An update on Youth First

from Val Davison, Chair of Trustees

Youth First was spun out of Lewisham Council in 2016 to provide a platform for diversification and development of youth services in Lewisham. Since then, as an independent charity, Youth First has had many notable successes including the development of targeted mental wellbeing support and street-based outreach as well as leading the fundraising to redevelop the Riverside Youth Club, which raised over £1m.

Following the decision by Lewisham Council to take core services back in-house Trustees have made the difficult decision to close the charity. Our staff will transfer to the Council and other organisations and we are working with them to ensure that for the young people who use our services nothing will be different on 1 April – services will be the same as now, provided by the same staff.

Val Davison, Chair of Trustees said “We are very proud of what we have achieved at Youth First nurturing the skills, talents and ambitions of young people and providing excellent services to support them to grow well. None of this would have been possible without the vision and enthusiasm of our founding Chair and CEO, all our staff and Trustees and the generosity of our funders and donors. Lewisham Council has committed to further developing the depth and breadth of youth services and we look forward to seeing these bear fruit along with the reopening of the Riverside Youth Club following its extensive refurbishment.”

So, we’re done after eight years of fantastic achievements, heart-warming success stories, fun, laughter and energy! We’re proud to have accomplished what we set out to do: to be an open and vibrant place that puts Lewisham’s young people first. We have developed stand-out practice and great services including open access, targeted mentoring, mental wellbeing support, street-based outreach. We are especially proud of our role in the redevelopment of Riverside Youth Centre, due to re-open this Spring. We believe it is ‘mission accomplished’ in many ways. The legacy of Youth First will live in on in our brilliant young people who are the future of Lewisham.

We would especially like to thank the many funders, donors, partners, volunteers, staff and
most importantly young people who have been integral to our incredible journey. Without
your generosity, support and belief in Youth First, none of this would have been possible.

Read on for more about our history and achievements:
Youth First was formed in 2016 from the Council’s youth service, leading the way as the country’s first youth Community Benefit Society, governed as a mutual organisation by trustees, staff and young people. In 2021 we became a registered charity. We developed stand-out youth work provision from our 10 youth clubs and adventure playgrounds across Lewisham. Our open access activities provide a safe welcoming space for over 2,500 young people annually to build their confidence and life skills, supported by trusted expert youth workers. Our collaborative partnership approach has taken our work into schools and community settings, on to the streets to reach young people where they hang out, in targeted small groups to empower girls, promote health relationships, and address mental wellbeing. Our 1:1 mentoring and therapeutic services provide early help for young people struggling with their wellbeing.  

In Covid, we were quick to move to online live sessions, fun challenges and 1:1 youth worker support. Working with partners, we secured funding for activity care packs and food parcels to feed mind, body and soul during lockdown. Our staff were designated priority workers, running socially distanced sessions for small groups in our clubs, and street-based Covid advice to young people out and about.

Highlights and achievements include:

• Youth led Young Leaders projects to raise awareness of teen pregnancy, mental health and work readiness, designed by and for their peers.
• Carnival Routes 3-year arts programme at Woodpecker Youth Club developing young people’s confidence and self-expression through creativity.
• What’s the Risk personal safety and street robbery awareness programmes in schools, youth clubs and on the streets.
• Leading the fundraising campaign for the £1.3m Riverside Youth Centre redevelopment, with exciting new 3G pitch and facilities, opening this spring.
• 1:1 mentoring, therapeutic counselling and group-based sessions for young people with socio-emotional wellbeing needs.
• DfE Holiday and Food (HAF) activities providing food and fun for young people in the holidays.
• Developing an asset-based approach to measuring young people’s emotional, and social growth and skills for life.
• The many youth-coproduced talent events, open mic nights, lyric writing and graffiti projects, and of course epic trips and residentials.

Look out for more information, news and some great stories about the transition on this website over the next weeks.

For further information, contact:

Chris Price, CEO
chris.price@youthfirst.org.uk