Vital Barnstaple youth service needs funding security says influential MP

A Barnstaple centre providing vital support for young people has been hailed as an ‘incredible resource’ that needs long-term funding during a visit by the chair of an influential parliamentary committee.

Layla Moran MP, who chairs Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee, visited the Young Devon Early Support Hub on the Strand on Friday (February 20).

The Liberal Democrat MP was there to find out more about its work supporting young people aged 11 to 25 but also to highlight the urgent need for longer term funding to keep the service going.

Along with 23 other hubs in England, the Barnstaple YES Centre, as it is known, was due to see its funding expire on March 31 this year – now the government has confirmed money will be provided for another year, but it still leaves the future uncertain.

Video: Layla Moran speaking about Young Devon and her visit to Barnstaple in Parliament today.

The YES Centre provides a drop-in service which young people can use as a one-stop-shop to get support for a range of things from mental health help such as counselling and CBT therapy, education, housing, sexual health issues and employment advice.

North Devon MP Ian Roome was unable to attend the visit, but said afterwards: “I've seen Young Devon's immense support for young people in our community. Their success speaks for itself, and it is clearly a model that should be championed across the country.”

Above: North Devon MP Ian Roome during a previous visit to the Young Devon Early Support Hub in Barnstaple. 

The Barnstaple hub featured on BBC Radio 4 in November when one of its service users, Arthur, spoke powerfully about how the service had helped him, followed by an interview with Layla Moran who said the mental health system for young people was ‘completely broken’ and called on the government to do more.

In his interview, Arthur said: “I was dashing between all the services in the local area, begging for help, I was played hot potato with and no one really helped me. It was pure medical neglect, the system is really bad.

“It’s like most places just watch you drown and hold your hand but [Young Devon] did actually pull you out and help you genuinely.”

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Following her visit on Friday, Ms Moran said: “Visiting Young Devon was a breath of fresh air. It is a shining example of responsive community based support for young people where they can just walk in and incredible staff will listen to what they need.

“I’m delighted the Government has responded to concerns raised around the cuts to funding for Early Support Hubs and will continue to support them for a further year. I will press for this funding commitment to be made permanent.”

Speaking at a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament today (Tuesday, February 24), Ms Moran told of her visit to Barnstaple and said she had “met young people who told me heart-breaking stories of how they felt left out and let down by the system.”

She went on: “Young Devon was quite literally a lifeline for them. It has an open door, person-centred approach and I’m so delighted that their funding has been continued for one more year, but it's one more year and only one year and they tell me it makes it incredibly difficult for them to plan.

She called on health minister Wes Streeting to clarify the long-term funding plans for early support hubs and asked how he could help organisations such as Young Devon to thrive.

Mr Streeting said he joined her in paying tribute to Young Devon and the work it does and had ‘enormous sympathy’ for the uncertainty over funding.

He added: “I accept the challenge she sets down around medium-term certainty of funding. That's why we're doing more in terms of things like the medium-term planning framework, but I'd accept in the spirit of this exchange, lots done but lots more to do certainly.”

You can find out more about the Young Devon Barnstaple YES Centre and the many ways it can offer support at https://www.youngdevon.org/our-sites/barnstaple