The future of young Scots is being sabotaged by budget cuts forcing closure of life-changing youth clubs, according to frontline workers.
Johnny Hendry, who has more than 20 years experience as a youth worker, fears crucial hubs are being lost across the country because of increasing financial pressures.
He has run a successful Thursday night youth club in, Govan, for almost 20 years but recently had to relocate after the community centre where it was based was demolished to make way for housing.
Johnny said: “We’ve had to move further away now, out of the neighbourhood. It’s only a mile or so away but to young people that’s like the other side of the moon.
“The club has helped and encouraged generations of young people but will no longer be on their doorstep, down their street.
“The bigger concern is that the same thing is happening up and down the country at a time when so many more young people are struggling.
“The pandemic and lockdown is risking a whole generation which lost so much in so many ways, whether socialising or education.
“They sacrificed a lot to protect adults and we should be repaying that debt by giving them every possible support now.
“That’s not happening. We know what young people need to thrive but we’re not providing it.
“And worse, where we have been providing it, we’re taking it away.”
Johnny, who works as a youth support worker for Aberlour, Scotland’s biggest children’s charity, said the importance of youth clubs cannot be overestimated.
They can provide a destination away from drink, drugs, violence and crime while also building a crucial support network for young people seeking a new direction.
Johnny, who works with young people in schools and on the streets, said: “The actual activities provided at a club are only the tip of the iceberg.
“A pool table and a couple of TVs might get young people through the door but it’s not why they stay.
“The clubs are a meeting place, a support network. It can take time but the young people learn to trust us.”
He said: “Youth clubs are often a safe haven for young people whose home life might be affected by social issues like poverty, addiction or domestic violence.
“Many of the young people we see don’t have another trusted adult in their lives to listen to them and encourage them.
“They will ask for advice, for support. We will help them apply for jobs, find jobs.
“Just being there for them can make all the difference in the world.
“We build relationships with young people that last long after they become adults.
“They drop in to keep in touch, we’re now seeing their children coming in.
“Clubs like ours support and encourage young people and many need that now more than ever.”
Allan was supported by Johnny when he was 16 years old. Read his story and the difference the support from Aberlour has made to his life.
‘It changed my life and I wasn’t the only one’
Govan lost far more than a building when the youth club in Govan was demolished to make way for housing, according to one former member.
Alan Pollock, grew up in the neighbourhood, and hails Johnny Hendry for his decades of life-changing work with young people.
He was a 16-year-old karate champion when he first attended the club and, now 32, still believes it was a pivotal moment in his life.
Allan said: “Johnny is a legend in Govan and it is impossible to overestimate what he has achieved and how many lives he has changed.
“The club had a huge impact on so many young people and that needs to be properly understood and recognised.
“To see it flattened will sadden all the young people who went there but it’s massive loss for the whole community.
“It wasn’t just four walls and a roof, it was a safety net, a place where young people could find help and encouragement when they might not have found it elsewhere.
“It literally changed my life and, over the years, there have been hundreds, thousands, like me.”
Allan, who now works as a karate instructor, had just won a world championship in his age group when he first attended the club in 2008.
“At the time, I was hoping to get to Tokyo to defend my title but the cost looked like being prohibitive.
“I just remember Johnny being totally engaged as soon as he heard about it, getting sponsorship, publicity, just doing everything he possibly could to help.
“In the end, I got to Tokyo and retained my title but my respect and gratitude to Johnny and Aberlour goes far beyond that.
“He helped me in all sorts of ways. I wrote my first CV with the help of the club, for example, and was coached for my first interview there.
“Johnny was doing it for me but he would do it for every young person that came through the door. He is a force of nature and, when it comes to young people needing help, never stops.
“Sometimes life can change in an instant and walking into that club changed everything for me and loads of young people like me.
“To see it gone, and to think all that support and encouragement won’t be so easily available to young people growing up there today, is beyond grim.
“We need far more clubs like that not fewer and far more people like Johnny Hendry.”
This article was written for the Glasgow Times and published on Wednesday 14th August 2024.