Hugh Baird College and the Department for Work and Pensions launch new Sefton Youth Hub

A new Youth Hub offering employment, training and wellbeing support to young people across Sefton has been officially opened at Hugh Baird College.  

Rachael Hennigan OBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Hugh Baird College, and Caitlin Russell, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Partnership Manager, cut the ribbon to formally launch the Hub at the College's Balliol Road Campus on Thursday 18 June, marking the culmination of weeks of partnership working between the College and the DWP. They were joined by Sue Higginson, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, along with representatives from across the partnership including Karen Sass, Merseyside Senior Operations leader for DWP, and Brian Kilshaw, Customer Service Lead for DWP Sefton. 

Hugh Baird College is rated Outstanding by Ofsted, one of only three further education colleges in the North West to hold this rating. Inspectors praised the College's extensive support in helping students build confidence and independence, and the launch of the Youth Hub extends that same ethos of support beyond the campus and into the wider community. 

The Youth Hub is part of a national rollout backed by £2.5 billion of government investment, with almost 180 new hubs confirmed across Great Britain this year as part of the Youth Guarantee. Sefton was among the first wave of areas to open a hub, giving local 16 to 24-year-olds access to job coaches, careers guidance and employer links without needing to travel to a traditional job centre. 

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, commenting on the wider rollout of Youth Hubs nationally, said the government wants to make sure young people are getting real, personalised support, that's not one size fits all, adding that the approach has over the past two years pioneered bringing job centre services together with mental health support, housing advice and more.  

Since opening, the Youth Hub has already begun supporting young people in the area. DWP work coaches are based on campus three days a week, working alongside Hugh Baird College staff to refer young people directly into the right support.  

Alongside employment support, the Youth Hub hosts a range of wraparound services designed to remove the barriers that can stand between young people and opportunity. Change Grow Live's Rise Up service offers one-to-one support, substance misuse awareness sessions, family support and mental health help for those aged 16 to 25. The Illegal Money Lending Team (Stop Loan Sharks) attends monthly to raise awareness of financial exploitation, alongside social prescribers who connect young people with community-based support for issues such as housing, loneliness and wellbeing. 

Rachael Hennigan OBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Hugh Baird College, said: 

"The Youth Hub represents exactly the kind of joined-up support our young people deserve. By bringing education, employment and wellbeing services together in one place, we're making it easier than ever for them to find the right help at the right time. I'd like to thank our partners at DWP for their continued collaboration in making this happen." 

Caitlin Russell, DWP Partnership Manager, said: 

"It was a privilege to officially open the Youth Hub today alongside Rachael. Working in partnership with Hugh Baird College has allowed us to bring our support directly into a space young people already know and trust, and the Youth Hub is a fantastic example of what we can achieve when services work together." 

Leanne Harpur, Assistant Principal of Student Experience and Support at Hugh Baird College, said: 

"Seeing the Youth Hub come to life has been incredibly rewarding. We know that young people often face more than one barrier on their journey into education or employment, and having services like careers support, wellbeing advice and specialist partners all in one place means we can wrap support around them rather than asking them to navigate it alone." 

Young people interested in finding out more about the support available at the Youth Hub can contact Hugh Baird College or their local Jobcentre Plus.