Youth Support

Barnet Youth and Connexions Service

Two girls performing youth drama on stage.Barnet Youth and Connexions is a fast moving, responsive service,

open to new ideas whilst keeping the voice of the young person at the centre of our work.

Our Integrated Youth Support Service has four elements:

  • Positive Activities
  • Information, Advice and Guidance
  • Community and Volunteering
  • Targeted Youth Support

There are a number of facilities that provide this support, including:

  • four Youth Centres
  • youth theatre
  • music studio
  • drugs and alcohol project
  • two young people's drop-in centres for information, advice and guidance.

There are many more activities offered by voluntary and community groups. You can find many details of these in our "Things to Do" directory.

Barnet Youth and Connexions Service provides services to all young people in Barnet including:

  • those who need extra support with education
  • young people who have special educational needs
  • those at risk of not being in education, employment or training
  • those at risk of offending.

Positive activities

Youth centres

We have youth centres in Dollis Valley, Mill Hill, Burnt Oak and Grahame Park. These centres are open in the evenings and during the holidays for a range of activities for young people.

Each centre has a different  focus as activities are developed in response to the needs of the local young people. All centres are fully accessible. We are currently upgrading some of our centres and expanding the provision offered.

Barnet Summer University

Summer university activities are aimed at 8-19 year olds (up to 25 with learning disabilities) and will run in Barnet during the summer holidays. The programmes are made up of short courses under the following five headings:

  • study and careers
  • arts and music
  • IT and new media
  • film, media and digital arts
  • sport.

Youth and Connexions youth centres and projects


Burnt Oak Youth Activity Centre

Based in the Burnt Oak Leisure Centre, the Youth Centre is open every Tuesday night from 6.30pm - 8.30pm for all young people and every Thursday night from 5.30pm - 8.30pm for young women. The Youth Centre offers numerous activities aimed at young people between the ages of 13 and 19. These include::

  • table tennis,
  • programmes addressing current local and national issues affecting young people,
  • IT suite,
  • women's group,
  • art room,
  • gym,
  • pool,
  • football,
  • cooking,
  • outreach work in the local area,
  • dance projects,
  • holiday provision activities.

Young people are also free to drop-in or call workers for advice and guidance.

In addition there is an ongoing quarterly programme of events aimed at meeting the needs of the young people in the area. Young people are also able to gain accreditations for completed programmes of work.


Canada Villa Youth Activity Centre – Mill Hill

Based in the Mill Hill area, the Youth Centre is open every Wednesday from 6.30pm - 8.30 pm. The Centre is also open on Thursdays from 3.30pm - 7.30pm as a Duke of Edinburgh Award Centre. In addition, the Centre is open on two evenings a week for music and drama sessions, days may vary, please phone for further information.

The Youth Centre offers numerous activities aimed at young people between the ages of 13 and 19. These include:

  • table tennis,
  • programmes addressing current local and national issues affecting young people,
  • arts and crafts
  • project nights
  • Rithmik music studio,
  • gym,
  • pool,
  • cooking,
  • dance,
  • drama,
  • holiday provision activities,
  • Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

Young people are also free to drop-in or call workers for advice and guidance.

In addition there is an ongoing quarterly programme of events aimed at meeting the needs of the young people in the area. Young people are also able to gain accreditations for completed programmes of work.


Detached Youth Work Team

Detached youth work in local communities. The team works with young people in street and other settings to help set up new youth projects and to get involved with activities to build confidence


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Finchley Youth Theatre

Interested in drama, dance, theatre, construction, lighting or sound? Finchley Youth Theatre runs courses and programmes for young people aged between 10-25 years in drama, dance and technical theatre skills, including lighting, construction and sound.

Partnership work with the Inclusive Play Opportunities Project (IPOP) has created programmes for young people with disabilities to engage in drama and dance workshops throughout the year. This excellent resource has its own theatre space, rehearsal rooms and offices, but also works in other youth projects across the borough, including at Canada Villa Youth Activity Centre.


