About the Organisation
https://wla.london/https://nhyouthcentre.org.uk/what-we-do/housing/youth-hub/
The Youth Hub is an emergency accommodation service in north London designed and run specifically for young Londoners either currently experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The project is a 26-bed service providing single, en-suite rooms for 18–24-year-olds. It is run by New Horizon Youth Centre and Depaul UK and supported by the GLA and London Councils.
Several partners and statutory services refer young people into the project. Young people from across nearly each of the London boroughs have benefitted from this essential provision.
The hostel provides:
- All of the essential items needed including toiletries
- Financial support for extras including travel
- 24-hour support staff on site providing guidance and advice
- Personalised help to ensure young people find a home that suits their needs
- Referrals out to other specialist organisations on a case-by-case basis
Young people are supported to move-on into longer-term accommodation. They also receive support for mental or physical health, substance misuse, employment, education and training or immigration advice.
The Youth Hub is an enormously in-demand service, providing a vital safety net for the most at risk, a safe place to stay in the short term as we find them somewhere to call home long term.
Request details
The success of The Youth Hub, coupled with increasing demand for the service from vulnerable young people in London, has meant that the GLA is now seeking to establish a second Youth Hub which is ideally positioned to serve the five high-volume areas south of the Thames (Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Croydon, Wandsworth). The service will be funded from the government’s Single Homeless Accommodation Programme (SHAP) and established and delivered in partnership with leading youth homelessness charity partners.
A potential site for the new hub had been sourced, but it has transpired that this is unsuitable. Therefore, we are now seeking urgent support from partners to help identify potential locations for this vital service. This could include suitable buildings for remodelling under a purchase or long-lease agreement (e.g. former care homes or small hotels), or new build sites.
Building requirements include:
- Space for 20 to 40 single occupancy ensuite bedrooms.
- Communal spaces, including shared kitchens.
- Space for offices and meeting/key-working rooms.
- Good transport links with proximity to key local facilities like healthcare etc.
- Accessibility considerations, such as wide corridors.
- If possible, some outdoor space would also be ideal.
Timeline
URGENT – a suitable site needs to be identified by end of October to enable access to funding