I read an interesting article from The Guardian Society section today about how young people have limited access to youth clubs.
According to government figures, there are an estimated 12,000 youth centres in England, yet a 2007 survey by the charity 4Children found that 80% of young people say they have “nowhere to go”. The survey revealed that in the least deprived areas of the country, there is one youth club per 6,000 young people, but in the most deprived areas, there are more than 14,000 children per club.
While the article predictably focuses on government investment in youth provision, there are some more interesting parts such as the tension between voluntary agencies and local government, transport issues for young people, and the perceived role of a youth club:
Most significantly, modern youth clubs are no longer just about entertainment. Aiming High argues that modern centres should also provide top class opportunities for young people to develop their skills, access health and social services, build self-esteem, and access housing and careers advice.
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but youth clubs have never been about entertainment! From the earliest inceptions of youth work in the country, it has been motivated by a desire to provide education and welfare services to young people. Check out this infed article on the history of youth work for a more detailed account.
Anyway, go check out the article here.
Thanks to @markbarkaway via twitter
5 responses to “Limited access to youth clubs”
Youth work doesn't always happen in youth clubs/activities/provision – in fact there are many youth clubs & projects that probably think of youth work as a bit of a nonsense or in any case unnecessary and I think at least since I've been involved the distance between statutory and voluntary youth provision has widened quite a bit.
When I first started in youth work there was quite a lot of talk of 'youth work no longer being about table tennis' so presumably there was cause for the feeling that needed to be stressed!
Personally I'd argue that youth provision for young people in their spare time should be very much about entertainment/leisure with the skill of those providing the provision to use the things that interest them towards their personal development plus of course allowing for the fact that its a perfectly good purpose to simply allow children and young people to be children and young people in a safe place.
Thru all our work we must not forget Psalm 127,1: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”
You can run youth clubs, activities, events…
If Jesus is not in the centre, we will never succeed.
Hi mas, sorry for the slow response!
I totally agree that not all youth work happens in youth clubs etc. I think my point above is really that there is a lack of understanding about what youth work is. I'm not against entertainment per se, I think it is PART of what youth work does. I suppose I get a bit frustrated that people think entertainment is the aim rather than the method.
I also agree that the distance between statutory and voluntary youth provision has widened quite a bit. This is really due to direction the government agenda has taken.
Hi mas, sorry for the slow response!
I totally agree that not all youth work happens in youth clubs etc. I think my point above is really that there is a lack of understanding about what youth work is. I'm not against entertainment per se, I think it is PART of what youth work does. I suppose I get a bit frustrated that people think entertainment is the aim rather than the method.
I also agree that the distance between statutory and voluntary youth provision has widened quite a bit. This is really due to direction the government agenda has taken.
Hi mas, sorry for the slow response!
I totally agree that not all youth work happens in youth clubs etc. I think my point above is really that there is a lack of understanding about what youth work is. I'm not against entertainment per se, I think it is PART of what youth work does. I suppose I get a bit frustrated that people think entertainment is the aim rather than the method.
I also agree that the distance between statutory and voluntary youth provision has widened quite a bit. This is really due to direction the government agenda has taken.