Foxhill youth club closes leaving children on Sheffield estate without support

A youth club in Sheffield forced to close has been unable to find a new building on the same estate to reopen their group in.

Foxhill Youth Club, run by Always an Alternative, used to be based in the Foxhill Forum building on Wolfe Road.

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But youth workers were recently told that the youth club had to move out because there were not enough Foxhill Forum staff members able to keep the building open for the number of hours required by the club each week.

Anthony Olaseinde, 36, CEO of Always an Alternative, said: “Young people trust in us and believe in us, we don’t want to be another person that lets them down.

“It had a very positive impact on the local community, we had up to 40 young people attending – it was a safe space where they could tell us their problems. We were helping to feed them because we know a lot of young children aren’t getting food.”

The charity aims to challenge the mindset of young people, supporting them to make well informed, positive life choices, and empowering them to maintain these skills for life.

Its aim is to spread awareness around reducing knife crime, gun crime, gang culture and anti-social behaviour.

The charity aims to open a new youth club but it will no longer be in Foxhill and youth workers are concerned that many of the children who attended the original group may not be able to attend if they are unable to get there.

Councillor Tony Damms, who represents Foxhill, said: “It’s such a shame because the Foxhill Forum used to be such a hub. It’s a shame that this youth club isn’t able to keep going there.”

Youth worker Zoe Savage, 36, said: “Where are the advocates for the young people’s voices? We want to make sure that they are heard. It’s clear with the funding cuts and with the lack of youth centres that they’re not being heard. The kids have nowhere to go.”

Youth Worker Bryan Nkomo, 34, added: “We’ve became a big family. Even though we don’t have a space, we’ve been out in the cold with 17 kids that came to see us, and we’ve been doing this for the past five or six weeks.

“They even asked where we were when it was snowing, we couldn’t get there because of the snow, but they said they had been there waiting for us.”