TD1 Youth Hub now over £100k better off

TD1 Youth Hub members during their visit last year from Children in Need's Pudsey Bear and former Scotland Rugby star Chris Paterson.

That grant from the Henry Smith Charity means the organisation will be able to secure the services it provides to the town’s young people aged 11 to 25 until at least 2022.

TD1 Youth Hub supports youngsters by offering evening drop-ins, street work, young parents’ groups, music projects, one-to-one advice, youth awards, mentoring and physical activities.

The £100,500 grant will support the charity with its running costs, ensuring the core expenditure that underpins its activities is there.

This grant focuses on two key areas of its work, classed as help at a critical moment and positive choices.

TD1 Youth Hub’s manager Douglas Ormston told us: “This grant from the Henry Smith Charity means a great deal to the organisation.

“It gives us a sense of security moving forward for the next three years.

“Working to improve young people’s lives is not always easy and often takes time, so the longer-term funding of this grant gives us confidence in the work we do and gives us the time and full resources to do it.

“Youth work is about changing young people’s lives by working alongside them and being partners in the process.

“This grant will make a huge difference to our organisation and fulfilling this aim.”

The charity’s six-figure grant has come out of its improving lives fund, set up to provide funding for charitable organisations that help people when other sources of support have failed, are inappropriate or are simply not available.

It supports established organisations that can demonstrate a track record of success in delivering services directly to beneficiaries and offer evidence of the effectiveness of their work.

The charity was founded in 1628 by Henry Smith, a businessman working in London.

Since then, it has honoured the spirit of Mr Smith’s will, working to combat disadvantage and meet the challenges and opportunities facing people in need throughout the UK.

Now, it is among the largest independent grant makers in the country, distributing more than £30m in 2017.