Britain’s young people are being let down – and nowhere is that more obvious than in our rural towns and villages.
Let’s be honest: it’s hard everywhere. Youth services have been stretched for years. Cuts, closures and centralisation have taken their toll. But while the struggle is shared, it’s even harder in rural areas – and we barely talk about it.
Why? Because it’s a tougher policy nut to crack. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. You’ve got tiny communities, scattered over miles, with no public transport, few permanent services, and nowhere obvious for young people to go. That makes it easy to ignore – and far too many have.
Across the countryside, we see a familiar picture: no youth club. No outreach. No detached workers. Just bus stops, boredom, and the dangerous pull of isolation or antisocial behaviour. We say we care about “community”. But if you’re a teenager in a village with nothing to do and nowhere to be – what community is that?
Here’s the thing: our market towns and villages are full of people who want to help. Parish and Town Councils already run parks, community halls, and local events. They know the patch. They know the problems. But right now, they don’t have the power to act.
So, here’s a simple idea: let them lead.
Let our Parish and Town Councils take charge of local youth partnerships. Give them the tools and responsibility to bring people together – from schools and sports clubs to churches and scout leaders. Ask them to write a plan every year. Where can young people go? What’s missing? How can we do better?
They should be able to get mobile youth vans on the road. Deploy trained youth workers into parks, estates and fields. And open up under-used buildings – schools, church halls, village halls – so there’s somewhere safe and welcoming after dark.
Every council should run a proper Youth Council too – not just a tick-box group, but a forum that’s led by young people. Let them have real input. Let them set the priorities. And crucially, let them help shape the budget.
And yes, rural youth provision needs funding – but it’s already there. The Youth Investment Fund exists. The problem is, it’s often too hard to access for small rural councils. Let’s change that. Make the fund work for clusters of villages. Support not just bricks and mortar but mobile units, youth worker salaries, and outreach.
And let’s fix the other elephant in the room: transport. In rural Britain, you can’t just hop on a bus to the youth centre – because there isn’t a bus. So councils should be supported to run community transport links – a proper hub-and-spoke system that connects outlying villages to market towns and regional centres.
This is about trust. Trusting local people to know what’s best. Trusting young people to lead the way. And trusting the smallest tier of government to make a big difference. The legal change is minimal. The cost is modest. But the impact? Huge. Because the truth is this: if we don’t offer our young people something to belong to, something to build, and someone to believe in them – we shouldn’t be surprised when they drift, when they disconnect, or when they leave for good. Rural Britain can’t afford to lose another generation to apathy and inaction.
So let’s get moving. Let’s fund youth work that works. Let’s unlock the empty buildings. Let’s fix the buses. And let’s give every young person – whether they grow up in Wreningham or Wymondham – the chance to thrive in the place they call home.
It’s time to let our villages take charge.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
