Newham Mayor, Cllr Fiaz’s commitment to and investment in Newham’s young people, must be applauded and commended.

Her actions, have finally ended the years of reducing services and opportunities for young people in Newham and she has established a renewed service which can be extended and expanded in future years, giving Newham’s young people the service and opportunities they need and deserve.

Sadly, across the country, services for young people continue to stagnate or reduce despite the consequences of this short sighted strategy we witness almost daily - a generation of young people have not had the opportunity of benefiting from the personal development and structured leisure opportunities that a play and youth service enables, complementing their formal education.

Thankfully the Newham Mayor has prioritised Newham young people - who will become tomorrow’s community, and the service will enable positive change. However, it is vitally important to realise that the change will take time.

It will not suddenly happen by magic overnight. It is vitally important, therefore, that the mayor’s actions are supported over the long term by future council administrations (whoever they are) and the community - we do not want to go backwards again.

Crucial to the continuing success of our youth services will be the availability of the financial resources to fund quality services across the whole borough.

With all the competing resources on council budgets, this will not be easy.

The establishment of a Newham Youth Legacy Trust could help significantly. Funded by one-off contributions - a Youth Levy, from the developers and businesses benefiting from the areas regeneration over the next 10 years, could establish a significant trust fund generating income annually that would help fund day-to-day youth work across the borough.

Interested in pursuing? Email Kevin kevin@theaaazone.com