Plans to reopen a Nottingham city community centre as a youth hub will “build back” services following more than a decade of austerity cuts.
Last year, the Labour Government announced it would spend £500 million on youth services across England as part of a 10-year plan to revive the “decimated” sector.
In total, 250 youth centres will be built or refurbished, and 50 new “Young Futures hubs” will be created.
Nottingham City Council was chosen as one of eight authorities to become an early adopter of the Young Futures hubs, getting funding to design, test and shape the scheme before it is rolled out further across the country.
The youth centre will bring together local services, such as mental health, education and employment support, as well as provide additional youth workers.
It is hoped the pilot project will begin to reverse years of austerity, a programme of social and welfare cuts that were presided over by the former Conservative government after being enacted by the Tory and Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010.
It will be based at Beaumont Community Centre in Sneinton. The centre was most recently used by the Muslim Community Organisation but has been vacant for some time.
Cllr Neghat Khan (Lab), the leader of the council, said: “This decision allows Nottingham to take part in a national pilot programme that brings a community asset back into use and creates a safe and inspiring place where young people can access support and opportunity.
“When we talk about building back, this is exactly what we want to do. Ideally, I would like to roll this out more. I would like to work with councillors, but let’s just get the evidence here to show it does work and, hopefully, in the next year-and-a-half we can look at other places.
“I made a commitment as the leader of the council that no community centre will close. We are going to make sure we can find working partnerships with groups in our communities to look at these centres and make sure they come back, unless there is no need for them.”
The space will be available for use by young people between the ages of 10 and 18, and services will extend up to the age of 25 for those with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND).
A grant of £125,000 will go towards refurbishing the space to make it ready for the new youth hub, and what will feature in the new space has been informed by young people across Nottingham.
The council says it has been designing the hub since November 2025 “to ensure the model reflects real local need and lived experience”.
As part of a wider youth transformation programme, the Government has awarded the city a further £800,000 to build early help, provide more opportunities, and coordinate support for young people across the city.
Jennie Hallam, who works in Sneinton, praised the work of youth services in St Ann’s and said provision in the area would be welcome.
“It’ll be good to have somewhere for kids to go; there isn’t much for them to do other than sit at home. It’ll be good for their social skills.”
Local resident and mum of two daughters, Kim, added: “It would definitely help having it closer.
“I used to go to a club; we had a lot more stuff to do. It wouldn’t completely stop crime and anti-social behaviour, but it would help. If we had a crackdown on social media as well, things would change more.”
