Central Lakes Trust provide operational funding support to four youth trusts within our region. This year, we look at the growth and success of Cromwell Youth Trust.

The youth trust is about creating a community where young people are being encouraged and supported to take up challenges. Over the past couple of years the Trust has seen significant change to cater to its growing demand.

Cromwell itself and the surrounding areas are experiencing record population and development growth. In just 12 months the demands on the youth trust have doubled. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new pressures to our community and over time we will see the impact on our youth - our future leaders.

To cater to this increased demand, the team has grown to four full-time staff - including a manager, youth programme coordinator and youth workers, and most recently employment of a dedicated youth
counsellor and a social worker in schools.
The numbers throughout all their programmes have increased and new
initiatives are being introduced:

‘The Hangout’ (youth drop in centre) has continued to see increases in numbers attending after school (up from 2,629 in 2019 to 5,623 in 2021).
Youth development programmes, including Brew like a Barista, Cooking around the World, Choose to Reuse, Expand your Horizons, iFly Skydiving and Into the Wild have seen a 232% increase in participation compared to 2020.
Holiday programmes (75% increase compared to 2020) one-on-one mentoring, counselling, community events, youth workers in schools, breakfast programme, Cromwell Youth Council and Rainbow group.
Total engagement numbers have increased to 6,275 up from 4,405 over the past 12 months.