UK Youth saddened by College closure announcement

Everyone at UK Youth is saddened to learn of the upcoming closure of YMCA George Williams College, the latest in a long list of closures affecting the youth sector.

Vicky Browning OBE, UK Youth interim chief executive officer, said: “YMCA George Williams College has played a vital role in strengthening the youth sector for decades. Its contributions to youth work education, training, and evaluation have left a lasting impact and we thank college staff – past and present – for their hard work and commitment to improving the lives of young people.

“This is just another stark reminder of the enormous challenges facing our sector. After more than a decade of drastic funding cuts, we have lost more than half of youth clubs across the country, as well as major organisations including the British Youth Council, Children England, NCS Trust, and now YMCA George Williams College.

“At a time when young people face increasingly difficult challenges, this continued erosion of support structures for youth work and youth voice is deeply troubling. The government’s National Youth Strategy must reverse this trend and provide the long-term vision and funding the sector needs to thrive.

“Now, more than ever, we must all champion the importance of evaluation, learning, and evidence-based practice. The work pioneered by YMCA George Williams College has helped shape best practice in youth work. At UK Youth, we remain committed to driving this forward. We will continue to work alongside partners across the sector to ensure that youth voice, impact, and learning remain at the heart of how we support young people.

“We stand in solidarity with everyone affected by this closure and reaffirm our commitment to fighting for a youth sector that is sustainable, high-quality, and empowered to create lasting change.”ll need to provide much stronger commitment to back-up the government’s warm words about youth services.”

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 9,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, visit ukyouth.org

UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes