Our recent post, Greater Manchester’s community-led approach to violence reduction, highlighted the importance of community alliances. The alliances, amongst other things, strengthen relationships and trust between the community and partners from the voluntary and statutory sectors.

Over the next few months, we will spotlight a handful of alliance members, providing an opportunity for them to shine a light on their work.

This time, it’s the Hideaway Youth Project.

At Hideaway, we’ve been believing in young people since 1965.

We work with young people from the Moss Side area to help them:

• Learn
• Build confidence
• Have fun
• Build relationships
• Find their voice

Hideaway is a safe, friendly and relaxed place where young people aged between 11 and 25 can drop in and enjoy themselves. We’ve got sports, dancing, arts, music, careers advice and more. We’ve also got a team of youth workers that make Hideaway truly special.

Most of our youth workers come from the local community. In fact, most of them started coming to Hideaway when they were young. We’ve got a mix of volunteers and paid staff members – united in our mission to provide the highest quality youth work.

But most of all, we have belief in the young people that come through our doors. And when someone believes in you, you start to believe in yourself. That’s when the magic happens.

Hear what some of the young people who visit Hideaway have to say:

“Hideaway is my second home. Without this place, I would never have excelled in my education and set up my own business. I grew in confidence here, developed leadership skills and gained many, many skills and qualifications” – Hamdi Hassan

“Hideaway has given me many opportunities, all which have been exciting and fun, and I have met many wonderful people. Everyone is welcomed and supported here. I’ve made good friends and amazing memories” – Faziya Abdulkabir

“Being here at Hideaway has made me feel more confident about myself” – Amiya Unique Leelis

Since 2020, the VRU has worked closely with Hideaway through the Manchester community alliance. The alliance, led by Hideaway, offers a wide range of support to the local community which includes youth and community work, family support, trauma support, targeted interventions and detached youth work.

Watch this short video made by Hideaway staff and volunteers to encourage young people to believe in themselves.

Article posted on: 10/09/2021 10:09am