Families and Youth

All of our resident led community research over the last 10 years has informed us that communities are most concerned about the provision and opportunities for families, children and young people. We have already invested over £2 million of our own earnt income from our Gloucester Services project into community-based services which support these groups locally, but we wanted to do more.

A whole neighbourhood approach

In 2023 we brought together a community consortium of young people’s organisations to successfully bid for the delivery of open access Youth Services in Gloucester and the Forest of Dean, beginning delivery on 1st October 2024 through The Venture Community Hub and the Forest Voluntary Action Forum (FVAF).

In 2024 GGT put forward another community-led bid to manage the provision of Children and Family Centres in the same two districts. Bringing together a powerful consortium of local schools, community organisations and statutory and specialist partners in every area where the centres operate, called the Gloucestershire Gateway Partnership. We were delighted to be successful and began delivery of service in 2025, across nine Children and Family Centres.

“Our neighbourhood based work with children,
families and young people is rooted in human
connection, interdependence and kindness.
We believe communities can thrive much better
if there is an intelligent combination of person centred,
locally designed services alongside a
range of strong, caring social networks.”

Martin Simon, GGT Trustee