£5.2m to create positive futures for London’s most vulnerable teenagers

The Big Lottery Fund is investing over £5m to help create more positive futures for London’s young people who are leaving the care system, leaving young offender institutions or who are one of many hidden young carers in the capital.

It is part of an England-wide investment of £30 million announced today by the Big Lottery Fund’s Youth in Focus initiative. The projects have been co-developed and driven by the young people they are designed to help, ensuring that they are recognising and tackling the most pressing problems felt by these groups.

The New Horizon Centre, based in the King’s Cross area is being awarded over £900,000 to run the Creating Positive Futures Programme, which will support young ex-offenders and young people who have left the care system. It will help them with a range of issues that they can face such as housing, education and training needs, mental health and substance misuse.

Jon Snow, Chair of New Horizon Youth Centre, said:“Their Goal: Training, Literacy, independent living, a life beyond care, a life beyond youth offending. Our Goal: To enable positive futures, fulfilling outcomes.New Horizon is proud to lead this endeavour, with the support of the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington and funding from the Big Lottery Fund,which is both ambitious and achieving”.

Ben, a young man who has been helped by New Horizon Youth Centre explains the need for the support: “If it wasn’t for New Horizon I would have ended up in prison. When I started using the centre over a year ago now, I was getting into trouble with the police and out of control. They helped me get on the right track and always supported and encouraged me. I now have a future. I’ve got my own accommodation and they helped me to get onto an apprenticeship programme in football coaching. I’m moving on in my life to better things”.

The Creating Positive Futures Programme will be open seven days a week and will be available to young people in need of support to drop-in or they will be referred to the centre by youth offending or leaving care teams. It will be down to the individual young person and their needs as to how often and for how long they attend.
To read who the successful projects were, click here: http://news.biglotteryfund.org.uk/pr_190511_lon_yif_london_s_most_vulnerable_teenagers?regioncode=-uk&status=theProg&title=%C2%A35.2m