Across England, youth clubs are changing. Crumbling old buildings with leaky roofs are being replaced by new state-of-the-art youth centres brimming with the latest gadgetry. This is, of course, if you live in one of the few areas that have successfully secured the necessary funding.
Leading the charge is Bolton Lads and Girls Club. Founded in 1888, its new centre was built in the late 1990s for 5m and attracts 250 young people a night. Jeremy Glover, the club's chief executive, is under no illusions as to why the club is so successful. It's the facilities, stupid.
In fact, Glover wants the Government to learn from Bolton and build 10 more super-clubs using the 40m Youth Capital Fund, rather than fulfilling its plan to spread it across every English local authority.
"Forty million sounds a lot," he says. "But if you divide it up between local authorities they'll get about half a million each, and all that will come out of it is new gutters and a paint job."
He says the money should be restricted to 10 bigger centres, which would act as beacons and create momentum for more state-of-the-art youth clubs.
He accepts there would be arguments about where the 10 centres should go, but thinks that once the decision was taken youth workers would support it.
In a deprived part of west London, another expensive new centre has just opened its doors. The Stowe Youth Club, the name of which comes from the public school that used to run the project, has just opened new 5m premises at The Stowe Centre. In the shadow of the Westway's hurtling traffic, and next to the busy Harrow Road, the clean, functional-looking new structure offers hope to young people in an area of deprivation. Although not quite finished, it already houses a Connexions centre on the ground floor, a gym in the basement and a youth floor upstairs, with another area for voluntary groups, colleges, further education and training.
World of possibility
By renting out these spaces, Jackie Rosenberg, deputy chief executive of the Paddington Development Trust, which manages the project, says she can add 60-70,000 to the 100,000-a-year grant from Westminster City Council. For her, the building offers almost magical possibilities: "The kids can come in with an idea for a song and work on it, then leave with a DVD of the song on our own record label."
The new club is the result of serendipity as much as judgment. The biggest catalyst was the council's decision to create a new city academy down the road from the old youth club. In order to build it, a GP's surgery needed to be moved. The Stowe club's site had extra space so a decision was taken by the council to knock down the old building and build a bright new joint health centre and youth club.
Sonia Alexander, the club's youth activities co-ordinator, says local young people have been overwhelmed by the new centre. On a recent Tuesday night, the young people seemed to be getting to know the space, testing it before they formed a view. The most impressive sight was the DJ room, where a group of young men from different ethnic groups stood around rapping and mixing records, encouraged by a youth worker. The young man mixing the record, 18-year-old Ash, or Avenger as he likes to be called, sums up what the new music facilities mean: "The old place wasn't so good. Now the equipment is very good and when the studio opens that's going to be excellent, too."
Camal Architects came up with the design for the building. Carl Rowland, project architect during construction, emphasises three things: robustness, a neutral internal layout so that young people can add character - as they have done with the classy leisure furniture - and transparency. "Transparency is important because it breaks down that psychological barrier to coming in," says Rowland. "The reception area and Connexions on the ground floor and the chill-out area are almost fully glazed, so you can see what's going on if you're walking up the Harrow Road."
Over in Norwich, a three-year project to turn an old Barclays Bank building into a youth centre and nightclub is attempting to create one of the biggest youth clubs in Britain, eventually hoping to employ up to 50 youth workers.
The Open Youth Venue will cost 7.5m, 5m of it coming from the private sector, businesses and individuals, the rest from Norwich City Council, Norfolk County Council and the East of England Development Agency. Russ Dacre, project director, said: "We felt early that the public sector would not be able to fund certain activities and facilities because of the strict outcomes it seeks to fund."
As a result, a wide fundraising campaign was launched, which proved very successful, he says. The Open Youth Trust purchased the building and two of the three stages are complete. Large vaults have been installed to generate income through a storage and archive business. Then 20 per cent of the building was refurbished to allow a Connexions office, drug and alcohol charity Matthews Project and The Prince's Trust to move in. Phase three is soon to begin, involving the arrival of a nightclub, climbing wall, conference facilities, classrooms, juice bar, a cafe and a chill-out zone. Dacre says the building has already delivered results: "We moved Connexions in September and since then footfall has doubled. It shows a modern facility in an accessible location improves services for young people."
Plan ahead
So is building big centres the way ahead? To a point, says the Stowe Youth Club's Alexander: "There'll be a few more big centres, but academy schools look to be more of a focus, with their extended schools programme that we can get involved in." She is determined that new gadgetry doesn't obscure the need for youth work: "You can have as many of these magnets as you like, but if you don't build a relationship with young people it won't mean a thing."
But Bolton's Glover insists that people are coming at it from the wrong direction: "Young people want facilities and somewhere nice to go - they often don't talk about youth work." While detached youth work is definitely valuable, he argues for good-quality centres: "There are 101 things you can do by bringing young people to a building that you just can't do on the street. It's about bringing them into a social environment."
SUPER-CLUB TIPS
- Location is crucial. The club has to be in the town or village centre, well lit and highly visible. It's best if it's in a safe, accessible place near a bus stop
- You need to involve young people early, but also parents, volunteers, business-people and local authorities. Business-people matter as they can inspire, and have a stake in the community
- Design is critical. Make it as big and attractive as you can. Size is important. Think how big you want it then double it: the demand will astonish you
- You need to be there as much as you can for young people. If you close at weekends or on holidays, young people will give up. You need to work out strategies to allow you to open every night
- Be affordable. A nominal fee will make the young people take it seriously. But it must be cheap if you want them to come regularly
- Jeremy Glover, chief executive, Bolton Lads and Girls Club
YOUNG PEOPLE'S VOICES
I like rock climbing, dancing, snooker, badminton, basketball and socialising with friends. We all have a laugh, I keep out of trouble and meet new people. - NICOLE, 15, Halliwell, Bolton
I like boxing. I don't get hurt but it's tiring. You get to meet other people. You can't do this at school and they've got boxing trainers to help and good equipment. - SIMON, 13, Paddington
It's better here than at school - it's free and you've got someone to help you. I think clubs should have arty stuff for people who want to be fashion designers. - BRENTON, 14, Paddington
My favourites are playing pool, cricket and using the brilliant gym equipment or the computers. It's a big centre with an Astroturf football pitch and everything is new. The most important part of a club is that it should be enjoyable, somewhere you can chill out and have a laugh. - BILAL, 14, Lostock, Bolton.
