Campaign for new youth space in Plymouth
A group of young people in Plymouth is trying to raise £150,000 for a new youth space in Ernesettle.Connecting Youth is a community interest company which is planning to convert a former car-breaking yard into an area where young people can meet and access support.Research by the group found the city had "lost two-thirds of its youth centres" in the 14 years to 2019. A councillor supporting the planning application, Ray Morton, said he believed there was a link between the provision of youth services and a reduction in anti-social behaviour.
'Our own space'
Youth worker Jon Dingle said: "We've actually got the space - it's going through planning permission at the moment. "Once that's cleared what we need to do is then raise money to be able to turn this space into an adequate space for young people."He added: "In Ernesettle at the moment we're in the church hall, which we're really grateful for, but it's not really adequate for what we'd like to do."15-year-old Niamh said the new space was much needed: "A lot of people just roam round the streets and they have nothing to do."It's good to have our own space in Ernesettle because it's kind of hard to get to places especially if you don't have a lot of money."Mr Morton, a Labour councillor in the city, said that since Connecting Youth had started providing services in the church hall anti-social behaviour in Ernesettle had already improved "quite substantially" and there had been a reduction in vandalism.
'Offering support'
Connecting Youth was formed in 2023 after the closure of a charity called Barefoot, which provided youth services in Plymouth. Mr Dingle said: "I thought I can't just walk away from this. So that's why we set up the CIC, but we've not had a space of our own."When I started working for the charity Barefoot in Ernesettle back in 2014, Ernesettle had some of the highest levels of antisocial behaviour in the city. "Within a couple of years we've brought that down significantly. "But we don't go in focusing on antisocial behaviour, we go in offering young people opportunities, offering them support, offering them chances, trying to build their aspirations," he added.
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