'Feels like Home' - Young people's experience of Relational Hubs

opportunities for young people
to get involved in a range of
projects that developed new
capacities or interests. A
couple of the young adults we
interviewed looked back on
specific gardening or cooking
projects they had been involved
with through LYP, and how
useful they had been.
“I like actually really enjoyed
that stuff. And it was like an
opportunity to be really, like
practical, very physical, I didn’t
really do much gardening
before that, and never knew
anything about it - something in
my life that I think is a key skill.”
26-year-old male, LYP
“It was quite helpful, because I
suppose at that sort of age I
didn’t really know how to cook
or anything. So, it was learning
new skills. Then yeah, I think
there was always something,
there was always something
involved about diet, because it
was like 5-a-day and stuff, so it
was always beneficial.”
24-year-old female, LYP
And our survey said…
We also asked the young people completing our
survey whether attending the drop-in had made
a positive difference for them. Of the 30 who
responded, 28 chose ‘yes’ and two chose ‘sort of’.
Their reasons mirror many of the themes expressed
in our interviews.
“Improved social life” was mentioned most often (11
times), followed by references to the drop-in being
a “safe, fun and welcoming” space (9) that kept
young people out of trouble and allowed them to be
themselves. Closely related to that was the feeling
of being able to “be more open” (4) to express
themselves and their feelings more easily. For some
young people, coming to the project had “improved
my mental health” (7), including feeling happier, less
anxious and stressed, and increased confidence.
Some even mentioned having a “changed outlook”
and making better decisions (5). Finally, some young
people mentioned getting to develop “new skills
and have new experiences”, such as being able to
volunteer with the project, or even go to a different
country (7).
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