Youth services unite to showcase support and opportunities for young people in St Helens
A number of youth provision services came together at the YMCA Youth Hub in St Helens town centre to showcase the extensive out‑of‑school activities and support available to children and young people across the borough.
Article date: 23 January 2026
Coordinated by St Helens Borough Council, the event highlighted the breadth of positive opportunities on offer — from music, sports, performing arts and digital media, to wellbeing — helping young people better understand what's available locally and how they can get involved.
St Helens Borough Council Cabinet Members, Councillor Nova Charlton and Councillor Trisha Long, were among those in attendance to meet with providers and hear directly from young people about the impact of local provision.
Councillor Charlton, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "It's fantastic to see so many organisations coming together with a shared commitment to supporting our young people. The range of activities and programmes available across St Helens is truly impressive, and events like this help shine a light on the positive impact youth services have every single day. Hearing directly from young people about how these opportunities are helping them feel supported, safe and inspired is incredibly powerful, and I want to thank all our partners for the vital work they do."
Councillor Long, Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, added: "Strong communities are built when agencies, volunteers and young people work side by side, and this event is a great example of that partnership in action. These services are giving young people the tools and confidence they need to thrive. I'm proud of the collaboration across our borough and grateful to everyone involved for creating opportunities that make a real difference to young people's lives."
Representatives from organisations including the YMCA, Vibe UK and Reach Rainhill CIC were joined by several young people who regularly take part in local sessions. Among them was Sonny, 15, from Rainhill, who said that attending activities through Reach at the 4F Centre on Old Lane in Rainhill on a Friday night has helped him stay away from spending evenings out on the streets.
"I used to go out every single day with my mate, but I only go out on Fridays now — and that's to attend youth club at the 4F Centre. It's got us off the streets and helped us out a lot," said Sonny, who was first approached by Reach Rainhill director and founder, James Dunn, during detached youth work in the area.
James, a senior mental health worker who established Reach Rainhill CIC in May 2025 following perceived anti‑social behaviour in the area, explained:
"What we find is that not a lot of young people will engage with services, so we engage with them where they are — whether that be in parks, bus stations or outside shops.
"We started to do detached youth work, which went really well — we were engaging with lots of young people. Since then, we've grown, and we now have provision on Friday nights in Rainhill, and now also in St Helens and Parr.
"We do a lot of signposting to mental health services and drug and alcohol support. The good thing about being detached is that we're out and about, and it's in our interest to gather as much information as possible about other partner agencies so we can point young people to what's going on near where they live."
Commenting on the impact that the YMCA Youth Hub has made since opening in July 2024 following a £1.4m development funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Karen Nolan, Chief Executive of YMCA St Helens, said: "It's a supportive environment for young people to be part of and we get a lot of excellent feedback from them and their parents.
"Good quality youth work that we are seeing in St Helens across the partnership - Vibe UK, Reach Rainhill and the YMCA - can be transformational for young people. The fact that we're working in partnership with the council and these other partner agencies is fantastic and will help put youth services back at the forefront of early intervention."
Helen McGorrin from Vibe UK said:
"We are really excited and proud to be involved in the partnership work being developed with youth providers in St Helens. At Vibe UK we are currently delivering a mixture of open access, outreach and detached, targeted support and youth voice providing a range of positive experiences and activities for young people in the borough."
For more information on the YMCA Youth Hub, visit: www.ymcasthelens.org.uk
To find out more about youth provision through Reach Rainhill, visit: www.reachrainhill.co.uk
To find out more about the work of Vibe UK, got to: /www.vibeuk.org/