Proud Herritage
We are a youth club formed in 1939 as part of the ‘old boys club movement’, we are over 80 years old. We own a 2 storey building, the only remaining purpose built youth club in the city. In 1991, we registered as a charity (number 1007675). We are managed by a Board of Trustees in line with the Charity Act 2009. We are a racially minoritised led organization which reflects the local area where over 46% of residents are from Black and Minority ethnic (BME) communities. From the 1980s onwards we have supported and developed young people to achieve their full potential , in particular those of Caribbean background. Since 2014, we welcomed new communities including Eastern Europeans, African refugees and asylum seekers.
We have developed into a local community hub and provide spaces to rent for local residents and organisations. We open 7 days a week and local people hold events 50 weekends of the year. We particularly support smaller BME organisations, who work with seldom heard communities, including children and young people eg the Darfur community from Sudan in Africa and the Roma community from Romania. Over 20 organisations use our facilities weekly. Additiuonally, we provide weekly open access youth activities for 13-17year olds, after school activities and school holiday programmes for 5-11yr olds, regular basketball drop ins and training camps. We house a boxing academy led by a local ex professional boxer and father, which has produced European champions and provides boxing classes to help develop confidence and self esteem in young people
We are in the process of expanding our youth offer and reopening our music studio. We will also be offfering personal development and life skills for young people
Our work has developed from a focus on young people only to supporting families and communities who face a range of disadvantages. We will continue to work in partnership with local organisations to offfer a wide range of well being support to adults including legal advice,immigration support, a community kitchen providing free meals 2 weekly for those in need, educational support and mindfulness
