Innovation Spotlight

Wellbeing

Pendle Borough Council: The YES Hub  

The project

The council has created this Hub to be an employability and wellbeing service for 16 to 24-year-olds in the Pendle area, providing employment, education and training opportunities. The project also supports the wellbeing of young people, tackling barriers through outreach support and activity sessions.

The Hub is unusual in that it delivers outreach to engage young people in other settings, reaching those hard-to-reach young people who don’t typically engage with mainstream provision.

Opening in February 2020 for 12 months with Department for Work and Pensions funding, a successful year led to Active Lancashire and Positive Action in the Community bidding for funding from the Nelson Town Deal (Government Towns Fund) led by Pendle Borough Council. This has secured the Hub until March 2026.

The council then commissioned Active Lancashire to run the project. Active Lancashire uses free sports and activities as an engagement method – and that isn’t the norm for all employment hubs. This method breaks down barriers between job coaches and young people looking for work, building a rapport with those who perhaps would not engage directly otherwise. The free activities also build confidence of participants and provide a promotional hook to get people to the Hub in the first place. Of course, they also help people in the county become healthier!  Poor health and inactivity is a big challenge in Pendle, having some of the most deprived areas in the country, which impacts on health and wellbeing.

The Hub is connected to local partners who use its Nelson town centre building as a base. They offer support with housing, mental health and run skills sessions. They include Lancashire MIND, Newground Together, Lancashire Adult Learning, Princes Trust, Department for Work and Pensions and the National Careers Service.

The benefits

Since opening in February 2021:

• the Pendle YES Hub has engaged over 400 young people aged 16 to 24, boosting their health, skills and employability.
• Since April 2022, 50 young people have been enrolled in education/training since and 20 have achieved qualifications (Levels 1- 3).
• Since January 2022, 32 young people have accessed 1-2-1 mental health support delivered by Lancashire Mind at the Hub
• And 180 young people have accessed physical activity sessions and eight have been supported into volunteering since January 2022

Over 150 young people have been supported into work at over 13 employers including Asda, Daisy Communications, McDonalds, Morrisons and Home Bargains.

Active Lancashire has won an Employment and Training Service of the Year Award for the delivery of the YES Hub, at the SELNET Enterprise in Society Awards this year.