Youth lounge in Ashington run by YMCA Northumberland gets new sofas and catering facilities

The charity received a £2,155 grant from developer The Banks Group’s community fund to upgrade the premises on North View.

400 young people make use of the space each year, and it was set up as a warm hub last winter.

Rob Cox, CEO of YMCA Northumberland, said: "The youth lounge is at the centre of many of the services we provide and it has been really popular with local young people since we opened it last year.

“The warm hub was also well used over the winter, with visitors telling us that it helped to bring a bit of brightness to their day during difficult times.

“As well as keeping people warm, it also had a really positive impact in terms of tackling social isolation among our local older population.

“We try to offer the best facilities we can to help encourage people to visit and spend time there, and we knew that improving the quality and quantity of the seating would be an important part of this process.

“Banks’ contribution has enabled us to do this much sooner than we would otherwise have been able to and we are grateful for their support for our work.”

Jamilah Hassan, community relations manager at The Banks Group, added: “YMCA Northumberland is a real beacon in the local community and provides so many different services that make a positive difference to the lives of local families.

“The youth lounge is a brilliant community resource and we hope the new sofas will help to encourage more people to spend more time there.”