Evesham charity, Ourside, facing rising costs and demand

Ourside, based at the youth centre on Broadway Road in Evesham, is being flooded with “more and more” hungry and anxious youngsters.

Carly Elwell, chair of Ourside, said running costs have rocketed in the last year.

“The cost of running Ourside has gone up all round, from the cost of food, to utility bills, to the costs of running any activities,” she added.

“At the same time, we see the impact directly on young people. More and more young people are in need of our services, with many turning up hungry, meaning we’re now providing hot meals at each session – with young people visibly less anxious after they’ve eaten.

“We have also seen an increase in the amount of young people with mental health issues – we’re doing our best to offer more one-to-one support but without more funding we cannot meet those demands.”

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Ourside provides food for more than 100 young people every week (Image: Ourside)

Around 40 young people attend each open access session at Ourside while the charity often provides food to over 100 young people per week.

The organisation also provides families with weekly food bags.

As demand increases, so too do costs, with the youth centre’s electricity costs double what they were this time last year.

Meanwhile, the charity has seen price increases from all of its suppliers on day to day running costs, from the internet to insurance.

However, the main increase is on the food costs with the average cost of a meal rising from £3 per person to nearly £4 in the last year.

Around 40 youngsters attend each of Ourside's open access session (Image: Ourside)

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Ourside’s call for help comes after a national survey funded by UK Youth found that more than half of 16 to 25-year-olds were struggling with their mental health due to the cost-of-living crisis.

The poll of more than 1,000 16 to 25-year-olds, carried out in March, also found that more than a third (36 per cent) of young people are lonelier as they have cut down on socialising to save money, while while one in five said the cost-of-living crisis was impacting their ability to eat regular meals.

A separate study of more than 300 youth organisations in March 2023 found that 63 per cent of them are seeing increased demand for their services.

At the same time, 67 per cent of them are struggling with increased operating costs, while more than half are seeing a decrease in funding, the study showed.

Around two thirds of youth organisations are struggling with rising costs (Image: Ourside)

UK Youth chief executive Ndidi Okezie said: “These figures must be a wake-up call for our country – our young people are struggling in the face of the cost-of-living crisis and they need help.

“Parents and carers are rightly concerned and are having to make difficult personal sacrifices to survive.

“Youth organisations, who provide essential support to young people, are also on their knees. The situation cannot be allowed to continue as it is.”