'Amazing' response to Lincolnshire youth centre opened in memory of Amelia Wood

It is one year since Hayley Hodson first opened the doors to 'Mimi's Mission' in Manby and there is now a popular community cafe open during the day that helps fund nightly youth sessions.

'Mimi' was what Hayley called her daughter, Amelia, who died in 2018 aged 11. She was walking to a bus stop near her home in Manby when she was hit by a wheel that came loose from a modified car. 

As part of Amelia's legacy, Hayley wanted to create a youth centre in the rural village where the family lives as she felt there was a lack of things for young people to do and she had seen a rise in anti-social behaviour. 

She went back to university to study youth work and the local council granted her a short-term lease to use one of its buildings for peppercorn rent. She then spent many weeks in 2020 doing up the building.

Hayley said: "The response has been amazing. We're open every night and we have nine youth sessions throughout the week because some nights are doubled-up and we're always, always full."

As well as providing a place for young people to socialise safely and have new experiences, Mimi's Mission has also provided opportunities for some young people to do paid work and gain qualifications. 

One parent, Louise Brooks, said she was thrilled the centre had given her 14-year-old daughter Ruby the opportunity to gain a Young Leader Award:"My children have struggled to get jobs living out of town - you have to drive them everywhere. So it's given these kids an opportunity that they wouldn't normally get living in the countryside."

This year the National Youth Agency published a report called 'Overlooked' which said annual expenditure on youth services has dropped by £1bn in real terms over the past decade and that young people in rural areas are 'consistently overlooked and, so far, missing from the government’s levelling up agenda.'

The government has pledged to invest £500 million in youth services and says its Youth Investment Fund is designed to help achieve levelling up across the country.

Some uncertainty hangs over the long-term future of Mimi's Mission as East Lindsey District Council's longer-term ambition is to sell the building where it is currently operating. 

In a statement, the Assistant Director of Assets said the council had always made it clear it was granting a short-term licence only.