A “COMPLETELY new” way of helping Middlesbrough’s young folk is to be launched in the wake of a decade of closures and cutbacks. 

A fleet of education centres and youth facilities have shut their doors across the town since 2006 with several sold off, demolished or converted.

Now a fresh vision promising “street based youth work” and more targeted support for teenagers will be on the table at next week’s council executive meeting.

Middlesbrough Council used to operate ten youth centres offering daily sessions, as well as two outdoor education centres at Stainsacre and Lane Head. 

But officials say budget cuts and austerity measures saw many of these services close. 

Short term grant funded projects have tried to fill the gap left by centre closures over the past decade – with schemes to help tackle knife crime and externally funded projects.

But the council says this has seen help become more “fragmented”. 

Council reports show a new model is being lined up for launch in early 2021 – aiming to target more help at teenagers and begin longer term arrangements with bodies bought in to run schemes. 

Ahead of the meeting, deputy mayor Cllr Antony High said youth services were “more vital than they’ve ever been” and praised the “great projects” which had rolled out in recent years.

But he believed they had “lost focus” – and the impact of cuts in the past ten years had taken a “heavy toll”. 

A total of £260,000 is being put into setting up the new model – with money coming, in part, from £400,000 saved from a rejig of the council’s top team. 

Cllr High added: “It’s particularly pleasing that money that we’ve been able to take out of senior management structures can now be put to creative and constructive use in support of the town’s youth.

“This will be a grass roots approach to fostering young people’s well-being, providing them with safe spaces in which to learn new skills and develop healthy relationships as well as helping to identify and prevent potential problems.”

Middlesbrough has some of the highest levels of relative child poverty in the country. 

Figures from the End Child Poverty campaign classed more than 14,000 children in the borough as living in poverty in the borough in May last year – coming to 38.8% of youngsters when housing costs were taken into account. 

Kader, Grove Hill, Whinney Banks and Thorntree have seen youth centres demolished while facilities in North Ormesby and Newport were converted into “community hubs”. 

Cllr Matt Storey, leader of the opposition Labour group, was pleased fresh funding was going towards youth services.

He added: “Before the Conservative government started cutting our budgets year on year, we had a comprehensive and successful youth service. 

“I look forward to being involved in how youth service provision can be delivered so it meets local needs and has direct engagement and buy-in from our amazing and talented young people.”