Last youth centre in one of England’s most deprived coastal areas faces closure | Young people

Last remaining youth center in one of England’s poorest coastal areas faces closure After a year-long campaign trying to save him was rejected by the council. The impending closure comes despite an independent report estimating the center saves the council more than £500,000 a year, including on mental health, youth justice and social care services.

Located in Ramsgate, Kent, Pie Factory Music is a social space for young people aged eight to 25, which also offers services including counselling, employment advice, life skills sessions, outreach to young refugees as well as creative and musical projects.

Cuts to youth services by Kent county council (KCC) last year led to a change of use of a nearby youth center in Margate and meant Pie became the last dedicated center in Thanet. Thanet is a local government area and It is among the poorest in the country. Last year Pie supported nearly 1000 children and young people.

“We lost about half of our annual budget when KCC cut youth services in 2024,” said Zoë Carassik, who runs Pie. “We have had to bridge the gap in fundraising from trusts and foundations to maintain the level of supply we maintain here. To be told the building we operate in will be sold within three months is devastating.”

Pie has been operating at the council-run Ramsgate youth center for 13 years. But KCC, which has been run by Reform UK since May, plans to put the youth center up for auction in February. Carassik said KCC was strongly supported by Ramsgate Reform UK member Terry Mole, who said Pie had put forward several proposals to lease or outright purchase the building but these were rejected. The city offered Pie a commercial lease at market rent, but Carassik said that was well beyond his budget.

As part of his case to the council, Pie provided the following: a report from business strategy consultancy Slum Research It found that Pie’s study resulted in cost savings for the council of £580,660 last year, due to things such as a reduction in youth crime and the provision of mental health care. The return on investment for the taxpayer is estimated to be at least £1.2 million.

The situation in Kent is part of a wider picture of cuts to youth services in England that began more than a decade ago. a report Released this year by YMCA It found a 73% decline in youth services funding in England between 2010 and 2024, and a 6% annual decline in Wales.

A growing number of studies by practitioners and academics point to the need for funding to be focused on coastal youth. Earlier this year, a report by the Center for Coastal Communities at the University of Essex showed that young people living in the most deprived parts of England’s coastline were three times more likely to have an undiagnosed mental health condition than their peers in similarly deprived inland areas.

More work by UCL’s Coastal Youth Life Chances The project found Young people living in seaside communities were significantly affected by the limited education, employment and leisure opportunities available in such places.

Tom, 16, who uses Pie’s youth center regularly, said he didn’t know what he would do without it. “This is where I feel safest when I’m in Ramsgate. I know if I come here nothing can go wrong. I’ve made loads of friends and it’s become a comfortable place for me.”

A KCC spokesman said: “KCC, like other councils, has to make savings to balance the overall budget and protect the services it is legally obliged to provide. The former KCC Ramsgate youth center building is listed as an asset of community value, giving local groups the opportunity to develop offers for the site before the property is sold at auction. As part of this process, we received and considered offers from the Pie Factory. We responded by identifying a number of options and understand that the Pie Factory is considering next steps.”