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

have basically a kitchen space
of my own… I was able to feel
comfort in a kitchen. That
worked really well for me
because obviously I work in
pubs myself, and I do pub bar
and kitchen work. So, it gave me
that level of confidence
because when I was younger,
I was able to have that
experience.”
22-year-old male, LYP
Another young adult told us
he was ‘average at school’ but
after helping to start a football
project as a teenager at LYP,
one of the youth workers
helped him try out for the local
club. For two years he was part
of a Football Academy, working
toward a B-Tech in Sport and
playing every day. When he
couldn’t progress further, he
went back to chat to another of
the youth workers.
“…saying ‘Yeah, not sure what
I’m going to do now’ then
and Andy said ‘Well, I think
you’d be a great youth worker.
We know this college where you
could do placements with us
and we’ll subsidise your fees.”
27-year-old male, LYP
No-one in his family had gone
to university before, but he
completed a three-year degree,
and then worked full-time at LYP
before becoming manager of
BFree and then the Lead Youth
Worker for the local area. This
was a “…big thing for me just
kind of like full circle coming
around to managing BFree, from
being a kid to managing it.” He
was working abroad with young
people in care at the time of our
interview, but was planning to
return to Leatherhead, not least
because of the community he
had become part of through
meeting people at LYP.
“I think I really learned that at
BFree even though you come
from a bit of a difficult
upbringing or live in a difficult
area, there is still a lot of hope
for what you want to do and all
that.”
27-year-old male, LYP
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