The Junction awarded a UK Government Youth Investment Fund grant to transform its services for young people in Hemlington
£22 million in Youth Investment Fund grants have been awarded to 16 youth services to build 22 new youth facilities in England using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). The Junction is one of the organisations awarded a Youth Investment Fund grant to build a brand-new youth facility to benefit young people in Hemlington, off Cass House Road.
The Youth Investment Fund (YIF) grantees benefiting from the funding include youth services delivered by Scout Groups, other youth services and community groups, as well as local authority projects across multiple site groups, in some of the most deprived and under-served parts of England.
Prior to today’s grant award, The Junction already received a £10,000 Youth Investment Fund grant to carry out preconstruction and planning work.
The Youth Investment Fund is a UK Government fund worth over £300M and is delivered by Social Investment Business in partnership with Key Fund, National Youth Agency, Resonance, and Turner & Townsend (MMC Specialists and Project Managers).
The Youth Investment Fund announcement is very welcome news for young people supported by The Junction who will benefit from the generous funding and means that the facility aims to be accessible to young people 6 days a week and reach over 800 local young people through over 4000 attendances at the provision each year
A Youth Investment Fund grant will transform The Junction services for young people. It means more young people can look forward a brand-new youth facility and more opportunities to have fun, make new friends, explore their passions and gain valuable skills for life and work.
Beth Major, CEO at The Junction said "we are proud to bring a dedicated youth facility to Hemlington and start reaching the potential it has to positively impact so many young people's lives. The dedicated facility, the first in Middlesbrough over a decade, starts to bring back the facilities lost over recent decades, alongside developments in the Youth offer in Middlesbrough we are getting closer to having the services that young people in Middlesbrough deserve"
As part of developing the Youth Investment Fund the Government had the ambition of utilising modern methods of construction (MMC) and other innovative construction techniques to achieve savings on facility running costs, so that resources can focus on activities that enrich young people’s lives.
Modern methods of construction is the practice of using manufacturing principles and processes to enhance the construction of buildings as an alternative to traditional construction processes. Despite the name, Modern methods of construction are surprisingly routine in the construction industry and have been in use in the UK for nearly a century. Using MMC on a build typically means that large sections of a building are manufactured in a factory, transported to site and are craned into position. Some of the benefits of this approach include faster construction on-site, reduced site disruption, reduced vehicle movements around site, eliminating unnecessary waste and improving build quality.
The build time for the MMC youth centres will be rapid, taking on average 12 weeks to complete, a quarter of the time taken to deliver comparable traditionally constructed facilities.
Kate Stewart, Youth Investment Fund Director for Social Investment Business, said:
“This is great news for youth services and young people. Even more young people will have new opportunities to thrive in high quality youth centres in some of the most deprived parts of the country. We are thrilled that [add your organisation’s name] is one of the youth services benefiting from the Youth Investment Fund. The Modern Methods of Construction programme is an exciting and innovative project, and its fast-paced turnaround means that young people will soon be reaping the benefits.”
Find out more about the Youth Investment Fund
ENDS
Lead contact at The Junction for media/press enquiries:
Beth Major, CEO
email beth.major@thejunctionfoundation.com
Notes to Editors
The Junction is a Tees Valley-based charity supporting children, young people, and families facing additional challenges. Through services including the Multibank, Young Carers, Youth Employment, mental health support, and youth work, The Junction delivers holistic, family-focused interventions that address inequalities in some of Middlesbrough’s most affected wards.
Find out more about The Junction
About the Youth Investment Fund
The Youth Investment Fund forms part of the Government’s ‘National Youth Guarantee’ to ensure every young person across England will have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. The Youth Investment Fund, of over £300 million, is funded by the UK Government and delivered by Social Investment Business in partnership with National Youth Agency, Resonance, and the Key Fund.
The Youth Investment Fund has been developed to create, expand, and improve local youth facilities and their services in the out of school youth sector, to drive positive outcomes for young people, including improved mental and physical wellbeing, and skills for life and work.
The Youth Investment Fund will fund the building or renovation of 300 youth services and will increase the number of regular positive activities undertaken by young people in the targeted areas by 45,000 per year, by 2026/27.
To learn more, visit www.youthinvestmentfund.org.uk
X: @TheSocialInvest
LinkedIn: @Social Investment Business
Instagram: @thesocialinvest
The Youth Investment Fund is funded by the UK Government. With thanks to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the fund’s delivery partners: Social Investment Business with Key Fund, National Youth Agency, and Resonance.
The Youth Investment Fund is part of the Government’s National Youth Guarantee to transform and level up opportunities for young people in England. The Youth Investment Fund, of over £300 million, aims to build, renovate, or extend youth services in the parts of the country where new spaces and new opportunities are most needed.