About a year ago, my friends and I were getting into a lot of trouble with the police as we were bored and taking part in antisocial behaviour. We were in danger of getting an antisocial behaviour order for the damage we did to the community and not respecting where we live.
When I met Hafi, a youth interventions officer from Aldwyck Housing Group, I asked him about improving the area and what we could do to help.
With the help of my friend Damian, we suggested starting up a youth club as a place where we could all meet up. This led to us opening the Youth Hub in Houghton Regis.
When the hub opened, we didn’t have any facilities, so Hafi showed us how to apply for grants to purchase equipment. Spending time applying for the money also helped keep us out of trouble, as we were too busy building our youth club.
We now attract around 30 young people to the hub each week and more than 100 young people have visited us. Our greatest achievement has been receiving a Highly Commended at the 2014 TPAS Awards (Tenant Participation Advisory Service).
Getting involved with Aldwyck has changed my life because I no longer get into trouble. I enjoy speaking to the young people to make sure they do not follow the road that I went down.
Register Now to Continue Reading
Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's Included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Email newsletter providing advice and guidance across the sector
Already have an account? Sign in here
