St Martin'S Youth Centre
Charity 522878
Overview
Summary
St Martin's Youth Centre appears to be a place-based youth-development organisation whose main role is to provide accessible, structured activity and positive challenge for young people, particularly where exclusion or antisocial behaviour may be a concern. Its combination of open access provision, creative activity, sport and residential experiences suggests an operating model built around sustained engagement rather than a single specialist service. The Centre also appears to function as shared community infrastructure, although the extent of its wider community role is unclear.
Operational geography
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Bordesley and Highgate
Confidence: high
The latest available trustees' report identifies St Martin's Youth Centre in Highgate as the registered office and repeatedly describes the building as the Centre where services, activities, room hire and refurbishment take place.
- St Martin's Youth Centre, Trustees' annual report for year ended 31 March 2025, Charity Commission
Lists the registered office as St Martin's Youth Centre, Highgate, Birmingham. - St Martin's Youth Centre, Trustees' annual report for year ended 31 March 2025, Charity Commission
Reports refurbishment work at the Centre, upkeep and maintenance of the building, and an intention to increase lettings at the Centre. - St Martin's Youth Centre, Trustees' annual report for year ended 31 March 2025, Charity Commission
States that youth provision is being considered in response to the current needs of young people 'in the area' and records work with the Highgate Steering Group on two projects. - Charity Commission register entry for charity 522878
Describes the charity as providing youth activities, open-access sessions and a community resource available for events; its reported area of operation is Birmingham City.
Remaining uncertainties
- The Charity Commission's Birmingham City reporting category is broader than the operational evidence. It does not establish that regular services are delivered across Birmingham, so it has not been treated as evidence of citywide operational coverage.
- The latest report covers the year ending 31 March 2025. It confirms that refurbishment disrupted some planned provision, including a homework club and coffee mornings, but does not confirm their delivery status after that reporting period.
- The Centre reports a supportive relationship with Birmingham Hippodrome, including young people's participation in a dance workshop and theatre-based projects. This indicates occasional access beyond Highgate, but does not establish a sustained St Martin's-operated service in the City Centre.
- No evidence located identifies regular outreach venues, satellite sites, or a defined beneficiary catchment beyond the Highgate neighbourhood.
Additional evidence needed
- A current programme timetable or service report confirming which sessions are operating following the Centre's refurbishment and where they are delivered.
- Current participant or referral data showing the neighbourhoods from which regular users are drawn.
- Information from St Martin's Youth Centre or Birmingham Hippodrome clarifying whether theatre-based activity is an ongoing jointly delivered programme or occasional visits.
- A current list of community lettings and partner-delivered activity at the Centre building, distinguishing the charity's own services from independent users of the premises.
Areas of work
- Amateur Sport
- Arts/culture/heritage/science
- Economic/community Development/employment
- Education/training
- General Charitable Purposes
- Recreation
- The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty
Who they help
- Children/young People
- Elderly/old People
- Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
- People Of A Particular Ethnic Or Racial Origin
- The General Public/mankind
How they help
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space
- Provides Services
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
A preventative youth-development role
The Centre appears to use leisure, creativity and participation as a preventative pathway: building young people's capacities while offering alternatives for those involved in, or at risk of, antisocial or criminal behaviour.
Why it matters
This positions the organisation as more than an activity provider. It may be part of the local prevention ecosystem, connecting youth work, wellbeing, community safety and informal education.
Show evidence
“The charity's object is to help and educate girls and boys through leisure time activities so they may develop physically, mentally and spiritually.”
Source:Charity Commission“For young people involved in or likely to be involved in antisocial or criminal behaviour, the Centre provides alternative challenges.”
Source:Organisation
Engagement through multiple routes
The mix of music, media, arts, sport, holiday activity, residentials and open access sessions may indicate that the Centre seeks to reach young people with varied interests and levels of readiness for structured support.
Why it matters
Its distinctive strength may lie in breadth: different activities can provide several entry points into relationships, confidence-building and longer-term participation.
Show evidence
“The programme includes media and music, arts, crafts and dance workshops, sports activities, holiday programmes, residentials and open access sessions.”
Source:Organisation“The Centre provides activities for young people aged 10-19.”
Source:Organisation
Potentially wider than its youth programme
There is a notable gap between the explicitly youth-focused programme and the wider beneficiary categories and building-hire function. This may indicate a broader community-infrastructure role, or it may reflect formal classifications that are not central to current delivery.
Why it matters
Clarifying this would show whether the Centre is primarily a youth service with rentable space, or a venue that also creates relationships across generations and community organisations.
Show evidence
“The Centre is a community resource which can be hired for events.”
Source:Organisation“The charity helps children and young people, elderly people, people of a particular ethnic or racial origin, other charities or voluntary bodies, and the general public.”
Source:Charity Commission
- Which communities and neighbourhoods the Centre primarily serves.
- Whether building hire creates active partnerships with other local organisations.
- How many young people receive sustained support and what outcomes are achieved.
Remaining uncertainties
- Recent annual reports or programme data showing participation, reach and outcomes.
- Information on venue users, referral partners and collaborations.
- Evidence of how elderly people and other stated beneficiary groups are supported.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
The Centre provides activities for young people aged 10-19. The programme includes media & music, arts, crafts & dance workshops, sports activities, holiday programmes, residentials and open access sessions. For those involved in/likely to be involved in, antisocial/criminal behaviour the Centre provides alternative challenges. The Centre is a community resource which can be hired for events.
Charity objects
TO HELP AND EDUCATE GIRLS AND BOYS THROUGH THEIR LEISURE TIME ACTIVITIES SO TO DEVELOP THEIR PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL CAPACITIES THAT THEY MAY GROW TO FULL MATURITY AS INDIVIDUALS AND MEMBERS OF SOCIETY, AND THAT THEIR CONDITIONS OF LIFE MAY BE IMPROVED.