Celebrating one year of Time for young people, Newham

Twelve months ago, we opened the doors to Time for young people Newham, a space where young people can pause, breathe, and find support when life gets too much. To mark this milestone, we’re celebrating our journey and the moments of hope that have helped young people across Newham take control of their wellbeing. We spoke with four staff members, Saima, Nadia, Claire and Carol, to find out what the service means to them and the local community.

5 November 2025

What is Time for young people, Newham?

Nadia (Admin assistant): “Our service is dedicated to supporting young people in Newham and giving them a voice and opportunity to speak about their well-being in an open and comforting space. We focus on nurturing their skills and confidence so they can unlock their full potential and thrive in their community.”

Saima (Practitioner): “We are a wellbeing support hub for young people where they can get support with their mental health and well-being and any other matters they wish to explore.”

What have you learnt in the first year?

Carol (Practitioner): “I think one of the biggest things for me, which I knew anyway but reinforced it here, is that there's no typical person.”

Everybody's an individual coming with their own stories.

“It's about taking the time to really listen and make that person feel heard, because a lot of young people have been to a lot of different services and not felt that way.”

Saima: "There's a lot of high-level needs in Newham, and we've been having to adjust the service while also keeping it as early support."

"Something we've found is that there is a lack of services that people actually need, like financial support for example. We've had to do a lot of things we wouldn't ordinarily do to help.”

Claire (Practitioner): “I’ve learnt that it is just the little things like having that small amount of time that makes the difference. It doesn't even have to be a full-on chat. It can just be asking ‘How are you?’ ‘How was your day?’. That one moment of support and then seeing how much trust can build within a short amount of time.”

What was your highlight of the year?

Nadia: "For me it was probably the community event that we held. It was an Eid event that we organised, and it was just really nice seeing people come together and admire the support and work we offer. That was a really great day.”

“It was a big open day. There were around 50 people there. We had games, merch and food and we were socialising with the community and showing what our service was all about.”

Claire: “Seeing how many young people have grown in their confidence.”

There is such a buzz in the hub.

“You can see that it means a lot to the young people. The positive vibe when they're in here. They just love being in this space.”

Carol: "One of my first success stories was a young man in his early 20s who came to us with aspirations to get a good job. He was working in a restaurant, but he wasn't happy. He didn't feel like he was being fulfilled. He didn't realise his own worth and potential.”

"We worked on his CV and encouraged and supported him to build his confidence. He went out and actually found one of his dream jobs working for a big industry in the city.”

“He came back and said that in the future, he would come back and volunteer to help young people too."

Saima: “The first young person I worked with was a 12-year-old boy with autism. Finishing that kind of support and then being able to help him and his mum was a big highlight for me. Even now, I think about it, because this happened back when we first opened the service. I know it was successful because I know how much the young person and his mum loved coming here. This is a true testament to how well we built that relationship with them.”

Any final words?

Nadia: “It has been getting really busy recently, and it's amazing because a lot of the young people that have been coming recently are boys and that was one of our aims as a team - to tailor our services to more of the young boys in the community.”

“In the last 6 months, we just have people from the community coming in and saying that we're doing such an amazing job and they're so happy for us. We have people coming and praying for us, giving donations and saying, they wish they had it in their day.”

Carol: "It's been a learning year for all of us but it’s been a good year. I think the service has morphed to fit in more in the community."

‘I’m just so glad that we’re here…. When we think of the young people we’ve worked with – if we weren’t here, who would’ve helped them?’