Grahame Park Youth Activity Centre

Based in the Grahame Park Estate, the Youth Centre is open every Monday night from 6pm - 8.30pm and every Thursday night from 6pm - 8.30 pm. The Centre is also open on Wednesday nights for a refugee project from 5.30pm - 8.30pm. In addition, the centre runs a football club every Wednesday from 5pm - 6.15pm with a qualified coach.

The Youth Offending Service also operate from the Centre every week day from 9am - 5pm.

The Youth Centre offers numerous activities aimed at Young People between the ages of 13 and 19. These include:

  • basket ball,
  • programmes addressing current local and national issues affecting young people,
  • football skills,
  • cooking,
  • IT suite,
  • arts and crafts,
  • project nights,
  • holiday provision activities.

Young people are also free to drop-in or call workers for advice and guidance.

In addition there is an ongoing quarterly programme of events aimed at meeting the needs of the young people in the area. Young people are also able to gain accreditations for completed programmes of work.


Rainbow Youth Activity Centre – Dollis Valley

Based on the Dollis Valley Estate, the Youth Centre is currently open every Thursday night from 6.30pm - 8.30pm. The Centre offers numerous activities aimed at young people between the ages of 13 and 19. These include:

  • basketball,
  • programmes addressing current, local and national issues affecting young people,
  • pool,
  • table tennis,
  • arts and crafts,
  • self-defence and safety awareness,
  • dance,
  • DJ mixing,
  • project nights,
  • cooking,
  • holiday provision activities.

Young people are also free to drop-in or call workers for advice and guidance.

In addition there is an ongoing quarterly programme of events aimed at meeting the needs of the young people on the Estate. Young people are also able to gain accreditations for completed programmes.


RITHMIK music project

RITHMIK is a music project for young people aged 13 to 19. Young people can develop their creative and technical skills at this purpose-built music facility. Activities include music production, learning instruments and singing. Sessions are offered in:

  • music production
  • vocal and MC skills
  • performance skills
  • studio recording.

The main studio is at Canada Villa Youth Centre with outreach music sessions taking place at other centres/projects in the Borough. Some courses are accredited by AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance).

Information, advice and guidance

With our integrated Youth and Connexions service we now have over forty Connexions personal advisers working from within our service, providing a full range of Information, Advice and Guidance services to young people in all Barnet secondary schools. Our personal advisers also operate in:

  • pupil referral units
  • Youth Offending Team
  • drug and alcohol project
  • housing support
  • leaving care team
  • young people’s drop-in centres and other community settings.

Barnet has been successful in meeting its targets to reduce the number of NEET (not in education, employment or training) young people, and our new structure will enable us to broaden our preventative agenda for this group, linking Information, Advice and Guidance with our positive activities agenda, and broaden support offered on sexual health, mental health and family support.

For help and advice in funding activities or setting up new projects for young people please visit our Children and Young People Funding page.

Connexions Personal Advisers

Connexions Personal Advisers work individually and confidentially with young people helping them with personal issues, other advice and guidance to find education courses, training or work. There is a Connexions personal adviser (PA) working in each secondary school in Barnet and young people can arrange to see the personal adviser in school, or in one of the drop-in centre.

Advisers are also based in other community settings such as Barnet Housing Team and the Youth Offending Service.

Schools' work

Many personal advisors are based in the secondary schools across Barnet and work with young people between in Year Groups 9-13. Their work is concentrated with GCSE and sixth form students, ensuring that they have appropriate progression routes into education or work.

They will also address any other issues that are acting as barriers in the young person's life and preventing them from progressing in whatever they choose to do. This could mean helping them with their finances or housing situation by supporting applications for benefits and suitable accommodation.

In addition if a young person has any other issues or concerns that they need more ongoing support for then a PA is able to plan a series of interventions with the young person to map work things through. This will involve working with and referring to the variety of other agencies that work to support young people.

There is also a PA based in the Pavilion Study Centre, which is the borough's Pupil Referral Unit for excluded young people. This client group has particularly intensive needs. The PA provides the same service here as in mainstream schools

Community settings

Personal Advisors also work in other community and statutory settings. The PA based with the youth offending team (YOT) works with the wider YOT to support young offenders as an essential part of the rehabilitation package. The PA will focus on ensuring the young person has a place in education or employment, which is essential for them to progress positively and not to re-offend.

