Campaigners are calling on the new government to invest in youth clubs, as cuts over the last decade have forced the closure of 750 centres.
With the start of the summer holidays, Mentivity House has just opened its doors to one of the largest properties in Europe.
Based in South London, the new youth club is run by the charity Mentivitity and offers activities and workshops.
But former teacher turned mentor Patrick Egbuchiem says youth clubs offer much more than just games for children outside of school.
He told Sky News: “We look at emotional intelligence, we look at sharing, we look at teamwork, all those interpersonal skills that will allow you to walk into any space and feel confident about who you are and what you can achieve. ”.
Mentivity House is a new state-of-the-art facility that features classrooms and a sports hall where children are closely supervised by mentors.
Beata Baiten, 10 years old, says the club is very close to her home.
“There’s a big community here, they’re building a lot of houses and there’s going to be a lot of kids around here so all those teens or pre-teens can come to this place and hang out and have fun,” she explains. “It’s also free, it doesn’t cost a penny.”
Beata Baiten, 10 years old, is one of the young people making the most of the facilities
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Although these doors have just opened to the local community, the YMCA says funding for youth services has been cut by £1.1 billion since 2011.
Many activists argue that the closure of youth centers has helped fuel crime among young people.
Teenagers are now twice as likely to be fatally stabbed as they were 10 years ago and there will be around 59,000 arrests of children in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Sayce Holmes-Lewis, founder of Mentivity, says children need more support to avoid being exploited by gangs.
Sayce Holmes-Lewis, founder of Mentivity
“What we are seeing now in communities across the UK is violence, youth violence,” he says. “This is something we really need to focus on because we have to invest at the initial stage.
“We have to provide that support to young people so they don’t get to the point of pulling out a knife or hurting someone.”
The Mayor of London has just announced an extra £2 million in funding for activities to divert young people from crime in the capital this summer.
But Jacob Diggle, from the charity UK Youth, says there is a regional disparity when it comes to youth clubs.
“We know that in the richest areas of the country there is twice as much youth work as in the most disadvantaged areas of the country and this means that those who would benefit most from youth work are missing out,” he said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Labor will create a youth program to stop young people being drawn into crime.
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