Report reveals rural youth work cuts and how to boost provision

Youth clubs, often based in village halls, provide a vital focal point for young people in rural communities. But, like many areas across the country, provision has been closed and reduced in the face of cuts to local authority youth services over the past decade. A new report by the National Youth Agency (NYA) highlights the scale of the cuts and why they are particularly damaging for rural communities, and sets out a series of recommendations to breathe new life into youth provision in England’s rural towns and villages to help young people face the post-pandemic challenges.

Scale of funding cuts

The NYA’s report, Overlooked: Young People and Rural Youth Services, cites figures published by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on youth affairs that shows how councils covering predominately rural areas have historically spent less in total and per head terms than urban ones. Since 2011/12, spending on services for young people across England has more than halved from £787m to £324m (see graphics).

Over the nine-year period, the per head spending on youth services in urban areas of England has fallen 60 per cent, slightly higher than the 56 per cent fall in rural areas. However, the typical spend in rural areas (£47 per head) is still a quarter lower than the average in urban areas (£62 per head). Spending on universal and targeted services have dropped dramatically, but the gap between rural and urban areas is most stark in spending on open-access youth work – 42 per cent in per head spending, compared with 12 per cent in spending on provision for the most at risk groups (see graphics).

The report explains that such low levels of spending mean that in some rural areas “there is little or no provision at all”. It states: “In many rural areas the voluntary and community sector has stepped in to try and plug some of the gaps left by a loss or lack of local authority-funded services. However, the [APPG] inquiry on youth work found that there are virtually no youth services across large parts of the country, in rural areas. A prime example is from one local authority that went from a whole team of rural workers, who were helping to reduce the social isolation of rural young people, to now managing one zero-hour part-time youth worker.”

Contributing factors

The report highlights factors that contribute to the disparity in youth services funding and provision between rural and urban areas.

• Community groups

  Rural areas have a greater proportion of small charities (less than £100,000 income) than urban areas. A small local charity may provide a better community connection and the ability to quickly identify emerging needs and build trust. However, they also tend to have lower levels of expertise, higher staff turnover rates and a greater reliance upon targeted, one-off and time-limited funding.

• Accessibility

  The more rural an area the worse the accessibility to services, most of which are in “hub” towns, due to limited public transport options – which is often too expensive for families in poverty – and a rural roads system that is not cycle friendly. The wider dispersal of secondary schools in rural areas also means that many young people live and attend services in one authority but go to school in another; this leads to problems in joining up support across boundaries and restricts the use of school sites for youth provision.

• Digital connection

  Figures from Ofcom show that in England, 11 per cent of rural premises have no access to decent broadband and 26 per cent have no access to “superfast” broadband, compared with one and three per cent respectively for urban areas. A good 4G data service is available to only 41 per cent of rural premises, half that of their urban counterparts. Lack of connectivity is both a social disadvantage and an obstacle to developing services that may be able to cope with periods of social distancing measures.

• Education opportunities

  Accessibility problems and fewer college options means post-16 opportunities are more limited for young people in rural areas. This translates into fewer young people going to higher education – the Social Mobility Commission found that young people are twice as likely to go to university from a social mobility “hot spot”, compared with remote rural cold spots or former industrial areas. The report adds: “Without the financial means or access to volunteering or work experience young people lack the competitive advantages others have when seeking employment.”

Post-pandemic priorities

The pandemic poses significant challenges for the rural economy, with its reliance on tourism and hospitality for jobs, sectors that have a high level of youth employment.

In its recommendations for policymakers, the report is clear that investing in formal and informal education – and giving young people a say in the activities provided – is key to ensuring rural areas do not become “skewed towards an older demographic”.

“It is important for schools, colleges and youth services to come together, to engage young people in education, levelling up opportunities in rural areas…and to support young people to be school-ready and work-ready at key transition stages,” it states.

In addition to the widespread closures of youth clubs and centres in the last decade, the report cites a survey by Action with Communities in Rural England which found that a third of village halls had reduced their youth work offer in the year to April 2020.

Tish Feilden, who runs Jamie’s Farm in East Sussex, a therapeutic farm-stay for disadvantaged young people, says closures of youth clubs has had a serious impact on young people in rural areas. She says: “Previously, many children used their youth centres as a place to meet and build relationships with peers and trusting adults. They often tell us that generally they have nowhere to go.”

Feilden says that projects like Jamie’s Farm can improve young people’s wellbeing and help them develop skills they can use in the rural economy in the future (see expert view).

Call for investment

In the report, the NYA calls for policymakers to invest in existing, often under-used, community assets such as village halls, school sites, sports clubs and outdoor spaces. Refurbishing buildings so that they can become safe spaces for young people to go year-round should also be considered. In addition, it calls for capital funding to include mini-buses, mobile youth services and digital technology where there are large catchment areas for services.

A flexible approach to provision is crucial for improving support for young people, says Kev Henman, chief executive of Space Youth Services in Devon. He advocates a youth service model incorporating street-, building- and digital-based provision. “You’re probably not going to get all three unless you live in a major centre, but ensuring rural areas are served by at least one should mean young people can access support and services,” he explains.

Henman backs the NYA’s call for councils to set a “baseline” of youth provision that is co-ordinated through local youth partnerships and overseen by the Cabinet Office or NYA. For rural areas, this could be arranged across council boundaries, he adds.

• Overlooked: Young People and Rural Youth Services, NYA, August 2021 www.nya.org.uk
  
  

EXPERT VIEW LEARNING RURAL SKILLS CAN HELP YOUNG PEOPLE SEE A FUTURE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

By Tish Feilden, therapist, Jamie’s Farm

During Covid, the programmes on our four farms remained open to vulnerable local children. We experienced the huge relief they expressed coming together outdoors as groups and being able to build social skills, trust in adults and themselves and positively engaging in farming and the environment. Alongside this, our therapeutic support meant children could reveal their vulnerabilities and gain personal support.

Covid has deprived many children of their core needs of safety, freedom to explore and play, and to build trusting positive relationships with adults and peers. Our evidence shows that children thrive when engaged in real tasks with real outcomes. Farming gives them an immediate boost to self-confidence; taking on jobs they would generally avoid and seeing the benefit of trying new things.

Previously, many children used their youth centres as a place to meet and build relationships with peers and trusting adults alike. They often tell us that generally they have nowhere to go. They commonly live in their bedrooms engaged in a digital world where the cultures represented are urban and materialistic.

Rural children often feel disenfranchised and depressed feeling the world represented through social media is inaccessible to them. They can feel alienated from their families, and can become vulnerable to grooming and exploitation by gangs. The mission of Jamie’s Farm is to support young people to thrive in education using the rural environment to help them rediscover their potential, build resilience and equip themselves with the skills to handle future challenges.

Youth groups and interventions like Jamie’s Farm enable children to embrace the potential of living and working in the countryside. After a week on the farm where the values are hard work, collaboration, positivity and kindness, children often express their desire to work in the countryside, belong to community and make positive contributions. Many want to return for work experience, find apprenticeships or become youth leaders themselves. They learn to love and respect the countryside and all it has to offer for them and future generations.