Similarly the PAs based in the housing and the leaving care teams work alongside the statutory workers as an essential component of the team. The housing PA supports the more vulnerable young people that are homeless to ensure they understand the housing process and are able to look after and support themselves in independent living.

The leaving care PA focuses their work on education and employment advice and guidance so that the young people are fully supported in their progression to independence at this crucial time.

Another PA is linked with Barnet Impact drug and alcohol project and supports the specialist drugs workers with the young people.

Drop-in centres

In addition to schools and the other community settings PAs are based in one of two drop-in centres. We are working to increase open hours to evenings and weekends.

Centres offering the Connexions Service

Hendon Youth Base Young People's Drop-in Centre

Youth Base is open Monday to Friday, 10am - 5pm. (Monday, it closes at 4pm). Young people aged 13-19, or up to 25 with learning and or physical difficulties can drop-in for information, advice and guidance on a range of issues.

Youth Base drop-in is staffed by experienced Youth Workers and Connexions Personal Advisors who will be able to give information and help with things such as careers, benefits, housing, drugs and alcohol and sexual health. They will also help young people to  find positive activities and things to do in their local area.


331 Young People's Centre

331 is also open Monday to Friday nine to five and offers the same full range of services as Youth Base. In addition 331 also offers a support and counselling service for young people aged between 12 and 21 years of age. More details of 331 can be found at advice for young people.


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Community and volunteering

Youth participation

United Youth is our young people’s service user group.

They also work with Barnet Youth Bank, a grant-making initiative for young people supported by Barnet Youth and Connexions. Youth Bank are a group of young people who distribute grants to other young people to set up new projects.

In 2006/07 this group allocated over £600,000 of grants to new provision. In March 2008 this group organised Barnet Youth Challenge an event which showcased these activities in a three hour performance at the artsdepot, attended by over two hundred young people.

Young people voted for Barnet Refugee Service football team as the best new youth activity and they were awarded an extra £1,000 to spend on their activity.

Targeted Youth Support

Our Targeted Youth Support strategy incorporates an extensive analysis of the needs of our local youth population, and highlights incidents of vulnerability using geographical maps of Barnet.

These maps help guide our youth workers building information about local areas and local needs. We have four priority programmes of action for our Targeted Youth Support this year as well as the work of our Detached Youth Work team.

Detached youth work

Our Detached youth work team focus their work in specific geographical areas and also provide support to ‘hot-spot’ areas which may be identified by partners including the police.

Current areas include Dollis Valley, Cricklewood and Stonegrove Estate. The work aims to support young people to think of their own activities, and even to apply for funding to get these projects up and running.

Alternatively the groups may be encouraged to join in existing activities, or join in holiday programmes. The detached team work closely with a range of partners, including the Rolling Base, so they have information about many activities in Barnet.

Barnet IMPACT drug service for young people

This service offers information, advice and support for young people with drug and alcohol issues. It is a friendly service which offers support to all young people who need help with drug and alcohol, or who want to talk about problems that their friends have.

Young people visit the project to talk confidentially to a worker about drinking too much or smoking cannabis. Others come to find out more about the impact of using drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine, speed, heroin or other drugs.

Young people will see a worker on a one-to-one basis. The worker is able to provide support for the young person to get the help they need and to stay healthy. There are also opportunities for parents and carers to receive support and/or information about drug and alcohol issues in their families.

The service also provides education on drugs and alcohol misuse for projects working with young people in Barnet.

The logo for the activities website for youth.BASE

BASE is a new on-line directory of activities for young people aged 11 - 19. It contains information on :

  • sports,
  • drama,
  • music,
  • events,
  • youth clubs
  • advice.

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Children, young people and families

email icon Email this pageLast modified by: Karen Raingold on 10/02/2009


Contact

Youth and Connexions
North London Business Park (NLBP)
Oakleigh Road South
London
N11 1NP
Phone Number
020 8359 7819/7847
Text Number (SMS)
07781 473279
Fax Number
020 8359 4156
Typetalk
18001 020 8359 7819
Email
first.contact@barnet.gov.uk