What is a youth club and why does it matter for young people in East London?
A new study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies proves what youth workers have known for years: youth clubs change lives. Here is the evidence, what it means for Newham, and why cutting them costs far more than keeping them open.
A youth club is somewhere a young person can go after school and not have to explain themselves. No entrance exam. No appointment. No pressure to perform. Just a building, a few trusted adults, other young people, and something worth doing with your evening.
That sounds simple. But for a lot of young people in East London, having that one consistent place to go, and those one or two adults who actually know their name, makes the difference between a young person who feels like they belong and one who does not.
For years, people working in youth clubs knew this from experience. Now we have the academic proof to back it up.
The research that changes everything
In 2025, the Institute for Fiscal Studies published a major study on what actually happens when young people lose access to a youth club. Researcher Carmen Villa tracked London between 2010 and 2019, a period when austerity cuts forced local councils to slash funding for youth services. The results were stark.
30%
of youth clubs in London closed between 2010 and 2019 due to funding cuts
40%
of Londoners aged 11 to 16 attended a youth club at least once a week in 2009
14%
more likely to commit a crime after losing access to a nearby youth club
This is the first study that gives us proper causal evidence, not just correlation. It shows that removing a youth club from a neighbourhood directly causes worse outcomes for the young people who live there. Not might cause. Does cause.
What happens to grades when youth clubs close
When a nearby youth club shut, the average student saw their GCSE scores drop by 4%. That is roughly half a grade in one subject. But the impact was much worse for young people from lower-income households.
The impact on disadvantaged young people
For students eligible for free school meals (a standard measure of low income), GCSE scores fell by 12%. That is more than a grade and a half in a single subject. These are the young people who already face the biggest barriers. They were hit the hardest.
The researchers compared this to the impact of Sure Start, the government early years programme widely regarded as one of the most successful education interventions in recent history. The effect of losing a youth club is roughly the same size. Adolescent support matters just as much as early childhood support. We just fund it a fraction of the amount.
When young people lost access to their youth club, they did not find something equally structured to replace it. The research found they shifted towards social media, video games, and watching television. Not because they are lazy. Because there was nothing else.
What happens to crime when youth clubs close
Youth crime is a hot topic in Newham and across East London. Politicians talk about it. Newspapers write about it. But the conversation almost never starts with the question that matters most: what were these young people doing before this happened, and what happened to the things that were keeping them on track?
The IFS study answers that directly. When a youth club closed, the rate of young people aged 10 to 17 being accused of a crime rose from 14 per 1,000 to 16 per 1,000 per year. A 14% increase. The rises were seen across acquisitive crime (theft), drug-related offences, and violent crime.
“Youth clubs provide support to teenagers that goes beyond recreation, offering mentorship, structured activities such as sports and safe social spaces... the societal costs of increased crime and lost education far outweigh the initial savings from youth club closures.”
In Newham, where knife crime is already the highest of any London borough, this should stop people in their tracks. The young people being pulled into crime are not fundamentally different from anyone else. They are young people in an area with fewer safe spaces, fewer trusted adults, and fewer alternatives when school finishes at 3pm.
What people in Newham are actually asking for
The national research aligns with what a local needs analysis survey found specifically in Newham. When young people, parents, and professionals were asked what mattered most, the answers were consistent.
Youth clubs were ranked as the most important form of youth provision in the borough
Crime and safety and mental health and wellbeing were identified as the most pressing needs facing young people
Respondents overwhelmingly felt local and national government should be the primary funder of youth services
More than half of respondents felt there was not enough youth provision in the borough
Alongside youth clubs, people wanted specialist crime prevention programmes. They were not asking for more surveillance or enforcement. They were asking for more investment. More spaces. More support. The community already knows what works. The gap is funding and political will.
Closing youth clubs is not saving money. It is costing more.
The argument for cutting youth clubs has always been a financial one. In a time of tight budgets, youth services look like a luxury. They are not statutory. There is no legal requirement to run them. So they get cut first.
The IFS paper tears that argument apart with one calculation.
For every £1 saved by closing a youth club:
Source: IFS Working Paper WP202451, 2025
Every pound councils thought they were saving by closing a youth club actually cost society £2.85. The savings were an illusion. The costs were just paid by someone else: young people who fell behind at school, communities dealing with more crime, and public services stretched further to deal with the consequences.
So what does a youth club actually provide?
It is easy to describe a youth club as a building with table tennis and a tuck shop. Some of them are. But the ones that make the biggest difference are doing something more specific. They are creating the conditions that research shows young people need to thrive.
A trusted adult
Not a parent, not a teacher, not a social worker. An adult with no power over their grades or family situation who simply shows up consistently and cares. Research is clear: this one relationship changes outcomes.
A safe physical space
After 3pm, before parents get home, is when risk is highest. A youth club fills those hours with something structured, warm, and free from pressure.
Structured activities
Sport, music, art, coding, cooking. These are not just entertainment. They build discipline, confidence, teamwork, and a sense of being someone who can do things.
Belonging
Knowing where you fit. Having people who know your name and notice when you are not there. That feeling of mattering to a community is one of the most protective factors that exists for adolescents.
What Youth Active does in Newham
Youth Active runs sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in Stratford, for young people aged 3 to 18. Sessions cover football, music production, coding, arts and crafts, and one-to-one mentoring. No booking required. No cost to attend.
Everything we do is built around the evidence. Safe space during the hours that matter most. Trusted adults who show up consistently. Activities that build real skills. And a community that keeps young people connected to something positive in a borough where the pressure to go in the other direction is real.
Newham has the highest knife crime rate in London and one of the youngest populations of any borough in the country. The IFS study is not abstract research to us. It describes exactly the young people walking through our doors every evening.
The evidence says youth clubs work. The question is not whether we should fund them. It is whether we can afford not to.
Sources & further reading
- IFS Working Paper WP202451 — The effects of youth clubs on education and crime (2025)
- Newham Borough Needs Analysis Survey — Youth provision, crime and mental health findings
- Economics Observatory — What are the effects of youth club closures in the UK?
- Fighting Knife Crime London — The effects of youth clubs on education and crime
- Newham Safeguarding Children Partnership — Youth Safety Strategy 2025–2028
Come and see what a youth club can do
Youth Active is open to all young people aged 3 to 18 in Newham and across East London. Sessions run Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in Stratford. No booking needed. Just show up.