I’M Harrison Ricketts, a 19-year-old in Worcester who has made many efforts to represent young people in Worcestershire.

As a youth worker with YMCA Worcestershire and youth ambassador with YMCA England & Wales, I find it crucial to spread awareness of Worcestershire’s shortcomings surrounding support for young people.

Like many in the United Kingdom, young people in Worcester benefit from youth services such as youth groups - whether it is Scouts, Girlguiding or Cadets.

Another example of youth groups are those provided by YMCA Worcestershire.

On Tuesday, February 13, YMCA England & Wales released their fifth report surrounding youth service, titled ‘On the Ropes’.

This report is supposed to highlight the differences between funding from 2010 and 2023 for youth services as well as the differences between local authorities.

It’s sad to say that Worcestershire was in the bottom five per cent of local authorities for funding of youth services with roughly £5.44 spend per young person and a -96% real-terms change since 2010.

It’s obvious that with funding reductions such as these there’s no wonder that young people become more antisocial and resort to affiliation with groups of young people with a history of crime.

We ask that local citizens such as yourselves consider these factors when you come to vote in this year’s general election.

Whether your chosen MP wins the election, make sure to hold them to account in making sure your needs are met alongside the next generation of Worcester.

Have a read of YMCA’s new report, ‘On the Ropes’, here at www.ymca.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ymca-on-the-ropes-report-A4.pdf.