Features / southmead
The battle for Southmead’s youth services
It’s a recent evening at the Ranch in Southmead and the centre is abuzz with local teenagers. Some play basketball and pool, while others take turns in the music studio or relax with video games.
During term-time, the community centre on Doncaster Road runs two open-access youth sessions a week for young people aged 13 and above, alongside three after-school play sessions for younger children.
For many young lives, it is the only safe place away from home where they can spend an evening.
is needed now More than ever
However, after a summer in which over 1,500 young people came through the Ranch’s doors, the neighbourhood’s need for youth services far outstrips its availability.
The centre provides a safe, inclusive environment for young people with a wide range of free, open-access activities – photo: Maelo Manning
The Ranch’s youth engagement manager, Delroy Hibbert, somberly explains: “The state of youth services in Southmead is very limited.
“Twenty years ago, youth centres like this would probably have been open five or six days a week.
“Now we’re running just a few sessions, and it’s not enough to meet the need.”
He is blunt about capacity, saying: “We could open five nights a week, and it would be heaving five nights a week, but we just don’t have the funding.”
Nearly 30 per cent of children in Southmead live in poverty, the fourth highest rate in Bristol, and more than 31 in every 1,000 children are already known to social care services, far above the city’s average.
Recent funding has allowed a refurbished music room to be built in consultation with young people – photo: Maelo Manning
Youth welfare in Southmead rises with access to youth centres like the Ranch, Hibbert says.
He explains: “A police officer said to me it’s quieter on the streets when our sessions are on.
“When youth clubs aren’t there, kids hang around in the usual spots, and that’s where they can be groomed for criminal activity.”
Considering the impact of these services on the community, the question looms: who ultimately bears responsibility for keeping youth services like these alive?
At the Ranch, the challenge is too few staff and too little funding, despite with short-term cash injections from projects and such as the BBC DIY SOS project and the Youth Investment Fund.
While these have been hugely beneficial for the community, without sustained resources, it is hard to plan for the long term, and the impact on the ground is felt keenly,
“When it’s really busy, it can be difficult in terms of engagement,” says Hibbert. “You don’t know what someone’s been through that day, or what they’re going through at home. You only really get that if you can spend quality time with them.”
For many young lives, the Rance is only safe place away from home where they can spend an evening – photo: Maelo Manning
Preventative work takes shape in several ways. Through its ‘Empower’ mentoring programme, the Ranch now offers weekly one-to-one support for young people who are struggling at school, have worries raised by teachers or social workers or simply self-refer when they feel overwhelmed.
There are also plans to expand support for 16 to 18-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training.
Despite these positive steps, Hibbert is concerned. “Unless the government restores council funding to pre-2010 levels, I don’t think the situation is going to change. You can’t rely on short-term grants forever.”
Vicky Wall, the children and young people’s development manager at Southmead Development Trust, echoes this.
“Youth services in Southmead weren’t cut, they didn’t disappear. They are delivered from the Ranch, and they are busier than ever. Funding is the challenge.”
Children also have access to sports such as basketball and football at the youth centre – photo: Maelo Manning
While the Ranch struggles with overcrowding and stretched resources, Southmead’s other youth hub on Greystoke Avenue faced a different challenge altogether: the risk of disappearing completely.
Luke Chamberlain, co-founder of martial arts academy Roger Gracie Academy North Bristol, first became associated with Southmead Youth Centre in 2020 when his club moved into the building under a licence from Southmead Development Trust.
Luke Chamberlain has been engaged in a long process to save the centre on Greystoke Avenue – photo: Luke Chamberlain
The youth centre closed down in 2019 when the Aldi store next door signed a deal with the city council to expand its store as part of a multi-million investment in Southmead.
But Aldi later pulled out, leaving the council with what Chamberlain described as “a bit of a financial hole” and an empty building.
Initially, Chamberlain thought this was good news, as it presented an opportunity for Roger Gracie to make a formal proposal to purchase the site.
Since taking over the old youth centre, the club became an integral part of Southmead, growing its members and doing more community work far beyond jiu jitsu.
But in summer 2023, he got a call that changed the picture. “Out of absolutely nowhere, I was told that the council was no longer going to entertain the purchase.
“They told me: ‘We need to get the best price, so we’re taking it to auction.’”
The once-threatened youth centre in Southmead overlooks Aldi – photo: Maelo Manning
At the time, Luke deeply feared the ramifications of losing the youth centre for the community.
“What if a developer were to come in? We serve 600 people, including 150 locals on concession or free training, and there’s the library and the memorial garden at the back, why lose another community resource?”
The community rallied in response, drawing nearly 1,000 petition signatures as councillors spoke out and media attention intensified.
As a result of mounting public pressure, the council eventually agreed to a direct sale. However, the price was steep.
“There was a £150,000 difference between our valuation and theirs,” Chamberlain says. “This was because their valuation wasn’t based on continued community use; it was based on redevelopment.”
For him, the stakes go beyond ownership, as Chamberlain explains: “If you feel proud of where you’re from, and you see positive things happening, it can change people’s outlook and their behaviour.”
Mason Hurn-Lamb will soon be a qualified youth worker – photo: Maelo Manning
The importance of youth services in Southmead is embodied in 19-year-old Mason Hurn-Lamb.
For Mason, spaces like the Ranch have been life-defining.
First attending the Ranch as a child with his brother, Mason is now about to qualify as a youth worker via a level three youth work apprenticeship sponsored by Southmead Development Trust.
Mason recalls the gap left when the old youth club near Aldi closed.
“I was about 14, and suddenly there wasn’t anything to do,” he says. “A lot of young people my age got involved in antisocial behaviour, knife crime, gang violence, and even drug exploitation. I think that was because there wasn’t support at the time.”
He continues: “At our youth club, we do support young people involved in antisocial behaviour or struggling with drugs. Some come in just needing to know the outcomes of doing or selling drugs. I think it’s a good range of support compared to when I used to attend.”
This summer marked an important moment for the club. Former attendees returned as volunteers and four teenagers were hired as paid playworkers, showing how involvement can come full circle.
For staff, seeing this progression was proof of the long-term value of investment in children.
Young people can also get involved in cooking at the Ranch – photo: Maelo Manning
Hibbert is clear on what happens when support disappears, recalling a report on austerity and the closure of youth clubs. “It said that it hadn’t really worked,” he says. “For every pound that they saved, we were now spending an extra three pounds dealing with the problems.”
The costs are stark. “It costs £50–60,000 a year to keep someone in jail. If you look at how much we’ve lost in youth services since 2010, you’ve also seen more young people ending up in prison. It’s easily predictable.”
He continues: “Give them something safe to do, and they’ll give back to their community.”
Southmead’s story is one of community resilience but also fragility.
On one side, the Ranch stands overcrowded and underfunded, while on the other, a youth centre was only saved from auction through community pressure at a high financial cost.
Meanwhile, the Glencoyne Square redevelopment promises homes, a new library, and a community hub. Yet those amenities are still years away, and Southmead’s children need support now.
Southmead has fought hard for its youth spaces and has won battles. But the continued need for sustainability is an ongoing fight not just for buildings, but for the futures of its young people.
Maelo Manning is reporting on Southmead as part of Bristol24/7’s Community Reporters programme, aiming to amplify marginalised voices and communities often overlooked by mainstream media.
This initiative is funded by our public, Better Business members and a grant from The Nisbets Trust.
Main photo: Southmead Development Trust
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