THE NATIONAL YOUTH AGENCY: Comment - Building for character

It is not surprising, then, that adventure has been a golden thread in the work of the many youth organisations and specialised human development bodies such as Brathay.

Brathay's position symbolises many current issues facing such work.

The trust has an attractive building in a beautiful spot in the Lake District with ready access to mountains and water. It has so developed its approach and methods that it can also deploy them in other places, with corporate bodies as well as the young. It runs some 400 'corporate' courses a year to set alongside (and subsidise) the 255 'youth' courses it offers. But Brathay, under its visionary chief executive, Brian Liversedge, knows that methodologies need continued updating and so do its buildings. It accepts that new regulations about health and safety, while irksome, have to be adhered to in order to manage risk. The social enterprise model it has created to promote experiential learning has to be endlessly reshaped to meet changing needs and find new markets. All that needs investment. No doubt some of it will come from individuals who have benefited down the years. Some may come from a farsighted development agency that sees economic benefit to its region of having a vibrant, youth-oriented facility. But shouldn't central government also be coming forward directly with financial help? Didn't we once have a youth service capital grants programme? It would be a good time to have another one. Such a programme could refurbish not only Brathay but other facilities that give young people great opportunities to explore the countryside. And themselves.