In 2017, following consultation with Peterborough City Council and funding from the Youth Investment Fund, Romsey Mill was able to start delivering youth development work in Hampton, a new community on the outskirts of Peterborough. This work was delivered in partnership with CSK Church in Hampton, which also became the base for youth work delivered in the local community.  
 
Although that initial funding ended in 2020, Romsey Mill has been able to continue to deliver youth work in Hampton, supporting over 100 young people each year, creating opportunities with them to develop and participate in a range of different activities, based on their passions, interests and needs.  
 
Each week, in Hampton, the Youth Development Team runs a range of different sessions. This includes: detached sessions, where youth workers meet young people in the places they gather, to talk about what is going on in their lives; music studio sessions, where young people can create and perform music; community football sessions on Friday nights, creating space and time for young people to engage in something positive; and an art group, for young people who have experienced anxiety and isolation and anxiety.  
 
Support from Youth Music, The Cherry Family Foundation and Hampton Parish Council has helped to fund these activities, which provide safe spaces and opportunities for young people to have fun, make friends and establish trusted relationships with youth workers, who can listen to them and then help them with the issues they are facing in their lives.  
 
The youth workers also work with the local Secondary schools, Hampton Gardens and Hampton College, to provide a number of Small Group and 1:1 mentoring sessions, as well as lunchtime detached sessions, to engage with young people.  
 
One recent, exciting development, delivered in partnership with Christ the Servant King church, is a new a youth club, which takes place alongside Food Hub support for local families. 
 
Romsey Mill’s Lead Youth Development Worker, Dave Read, has been with the team since the work in Hampton first started, says:

“Through being present in the community and engaging with young people in a number of settings, we are able identify their needs, and create activities with them, that engage them and enable us to support them further. 
 
We are working with young people who are facing a variety of challenges, which can have a negative and detrimental impact on their lives. For example, at present, much of our schools-based work is focused on supporting students who have faced bereavement or are struggling significantly with their mental health. 
 
We support young people's wellbeing and mental health across all of our work. Our trips and residential experiences have been really effective in this.  
 
In August, we took six young people away to the Norfolk coast for a two-day residential trip involving adventurous and team building activities. The young people had a brilliant time and are hoping there will be another one! " 

One of the young people who attended the residential art group trip wanted to share their experience, they said;  

"The youth workers give me something to look forward to and have really got me through some hard times! They are like a second family to me and I honestly wouldn't be here without them."