A brief History
Youthreach was established in 1986 by members of the Community Affairs Committee with initial funding being granted from the Grant Aid Budget. Previous projects with at Youthreach have included a Rights and Participation for young people in care and groups aimed at specific, targeted groups of young people.
Over the last 22 years Youthreach Ltd has developed and evolved to become a well respected organisation, providing counselling and homelessness services to young people. Youthreach Ltd has a main centre in Blackheath and has expanded to include several satellite services including schools such as Kidbrooke, Eltham Hill and Eltham Green; the Outreach element of Nightstop includes several schools in the borough of Greenwich and Lewisham.
Projects have included targeted group work aimed at teenage mothers and a review group of mental health services for young people.
The first volunteer counsellors joined Youthreach in 1987 and since this time volunteers have grown in numbers and we now have a bank of 22, some of which are now fully qualified as counsellors and who have stayed on to support the work of Youthreach Ltd and increase their practice hours.
Nightstop
The incorporation of Nightstop into Youthreach Ltd in 2006 has extended the organisation's provision to young people who are at risk of long term homelessness; with a volunteer coordinator and homelessness outreach worker, the service is able to expand its bank of volunteer hosts and provide information and advice both over the telephone and within school settings.
For the future
It is our aim to further develop service provisions and in particular ling to young people in neighbouring boroughs of Lewisham and Bexley.
