00:00 Well this is gig in the heart of Gravesend and they teach young people singing and dancing
00:07 for free alongside giving them life skills and help with mental health and they can also
00:12 make referrals as well. But this youth centre just like many others right across Kent is
00:18 under pressure and facing the real prospect of having a fundings cut. Kent County Council
00:24 are considering changing the way youth centres will work bringing in so called the family
00:29 hub model as a government trial to bring a number of services under one roof. But that
00:34 could see financial cuts to youth centres such as gig here in Gravesend. Well Ellie
00:40 has been coming here for five years. Tell us how have you changed in those five years
00:44 since coming here? So when I first joined gig I was probably one of the most shy individuals
00:48 that gig had come across and over the years, over the five years I've had so much support
00:53 and guidance from all of the youth workers here and I'm so confident now I'm even the
00:58 gig committee chair which yeah it's a great opportunity so yeah gig has really helped
01:03 me with that. Well it definitely sounds like it's been a great opportunity and Jackie tell
01:08 us what exactly does gig offer here? It's not just singing and dancing is it? No we
01:12 are a youth provision and first and foremost we support young people's mental health and
01:16 well-being and we do this by either young people accessing the free counselling service
01:21 that we hold or taking part in the many sessions that we run for instance like the singing,
01:26 dancing or even our media group but whatever we do put on it is all overseen by our young
01:31 people in the gig committee. And Caroline we've heard about the family hub model, how
01:35 is that going to be different to what's provided here? Okay we don't actually know very much
01:40 what we do know is it'll be at the most targeted in need young people whereas actually our
01:44 doors are open to everybody and beyond that we don't know very much we've not been told
01:49 where they'll be, when they'll open, who's going to run them, what the offer for young
01:52 people is so it's all very murky. Well Kent County Council did send us this statement
01:59 it read KCC services across the county use, sorry let me get you the right statement,
02:04 it says we understand how much residents value our community services and the challenges
02:08 ahead will mean that these services are ready when they most need to be having the most
02:13 positive impact in the most effective way. We have used all of our knowledge and experience
02:17 combined with those two public consultations focusing on the most vulnerable people and
02:21 providing access to services in innovative ways. Well we're set to find out what's going
02:28 to happen to the family hubs next Thursday, a week on Thursday when the council will come
02:33 together and make a key decision.
