On Wednesday, Emily Darlington MP joined the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy at Milton Keynes Central Library, meeting young people as they announced the government’s £88 million investment in youth services.
Lisa Nandy called it “one of the best days I have had in the job in the last year”, calling the MK young people “phenomenal”. “The Prime Minister and I went to see this project, I have never seen such happy children. They were teaching us to play the piano some of them have only been doing it for a couple of days, but they are really good.”
Emily Darlington, MP for Milton Keynes Central, said “I am so glad to have the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport here to meet some of MK’s incredible young people. I’m so proud of this city and our youth are a huge part of that. I’m currently running a summer school programme for 15-18 year olds interested in politics, and their curiosity and talent has blown me away.”
Young people across the country will benefit from a major new expansion of youth services and activities outside of school, as the government takes action to re-connect young people with their communities.
“For far too long now young people have been left behind, with youth services seeing a decade-long decline in investment of over 70%”, said Emily Darlington. “We need to turn that around and give young people their futures back. This is another brilliant step towards that goal.”
Young people today are spending more and more of their time either stuck in their bedrooms or behind a screen, the government says. The new £88 million package of support will fund activities from new climbing walls and outdoor adventures to music lessons and volunteering, meaning that youth clubs and schools will now be able to offer more opportunities for young people to get active and connect with others, while building their confidence and broadening their horizons.
The package also delivers on the Prime Minister’s promise to support parents and keep children safe – offering more opportunities in structured environments that help encourage young people off the streets.
The Building Creative Futures package includes:
- £22.5 million over three years to create a tailored enrichment offer in up to 400 schools. This will give pupils access to extra-curricular activities such as sport, art and music, outdoor activities, debating or volunteering that support wellbeing and essential skills around the school day.
- The launch of the Better Youth Spaces programme, a £30.5 million fund to improve youth club infrastructure in areas with the highest levels of child poverty. This will go towards smaller capital projects such as new gym equipment and climbing walls.
- The rollout of the Local Youth Transformation pilot, an £8 million programme to support local authorities to deliver a high-quality out-of-school offer. It will provide the tools, guidance and funding, to assess, improve, and invest in impactful local youth offers.
- The third phase of the Million Hours Fund, a £19 million joint investment with The National Lottery Community Fund to deliver over a million additional hours of youth work in areas with high rates of anti-social behaviour.
- £7.5 million for the Uniformed Youth Fund, creating thousands of new places in youth organisations like The Scouts, Guides and Volunteer Police Cadets in areas of unmet demand.
It builds on wider action through the Plan for Change to back young people’s futures, including by extending voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds, announcing the £500 million Better Futures Fund for young people’s support services, and launching new guidance to protect young people from online harms.
