In Defence of Fun: the Wide-Reaching Impacts of Open-Access Youth Recreational Spaces
By Ethan Geiger
Having turned twenty four years old last month, I have found myself in a bit of a limbo, gradually aging out of the culture and identity of “young people”, yet able to comprehend many of the more existential dilemmas shaping youth experiences today.
Born and raised in the United States, I spent the first years of my twenties moving between my home country and the United Kingdom, studying the history of British politics. It was here, while completing my masters in science at UCL, that I encountered the deeply British institution of the open-access youth club, and its potential in addressing the issue of widespread youth loneliness in the UK and elsewhere.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Dr. Helen MacIntyre, Neighbourly Lab’s Research and Development Manager, researching youth loneliness in the UK and the recent decline of youth clubs. The postmodern challenges facing young people, such as a lack of social connection and mental health concerns were familiar to me, as many of them transcend borders and are rampant in both the US and the UK. Yet I found the British youth club particularly striking, as that model was not found in my community growing up. In her new book Up the Youth Club, Emma Warren describes being initially surprised to find out “most other countries don’t appear to have the same freewheeling, culturally responsible style of youth club, which, for over a century, has been a defining rite of passage for large numbers of people.”
Central to the youth club model and its unstructured nature, in contrast to targeted services for young people, is the role of recreational activities that draw young people in and make them want to return. Put simply, youth clubs strive to be fun. Of course, the concept of fun has not historically been at the forefront of policy discussions, yet it is universally sought after, and can act as a catalyst for coordinating communities in pursuit of shared goals.
A Decade of Decline—and Signs of Revival
The Government has recently announced a series of initiatives investing in youth services, aimed at making these resources more robust and widely accessible. After over a decade of routine neglect of local youth offers, including a real-term reduction of over a billion pounds since 2010, the renewed focus on youth services from the Government represents a meaningful attitude shift. Political leaders are demonstrating a refreshed understanding of the benefits of these resources for young people and society at large. Youth work, says Prime Minister Keir Starmer, provides “transformative, real-world opportunities that will have an impact in communities across the country.”
When we talk about the value of youth services, we often focus on their associated outcomes: reductions in crime, improvements in educational results, and stronger employment prospects. The effect of such services is backed by research. However, this purely outcome-driven focus has a tendency to neglect the value of something far less visible but comparably foundational: the simple, serious value of fun, belonging and long-term community in open-access spaces that young people can shape for themselves.
Aba Amihyia, Community Manager for DCMS’ Tackling Loneliness Hub and Communications Manager at Neighbourly Lab, described fondly her memories of the youth club where she spent her summer holidays. She remembered the youth workers as both friends and role models. They fostered the development of safe and healthy communities in the club, taking on a role somewhere “between a sibling and a parent” for her and her peers. Social connections, with and mediated by youth workers, are central to the youth club model.
Why we overlook what works
Youth spaces receive less attention in policy conversations because their effects sometimes seem less palpable. Outcomes are diffuse, long-term, and not always immediately quantifiable. Policymakers and practitioners often advocate for targeted programmes such as the early intervention Turnaround Programme and employment training initiatives. These are important services and deserve recognition. Yet their effectiveness can be enhanced through integration with networks of open-access community spaces hosting informal recreation and leisure activities.
Youth centres show how support systems can be embedded seamlessly into places young people already want to be, helping to reduce the reliance of youth workers on referrals and costly systems of information collection, because they are already present in the spaces young people inhabit.
Consider the example of a young person at risk of becoming involved in crime. She may not be able to access, or even articulate, the type of support she needs; the adults in their life may lack the information, time, or capacity to guide her towards the right service. But when a trained youth worker or qualified counselor is available in the same space where she plays table tennis with friends after school, the barrier to entry is dramatically lowered. The young person doesn’t have to “opt in” to a formal service — support is simply there. The conversation becomes possible. She can encounter a trained youth worker or counsellor without crossing the psychologically heavy line of asking for help – connecting her to resources she might have otherwise not known about.
By contrast, services framed solely around crisis or criminality can come across as alienating or downright unappealing to young people. Addressing the Young Futures Hubs’ approach to knife crime, Baroness Claire Tyler observed: “framing these services as crime prevention, risks stigmatising some young people and could deter them from accessing support before they even walk through the door”.
To anyone who knows a young person, this should not be surprising – they can tell when something is “for them” versus “about them”. Services that offer activities which are genuinely fun are naturally more compelling than those that appear paternalistic or disciplinary.
Fun is not trivial: it’s social infrastructure
Leisure and recreation support does not have to come at the expense of more “serious” social objectives. They are not a substitute but a complement to specialised support – meeting young people where they are, on their terms. A young person with a strong sense of self-sufficiency and social connection is far better placed to benefit from training, assistance, and intervention.
Even without direct use of targeted services, simply having access to community and socialisation can have profound and extensive impacts on young people. One of the greatest challenges young people face today is the crisis in mental health. Recent figures suggest that around one in five people in England aged 8–25 had a probable mental disorder. At the same time, young people struggle with loneliness more than any other generation. While clinical services are critical, they should not be the only available resource. Addressing mental health requires holistic action. Social bonds, creative outlets, and leisure activities are essential parts of mental health coping strategies in their own right.
A similar approach can be applied to crime prevention. Mental health challenges and criminality are strongly linked, and young people are often drawn into criminal activity in search of community and a sense of belonging. Community spaces and the youth workers within them, can counteract this by offering solidarity and purpose in positive, non-exploitative environments.
Community spaces also have the potential to bridge gaps created by social inequalities. They are one of the few places where young people from different social, cultural, and economic backgrounds have the chance to meet on equal footing in a neutral environment. This ideal is at the heart of the youth club, and inspired the creation of some of its earliest precursors during the Victorian era.
They bring together young people from different backgrounds creating opportunities for integration, understanding, and shared identity. For children from disadvantaged backgrounds who especially require low or no-cost social spaces, they can provide long-term support networks and help develop soft skills that they will carry into the professional realm.
These processes, mediated by inconspicuous moments of social connection, are small and often invisible to policymakers, but they should not be ignored. Leisure, recreation and fun can seem trivial on their own, and are therefore rarely the focus of high-profile policy. Yet they can upend the modern conditions that often prevent young people from developing a strong sense of self.
A Foundation Every Young Person Deserves
At their best, youth centres offer something rare: spaces where young people have real agency. Where adults are present but not prescriptive. Where fun isn’t a distraction from “serious” goals, but part of how those goals are reached. They allow young people to connect with their communities on a deeper level, addressing multiple pressing social issues at the root.
Creating more open-access spaces like youth centres recognises that fun and leisure are not luxuries – they are protective factors, forms of resilience and often, the starting point for everything else we hope young people will achieve. Offering this is not overly ambitious or idealistic; it is the baseline.
It’s a modest expectation, but one every young person should be met with.
