New Horizons centre gets re-launch

Tags: events | London

Last November saw the opening of the first myplace centre in Norwich and since then there has been a real buzz around the myplace community. The OPEN centre showed that there is light at the end of the tunnel and with hard work you can produce a world-class centre for young people in your area. Now, fast-forward a few months and we are celebrating the opening of another new centre, this time the New Horizons centre in the London borough of Holborn and St Pancreas.

Technically, New Horizons was more of a re-launch than a grand opening but it has still seen a major overhaul and facelift and will hopefully now be seen as a flagship centre for young people in central London.

Situated a stone's throw away from the British Library, the project, which was the recipient of £1.5m of myplace funding, focuses more on services rather than activities, with counselling and accommodation services high on the agenda, although there are plenty of things to keep most young people occupied.

Walking into New Horizons the first thing that hits you is how friendly and welcoming the staff are. You don't have to hang around for long before someone comes along and sees what they can do to help you, and this is exactly the kind of treatment that young people need. It can be a daunting thing walking into a new place but the first impressions of New Horizons is excellent, and first impressions mean a lot.

As you would expect, the launch was a hive of activity, with staff milling around, greeting people and directing people to the free buffet on offer (always welcome). A group of young people from the centre were sat around decorating t-shirts and bags and each and every one of them looked incredibly excited and proud to be a part of the event. They also managed to rope in one of our Young Consultants Dan Jourdan into giving them a hand.

During a brief tour it became evident that everything in the centre had been designed with a purpose, and it was all services and facilities that young people need but do not necessarily realise they need. There are laundry rooms, wet rooms where you can get clean and freshen up, and 'health' rooms with on-site health workers who can help treat and give advice to those who require it.

There are also computer rooms with banks of laptops with wireless internet access, and various other rooms bustling with workers and young people. The centre also provides training and courses in such areas as cooking and computing, all designed to help young people better themselves and their employment chances.

Everything does a job and does it very well. It cuts to the heart of what young people need and delivers it effectively and without fuss.

Proceedings then moved to The Barn, an impressive looking performance space that will allow young people, as well as other groups in the community to host performance classes, workshops and other events. It was in The Barn that the centre was officially launched with Sarah Brown, wife of the PM, giving praise to the "extraordinary" project before pulling the cord to reveal a plaque of all those who have contributed to the project (myplace was at the top).

Also in attendance at the launch was Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow, impressionist Rory Bremner, and author Kathy Lette. Jon Snow was, in fact, the first youth worker at the centre when it was established in 1967. He was thrown out of Liverpool University for anti-Apartheid campaigning and was offered a job by Lord Longford, and has been involved ever since.

"Coming back and being involved here keeps you rooted and it keeps you on the ground", he said. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we would have a set up like this here. Somehow we have brought this about and everyone should be very proud. It is a great project and one of the really nice things is that the local community can also come and use it for various things. It ties in the community and we have a very good relationship with them."

Jon also said that, although a lot has changed, the basic principles of youth care have remained the same. "The setting may have changed but the willingness and enthusiasm to help have not. If young people come to a place that has a bit of dignity then there is a chance you can push forward and do something great. There are all sorts of things for young people to do here and the staff are wonderful. They can really help get them back on their feet."

Rory Bremner then treated the throngs of guests to a selection of faultless impressions, including David Cameron and Gordon Brown before everyone headed back down to the main area of the centre.

Shelagh O'Connor, Director of New Horizons was very pleased to finally see the plans come to fruition. She said: "It has been an incredible achievement from the conception of the project, the involvement of young people and securing the myplace funding to the practical development and completion of the project itself.

"We are so pleased with the outcomes and the opportunities it provides for young people, and we absolutely believe that young people should have the best of places to attend."

She also told of one particular success story of the project. "One of our young people came here about a year and a half ago and has been involved heavily in the project. He has helped to build the centre as part of the building contracting team and so it's great for him to see what he has achieved."

The young person in question is Fitsum Alemu, who was homeless when he came to New Horizons and has since turned his life around. He enrolled at college to be an electrician and gained an apprenticeship with building contractors John O'Neill and Partners to assist in the building work of the project. The apprenticeship was a huge success and Fitsum, 20, has now been offered a job with the company.

He said: "I am so pleased to have been involved with the project and have gained a lot of knowledge from being here. It is a really wonderful place for young people to enjoy their free time and also get help with housing or finding a job."

Another young person who has benefited hugely from New Horizons is Sewit Tadesse. She was also homeless when she came to the centre but has now got herself back on her feet.

Sewitt, 23, said: "I have been coming here since I was 17 and this where I now call home. They have helped me so much here, I really feel like a new person. There are so many things you can do, all sorts of training and courses, and they run schemes where you can do community service in return for free stuff such as driving lessons.

"The staff here are amazing as well, they really feel like my family now. They even helped deliver my baby, I have so much to thank them for."

Sewit, with her two-year-old daughter Lily, and Fitsum are prime examples of what New Horizons aim to do for young people and is precisely what myplace in general is all about. However, the project is very much a work in progress, with future plans including working with the local community to develop a garden and vegetable patch.

MP for Holborn and St Pancreas, Frank Dobson, summed up perfectly why young people need myplace and centres such as New Horizons. He said: "This centre shows young people that we care and that they are valuable. If the worst affected young people are being treated in the worst premises it is a signal to them that nobody cares but this is a signal that people do. One of the best things you can do is to show people you care and this place does that."

Seeing first-hand what impact projects like this have really hammers home how important they are. New Horizons has kept up the high standard set by OPEN in Norwich and should be held up as another benchmark for other myplace centres to take inspiration from.

The centre already has a long history of helping youths and looks set to do so well into the future.
It focuses on what is really important to disadvantaged young people and delivers it with aplomb. If current evidence is anything to go by then a bright new future is on the horizon.

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