Girls welcome launch of new centre

OVER THE last four years, Mayor Lutfur Rahman has lived up to his promises and transformed the Tower Hamlets Youth Service. Gone are the Biggs days, when the Labour Mayor expected young people to share just eight hubs across the borough with a range of other services.

Local youth centres have been opened and new staff have been employed, thanks to a £13.7 million investment in a service now named Young Tower Hamlets. The centres offer a range of activities, with many more in the pipeline as the Council moves to use the centres to deliver more information and support direct to young people.

Until this month, however, there has been one service missing: a centre dedicated to girls and young women. It’s sorely needed: at the moment, three quarters of the young people who go to youth centres are male. And now it’s here.

No one was keener to welcome the new Youth Centre for Girls than Young Deputy Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Amaira Katyal. “It’s amazing to see the launch of a dedicated girls youth centre where girls can just be themselves and relax,” she said. “As the cabinet lead for education, I’m excited to see all the sessions, workshops and activities to come from this youth centre, and most importantly all the activities are centred around what we as young women and girls want.”

Mayor Lutfur Rahman attended the launch in late January too. He put the opening of the new Centre for Girls in the context of the expansion of youth services. “I am proud that Tower Hamlets is leading the way with ground breaking levels of investment in our young people and that we have now achieved this milestone of opening 20 new youth centres in the borough since 2022, particularly at a time when many youth centres are being closed across the country.”

Deputy Mayor Maium Talukdar, Cabinet Member for Education, Youth, and Lifelong Learning, also came to the launch. He put the opening of the Centre for Girls in the context of the wider service provided by the Council. “This is all about empowering young people to access services in the way that feels right for them. This new youth centre will encourage even more young people to access the opportunities available to them,” he said.

“We offer the best support package for young people in the country. These youth centres are on top of universal free school meals at primary and secondary school, and grants for college, university and school uniforms. We are here to support young people’s development every step of the way.”

●The Girls Only Youth Centre is at 99 St Paul’s Way. For more information, go to:
Young Tower Hamlets

●Read more about it:
Mayor Lutfur Rahman claims “best youth offer in the country”
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