Children in Sheffield are being granted better opportunities with money set to be invested in their futures as the scheme hopes to open them up to new experiences.
The £2.5M has been awarded to the council by the department of culture, media and sport and will help to refurbish and renovate 6 youth centres across the city.
Councillor Richard Williams said: “We want all children and young people in Sheffield to feel safe, secure and to have strong support networks which includes modern facilities. We want them to feel like they belong, and for them to have the opportunities to get involved in the things that matter to them.”
Those receiving funding include: Stocksbridge Youth Centre, All Saints Youth Club, Tinsley Youth Club, Osgathorpe Youth Club, Woodthorpe Youth Club and Millan Center.
The funding comes as part of the National Youth Guarantee, developed in 2022, which has set out to ensure that all children ages 11-18 will have access to activities outside of school by 2025 along with giving opportunities to volunteer and have new experiences.
Dawn Dale, Chair of the Education, Children and Families Policy Committee, said: “One of the big pushes that we’re looking at while doing these refurbishments is making our buildings friendly to neurodivergent people. We’ll be looking at lighting, soundproofing, fabrics and materials, so when neurodivergent people come, it will be accessible to them as well.”
140 youth projects across the country have been awarded funding under the guarantee in the hopes of prioritising the needs of young people, specifically in deprived areas.
Included in the refurbishments are adaptations that will have environmental impacts such as reducing the carbon usage of the centres and decreasing the running costs of the buildings.
Councillor Dale also said: “Youth Provision in this country has had disinvestment for about 14 years so what we’re finding in the youth service across the country, not just in Sheffield, is that there’s been that little investment in it we don’t actually have enough qualified youth workers and we don’t have the buildings,”
“This work needs doing. what we need is big investments not only into our buildings but also into upskilling people into and treating youth work as a profession.”
It is hoped that the funding being put into youth centres will promote health and wellbeing in the youth of the city as well as provide them with new skills and experiences.