occurring to a teenager has increased by a factor of two in comparison to the previous decade as well.
In order to protect children from being used by gangs, Sayce Holmes-Lewis, the founder of Mentivity, believes that providing them with additional support is necessary.
“What we’re seeing now in the communities across the UK is violence, youth violence,” according to the researcher. Due to the fact that we need to make investments at the earlier stage, this is something that we really need to concentrate on.”
“We have to provide that support to young people so they don’t get to that point where they can pull out a knife or hurt somebody.”
An additional two million pounds in funding has now been announced by the Mayor of London for activities that are intended to distract young people away from criminal activity in the capital throughout the summer.
On the other hand, Jacob Diggle, who works for the organization UK Youth, claims that there is a gap between regions in terms of youth groups.
“We know that in the most affluent areas of the country there’s twice as much youth work as in the most deprived areas of the country and that means those that would benefit most from youth work are missing out,” he explained to reporters.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has stated that the Labour Party will implement a youth program in order to reduce the likelihood of young people becoming involved in criminal activity.