Youth hub hailed a hit in reducing trouble as 'the kids need fun'
BBCWhen Anton Noble thinks of his work as a youth worker and how to keep youngsters out of trouble, one thing comes to mind.
"The kids need fun. They need it in their life. And as adults and youth workers and mentors, we are there to encourage that," he said.
He is also the founder of the youth charity Guiding Young Minds and they recently set up this youth hub in a former shop in the centre of Rugby, Warwickshire.
The effort was a collaboration with groups including the local council and police, as part of attempts to cut anti-social behaviour in the area.
Throughout the summer holidays, from 15:00 BST, young people have been able to go to the club for free and enjoy the facilities, which include a table-tennis table, a pool table and free wi-fi.
"It's just a space where they've got adults that can engage with them, talk to them and encourage them to do the right things," Noble said.
"In Rugby town there ain't much there for the kids, so the kids were making their own excitement, which is obviously doing stuff that would trouble other people.
"They're just kids at the end of the day, but I just think their excitement and their desires have been filtered in the wrong way."
The youth worker said more than 500 young people and children have come in over the course of the summer.
"The kids, they've been lining up outside before it even opened," Noble added.
Youth workers were shocked to see the effect of the club on some of the children, he said, with volunteers seeing the children "in a different light".
"The security guards in the clock tower, they've had a hard time for a few months, but now, I've never saw smiles on their face so much," he added.
"It's nice that they can sit with the kids that they've been telling off, and the kids are playing football with them inside, and table tennis and pool, it's so nice just to see."
Part of the issue of anti-social behaviour came from leaving "a lot of kids to their own devices", Noble claimed, having to figure out their own ways to overcome boredom.
Instead it was important to show them how to get to understand and know themselves, the youth worker said.
While the youth hub will close at the end of the summer holidays, Guiding Young Minds is continuing another youth club and outreach work in a youth bus, to help children in the area.
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