Helena Parboij set up KPC Youth in 1998, following the tragic drugs-related death of her 18-year-old son. She gathered together a group of local people who wanted to address the problem of lack of facilities for young people in the Cynffig area of Bridgend. They set about creating somewhere young people could go, which is safe and free from drugs and alcohol.
The KPC Youth Centre opened for young people aged eight-25 years old and has gone from strength to strength, winning awards. The Centre is a fun environment, which young people want to attend, keeping them off the streets and away from potential dangers. Nightly attendance is often as high as 70 people. In a socially deprived community, KPC aims to give young people in this area a better quality of life and greater chances.
KPC Youth was the National Lottery's UK Winner of the Inspirational Project Award in 2005 and one of the Guardian Newspaper Charity Awards 2006 Winners.
What the KPC Youth Centre offers
KPC works to help young people in three ways:
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Developing people – the Centre is open daily for unemployed young people, those excluded from school, or attending the Pupil Referral Unit. It offers somewhere safe to go, help with CVs, job applications and advice. KPC knows that all young people have special skills and its goals are to help young people realise these skills and develop them further.
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Providing facilities – at KPC, members get the chance to meet friends, play pool and table tennis, use computers, take part in arts and craft activities, learn drums and dance. There is also a great outdoor area, with a skate park, adventure playground and a five-a-side multi-games area (football, basketball etc).
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Offering support – KPC runs regular advice courses, such as drug awareness, first aid, bullying and racism, road safety and sexual health. Young people can access the information and training they require. They also work with pupils at risk of exclusion, attending the Pupil Referral Unit, helping them to achieve some recognised qualifications, before they leave school.
The challenge
KPC would like support to develop a business plan. Its ambition is to have a training facility based on their grounds so they can offer young people opportunities such as motor mechanics, basic building skills, painting and decorating and hair and beauty. They would like to replace the current buildings so they have more space to run programmes, have a larger café and rent space to other organisations so they can offer a holistic range of services in the Centre (eg: therapies for young people, health services etc).