Youth review suggests new-style youth clubs

Young people want places to go where relevant services can be delivered together straight after school, emerging findings from the Make Space Youth Review reveal.

A spokesperson for the review said that young people were not interested in old-style youth clubs but wanted somewhere they could access all the services they needed in a single location.

With much antisocial behaviour occurring during the early part of the evening between the end of the school day and parents arriving home from work, young people also stressed the need for services to be available from 4pm, rather than just later in the evenings.

The spokesperson said extended schools could be a good starting point for the delivery of such services, but added that young people were adamant that they must not be run by school staff.

“We can use existing school buildings to deliver what young people want,” he said. “But we need to spend money on getting in highly skilled specialist staff. This is not about extending the school day.”

The Make Space Youth Review was launched in July and is chaired by former Labour MP Oona King. More than 1,500 children and young people have been consulted so far via the review’s roadshow, and interim findings are due to be published in February.