The WCHG Youth Team is an inclusive youth service delivered by Wythenshawe Community Housing Group (WCHG), a community-focused housing provider committed to creating thriving neighbourhoods and improving life chances for local residents. As part of WCHG’s wider social impact mission, we believe that building strong communities is about more than homes—it is about investing in people, creating opportunities and ensuring everyone has the chance to succeed.
For more than 12 years, we have worked alongside children and young people across Wythenshawe, supporting them to navigate challenges, develop confidence and realise their potential. Wythenshawe is home to incredible young people, but many face significant social, economic and health inequalities. Our role is to ensure that circumstances do not define their future. Through youth work, mentoring, education programmes and community engagement, we create safe spaces where young people can be themselves, access support and build positive futures.
Each year we work with over 1,800 young people through open access youth provision, detached outreach, school-based programmes, Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG), mentoring and specialist support. We meet young people where they are—whether that’s in schools, community venues, parks or neighbourhoods—and provide trusted relationships that help them overcome barriers and make positive choices. During 2025/26 alone, our team delivered more than 1,500 hours of youth work across Wythenshawe.
Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. Our definition of inclusion is broad and intersectional. We support young people of all abilities, cultures, faiths, identities and backgrounds, alongside those experiencing poverty, care experience, poor mental health, educational disadvantage, discrimination, social isolation or other barriers that can limit opportunity.
We recognise that young people are experts in their own lives and believe they should have a genuine voice in shaping the services they access. This commitment has led to some of our most impactful work. When young people with SEND told us they wanted a dedicated space that better reflected their needs, we worked with them to create the Ability Group, which has become one of the only specialist youth provisions of its kind in Wythenshawe. When LGBTQ+ young people wanted to celebrate their identity and increase visibility within their community, we supported them to relaunch Pride in Wythenshawe, attracting over 600 people and creating a powerful celebration of diversity, acceptance and belonging. Diversity at WCHG Youth Team is not something we deliver to young people; it is something we create with them. Many of our most successful initiatives have been designed, led and influenced by young people whose voices are often underrepresented, ensuring inclusion is embedded in every aspect of our work.
We are committed to removing barriers and creating opportunities. Through sports, music, creative arts, accredited learning, employability support, leadership programmes and our Youth Bursary Fund, we help young people access experiences and opportunities that may otherwise be out of reach. Our work supports young people facing challenges including disability, social isolation, poor mental health, financial hardship, discrimination and exclusion from education. We have seen young people use our support to start businesses, pursue careers in construction and beauty, compete in sport at a national level, develop confidence through music, and gain independence through tailored SEND provision. These successes are not simply individual achievements; they demonstrate what can happen when young people are believed in, included and given the right opportunities to thrive.
What makes our team unique is not simply the services we provide, but the relationships we build. Young people regularly tell us that our sessions are places where they feel safe, accepted and free from judgement. We celebrate individuality, encourage ambition and create environments where differences are respected and valued. Our diverse staff team brings a range of professional expertise, cultural perspectives and lived experiences, helping young people see themselves reflected in the people who support them.
We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved, but our greatest success will always be the young people themselves. Every day we see young people grow in confidence, find their voice, support one another and achieve things they never thought possible. That is why we do what we do. Together with WCHG, we are helping to create a more inclusive Wythenshawe where every young person feels they belong and every young person has the opportunity to thrive.