In 2017, CAN launched The Hub, a weekly drop-in service for young people with learning disabilities, Autism and mental health issues. Funded by Children in Need, the project provides a safe, supportive, informal and inclusive environment for young participants to meet up and make friends.

The idea of the Hub grew from previous youth projects where feedback from the young people was that they wanted to have a comfortable safe space that they could call their own, somewhere they could “meet up and just be me”.

The Hub regularly recruits new members and aims to benefit 60 young people with learning disabilities, Autism and/or mental health support needs and 30 non-disabled peers over the lifespan of the project.

Sessions are currently held on a weekly basis, on a Thursday evening where food is provided for those attending.

In each 3 hour HUB session, a lot of activity is packed in! The young people have ownership over how the service is run and get to decide what sorts of activities they would like to do. Some examples of activities are: playing pool, arts and crafts projects, sports, gaming, cooking/baking, scavenger hunts, board games, karaoke, and much, much more! On a typical HUB night, there are lots of chat and laughter throughout the session’s activities.

Many of the activities are facilitated and led by our young people and senior mentors, with sessions held on First Aid, Makaton, self-care skills and team-building exercises. Each activity supports individual young people in their personal development: to enhance their confidence and self-esteem, expand friendship networks, learn new life skills and have plenty of fun doing so!