'Long awaited' youth hub for city could help prevent a 'lost decade'

GOVERNMENT SCHEME HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REACH THOUSANDS

- By JOEL MOORE

COMMUNITY leaders in Nottingham say plans to create a new youth hub in the city could potentially “change the trajectory of thousands of young people”.

On Wednesday, December 10, the government announced it would spend £500 million on youth services across England as part of a 10-year plan to revive the “decimated” sector. This includes building or refurbishing 250 youth centres and launching 50 new Young Future hubs, one of the first of which will be in Nottingham.

The hub will be created in the city next March, the Labour government said, and will be run by Nottingham City Council, which will be able to access up to £500,000 once plans are drawn up.

Marcellus Baz, founder and chief executive of youth charity Switch Up, welcomed the hub and said he was encouraged by the government’s plan.

“Front line organisations like ours have been calling for this for years, it’s a long time coming)” he said. “To make a real difference, this investment must be rooted in grassroots partnerships, organisations who already have the trust of young people and have been holding our communities together through the toughest years.

“If we get this right, we are not just preventing a ‘lost decade; we are building a generation of resilient, skilled, hopeful young people who can drive Nottingham forward”