New horizons for King's Cross youth centre

I take a lunch break at the New Horizon Youth Centre – it’s a day centre for homeless teenagers in King’s Cross where I work as chair of the management council. Conveniently, it is only 10 minutes from where I work.

We have two new workers who I have come to meet on the first day of their induction. I’ve been involved here one way or another ever since I worked here as director 35 years ago.

Image taken from Google Street View

Today’s a significant day because we have secured an amazing £1.5m lottery grant to refurbish and expand our premises. And we are moving up the road to temporary premises whilst it is done.

The problems we deal with get no smaller. The intelligence and diversity of those we work with is, if anything, even more marked than back in the 70s. I guess this is a consequence of the economic downturn.

The care system still delivers a disproportionate number, as does domestic child abuse. A phenomenal number of stepfathers abuse the kids they move in with.

The breakthrough since I worked here is the huge number of volunteers. We run a programme for them. This month’s intake numbers 17. Two have dropped out, one had a criminal record so considerable that we didn’t think we could risk him. We train them for other projects beside our own.

This is the upside of the crunch – bankers, accountants, lawyers coming forward to do a day or two a week or to work the weekends.

Our rebuild really comes courtesy of the amazing John McAslan, the architect of the King’s Cross development (the biggest inner city redevelopment in western Europe). He funded an architectural competition, found us all sorts of pro bono partners, and the rest is down to the fantastic team of workers there, led by today’s director Shelagh O’Connor.

It is all a chastening contrast from my “day job”.