Our support for young people during COVID-19

With the situation around Covid-19 and lockdown developing, our priority is with the health of young people, staff, volunteers and the wider community. 

As always we want the best for young people. We are continuously looking for the safest ways for doing this, also keeping Covid-19 updates from the government in mind. In March we temporarily started to work on a remote basis, supporting only young people already known to us. Alongside this, we began to plan for adjusting our service safely and are now able to re-open some elements of face-to-face support.

On this page you will find updates on how we can support you and how we will work with others to help young people in the days, weeks and months to come. Things are constantly changing, so please keep checking this page for updates.  

How we will support you at the moment

Already using New Horizon? We will continue to work with anyone who is already getting support from us. We will mainly support you via phone, email or online platforms instead of face-to-face or at the centre.

Not currently using or new to our service? We are now able to work again with young people who have not used our service before or who need some help again as things might have changed for them. We will normally do an initial assessment on the phone first.  If you are a young person needing support, please complete the online self referral form and someone from our team will get back to you.

Remote support. We have changed much of our work from face-to-face to remote support. Remote services available for young people include:

• Housing advice and advocacy
• Support with accessing benefits
• Education, employment and training support
• Counselling
• Health advice
• Online lifeskills programme
• Support to access external legal or immigration advice

Remote services run every day between 10.30am and 4pm

Day centre support. Our day centre is now open at reduced hours a few days per week so that we can offer basic needs services like food and showers. Because of social distancing, we need to limit the number of young people able to access this face-to-face service. We are prioritising young people who are rough sleeping or staying in unsafe circumstances. Day centre services currently available:

• Hot and cold food
• Showers
• Computer and phone access
• Wifi and phone charging
• Provision of clothing and toiletries

Please note: the day centre is currently open from 11am to 3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only. From 29th September we will also open on Tuesdays. If you have never been to the centre for support, please try to get there at 11am.

How to get in touch

Young people. If you are a young person requiring support from us for the first time, please complete our online self referral form.

If you are already known to us, then please call 020 73885560 or email info@nhyouthcentre.org.uk. Someone from our team will get back to you.

Organisations and agencies. If you are a professional organisation and wish to refer a young person, please download and complete our agency referral form. 

How you will know if anything changes

Things around Covid-19 and the lockdown keep developing, so there will also be changes around how we and others will be supporting young people. We will be giving updates via twitter, facebook and our website. This Get Help page is especially for updates for young people about what support is available through New Horizon Youth Centre and other organisations during this time.

What you can do to help to protect yourself and others against Covid

The information about Covid-19 can be overwhelming and worrying. To find out more about what is happening and a few simple steps you can take to avoid catching or spreading it:

• What is the coronavirus / COVID-19
• What to do to protect yourself and others
• How to check symptoms
• A really clear explanation by The Mix

Other useful organisations

You might feel that you need help or information right now. To keep things simple, we have put together a basic list of other organisations that offer support. 

• Shelter housing advice helpline 0330 0536091 - If you are 18-25 and need advice around housing 
• The Mix 0808 808 4994 - If you want to find out more or talk about challenges you are facing, from mental health to money to finding a job, from break-ups to drugs.
  
• The Samaritans 116 123 (24hrs) - If you are feeling very low, feeling suicidal or need to talk to somebody urgently. You can also present to A&E at any hospital.
• National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247 (24 hrs)- If you are in an abusive or violent relationship or fleeing any kind of violence or abuse, and need help urgently. In an emergency, always call 999.