The Avenues Youth Project (AYP) was founded in 1979 to provide informal education and recreational opportunities for local children and young people of the African Caribbean community in North Westminster. Over the years membership has widened to reflect the diverse and evolving composition of the community, with The Avenues now accessed by over 600 children and young people (8-18 years old) each year. Avenues is also one of five Westminster City Council /Young Westminster Foundation designated ‘youth hubs’, which work to serve young people in specific localities across the borough. Working together, the five youth hubs shape the overall development of youth services in Westminster as part of a model that champions innovation and collaboration. These organisations deliver a wide range of programmes in a network of safe spaces, where members are free to socialise and learn new skills; helping them develop identities and unlock potential.
The Avenues’ mission is to give hope and opportunities to children and young people in North Westminster, helping them fulfil their potential and be prepared and excited for adult life. The Youth Club’s team of youth professionals provide a safe, caring, youth-led space in a disadvantaged inner-city area, where young people learn and develop towards brighter futures.
When it opened, The Avenues was vital to the North Westminster community, offering a safe space for boys from the area’s Caribbean community who were often not welcome in other clubs. The trusted staff made it their mission to build rapport with the young people, whilst offering motivation and encouragement to help them fulfil their potential.
Carol Archibald, Programme Director at The Avenues and “the mum” of the Youth Club (stated by many young people and youth workers), joined The Avenues as a member aged 14 and never left. Carol said: “I was always quite adventurous and really social and The Avenues at that point was the place to go.” After graduating she worked in the city for 12 years, sustaining a part-time position as a Youth Worker in her evenings, as it was youth work that inspired her after seeing the positive impact it had on herself growing up. In 2008, Carol became Programme Director, responsible for managing the content, planning, staffing and delivery of projects and activities.
Carol is actively involved in supporting the young people who attend Avenues. When young people themselves are asked about why they love going to The Avenues, many say it is because of Carol’s kind and genuine nature. She is a ‘second mum’ to them, there to offer advice and support when needed and always willing to give them a chance.
Carol said: “We come from a deprived neighbourhood where the kids are hanging around on the estate, streets or shops and we do get residents who will complain and accuse them of being in gangs. They’re not in gangs. They are just a group of kids who hang around together. So, what will happen is, the Avenues’ youth workers will go out and do some work with the kids and encourage them to come into the club. They are a product of their environment, so we look at the poverty, the lack of opportunity and systematic racism. I think also not everybody is academic, so being able to come to a youth club and learn new skills and to try new things is really important.”
In 2000, Avenues trustees ran an ambitious but successful fundraising campaign to raise £2million to replace their building with a state-of-the-art Youth Centre, which was opened by the then Prince Charles three years later. In 2021 the Club was awarded the London Youth Gold Award, a badge of excellence for youth organisations that are committed to continuous improvement with the involvement of young people in their organisational development.
Since 1994, The Avenues has received over £500,000 in grants from John Lyon’s Charity, enabling it to deliver a wide range of sports, recreational, educational and employability programmes. John Lyon’s Charity very soon recognised something ‘really special’ taking place at The Avenues and the importance of investing in it and supporting the exceptional youth work within the community.
Carol adds: “Since the day I started working here, John Lyon’s Charity has always been an organisation that’s had Avenues’ back. They’ve always given us loads of opportunities and without them there would have been times where we couldn’t deliver a holiday programme or go on a residential. We are really passionate about quality youth work and John Lyon’s Charity shows again and again that they appreciate that. When youth work is done correctly, you feel so proud of the young people and what they have achieved. And then you also feel proud of your staff team, because without the youth workers or back-office staff, it couldn’t happen. Youth work works!”
Since its founding, The Avenues Youth Project has gone from strength to strength, providing a safe space for children and young people to come together and grow in confidence as a community and family. With inspiring support workers such as Carol, it is unsurprising that The Avenues has been as successful as it is. John Lyon’s Charity expects to continue to see great things from The Avenues in the future because as Carol says, “youth work works”.