Shotton Parish Council working in close partnership with Shotton Partnership 2000 Ltd. has been awarded a transformational Youth Investment Fund grant to build its youth service offer to young people across Shotton Colliery and neighbouring villages. It is very welcome news for young people supported by the Parish Council and Shotton Partnership who will benefit from the generous funding and means that Shotton Outreach Youth Hub will be able to support another 150 young people when the project is complete.
The Outreach Youth Hub will be built in Shotton Community Park, which is an ideal location to engage more young people and will offer services and activities which have been identified by the young people of Shotton.
Shotton Outreach Youth Hub is one of 140 youth centres in England to benefit from a Youth Investment Fund grant, announced by the funder, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the charity Social Investment Business, who is delivering the grant programme in partnership with Key Fund, National Youth Agency and Resonance. The Youth Investment Fund is part of the Government’s National Youth Guarantee to transform and level up opportunities for young people in England. The Youth Investment Fund, of over £300 million, aims to build, renovate, or extend youth services in the parts of the country where new spaces and new opportunities are most needed.
The Youth Investment Fund grants announced today are worth over £90 million.
Over £90 million of grants were also announced to 43 youth services in March 2023, and another £70 million announced to 44 youth centres in August 2023. This means that so far a total of over £250 million has been invested in youth services across England and will benefit thousands of young people.
Our Youth Investment Fund grant will enable youth services like Shotton Community Outreach Youth Hub to transform health, wellbeing, skills, and opportunities for young people. It is a ground-breaking opportunity to prioritise the needs of young people and deliver the life-changing services they need, creating a more equal society for future generations.
A Youth Investment Fund grant of over £1.3 million will transform services for young people in Shotton Colliery. It means work can now start to develop a wide range of support and services for our young people with a new dedicated Outreach Youth Hub building to open its doors in Spring 2024.
The Outreach Youth Hub will initially provide youth sessions four days a week as well as a session at the weekends. The services and activities will include sports & games; ‘chill out’ space; coaching; music decks; film nights and social nights, to name a few. The young people will be consulted on what they want us to provide and, wherever possible, we will bring their ideas to fruition. This project will provide exciting opportunities for the young people of Shotton as it is the first major youth investment in our village. It will give them a purpose built centre to explore and help develop the services and activities they wish to be involved in as well as create greater engagement and support for their personal development.
Young people supported by Shotton Parish Council & Shotton Partnership 2000 Ltd played a key role in developing this exciting new project.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:
“I want to see every young person have someone to talk to, something to do, and somewhere to go outside of the classroom, no matter where they are from, to help maximise their potential in life.”
“This next round of funding from the Youth Investment Fund will help nearly 20,000 more young people achieve this goal.”
“We have now committed to building or refurbishing over 220 projects in some of the country’s most underserved areas, creating more opportunities for young people to gain the skills needed to succeed in life and stopping them from falling through the cracks.”
Nick Temple, CEO for Social Investment Business, that leads the delivery partnership said:
“The Youth Investment Fund is transforming the youth service landscape right across the country, enabling youth centres of all shapes and sizes to enhance their services and reach more young people.”
“It’s very exciting to see the first Youth Investment Fund new build open its doors to Chichester’s young people today. Before securing the funding, these young people had nowhere safe to go, and nothing to do after school. Young people now have a brand-new youth centre, inspired by their ideas and needs, giving them every opportunity to thrive and discover their passions. The Youth Investment Fund is truly unlocking potential and creating a legacy for future generations of young people in communities like this across the country.”
Welcoming the Youth Investment Fund grant, Councillor Lorraine Cox (Chair of Shotton Parish Council) and Audrey Hepworth (Chair of Shotton Partnership) and Tilly Oliver (Shotton Youth liaison representative) said:
“We are delighted and proud to announce this significant investment to provide dedicated facilities and services to invest in our young people.
It is a testament to our successful and strong community partnership working in Shotton Colliery. The funding will support and help address concerns and issues raised by our community and our young people.
“Wow, I didn’t think that when I took part in the video, we would get the money – when I was told, it feels like I’ll be part of history”
Find out more about the Youth Investment Fund here.