NE Youth was formerly known as Northumberland Boys Clubs/Clubs for Young People and was set up in 1935 to serve the boys and community clubs with advice, support and programme of activities. Fast forward 85 years to 2021 and we are now one of the leading youth development charities supporting young people and youth organisations across the region. Our history of practical support for youth clubs and services, and our ongoing work with young people, make up a vibrant blend of activity, support and development that reflects the needs of young people in the North East and makes a positive difference in their lives.
Following the announcement of the first lockdown at the end of March 2020 we acted quickly to establish a new online platform (NE Youth Online) to enable us to continue to engage with young people. This was a mix of open access activities plus closed group work with targeted individuals. Our work with our membership network in terms of weekly catch up calls and a strengthened offer of training was also facilitated online.
As restrictions lifted towards the end of June the guidelines allowed us to facilitate important Detached and Outreach Youth Work in key communities to provide much needed support for the more vulnerable young people. This will continue alongside our online work until the summer holiday period.
Clearly the pandemic has forced us to cancel all of our planned fundraising events and therefore stripped away over £100,000 from our budget. Thankfully local and national funders have stepped up and provided valuable Covid-19 support funding and the government’s Furlough Scheme helped ease cash-flow pressures. One of real positive aspects of the pandemic was the opportunity through funding from the National Lottery to create the North East Youth Alliance, in collaboration with Youth Focus North East. The aims of the Alliance are to improve and support community based collaboration, Youth Voice and workforce development.
At this point I would like to thank our staff team and Board of Trustees for their incredible support and hard work during this hugely difficult period.
At NE Youth we remain incredibly committed to working collaboratively with our members and key stakeholders to provide the best possible services for the most vulnerable young people in our communities. One of our short term priorities is the creation of 30 new job placement opportunities as part of the government’s new Kickstart Scheme. NE Youth will oversee the process and lead on training and progression, with jobs being created within our network of local youth providers. We are really excited about this piece of work and the value that it can bring to young people.
We are also entering into a new strategic planning phase with the aim of having our new plan fully live by September 2021. At the heart of the plan will be digital transformation to ensure that we have the appropriate systems, technology and skills to ensure continued success.
How to get involved
After a year of lockdown we are gearing ourselves up to start up our fundraising events again. We’ve got some great things coming up including Hunted in Chopwell Woods, Hadrian’s Wall Corporate Challenge and our annual Clay Pigeon Shoot. If you want would like to contact me direct to talk about working together or volunteering email: jon@neyouth.org.uk To find out more visit: www.neyouth.org.uk/shop
