Gaming
PS5 and Xbox on board — the spark that gets a first conversation going.
Mobile Youth Club
Detached youth work · On the road
A youth club that drives to them.
Our Mobile Intervention Van takes a safe, trusted space straight into the heart of communities — gaming, music, sport and a familiar face — reaching young people exactly where they are, in the places that need us most.
More than outreach — a safe space on wheels
Why we built it
We couldn't reach them on foot. So we built something they'd walk towards.
Over three years ago, we realised our on-foot detached youth work needed more of an offer. We'd turn up in the areas that needed us most, but with nothing real to draw young people in, they had little reason to stop and talk. We knew we had to take something to them — a vehicle we could drive into the heart of communities and park up at the anti-social-behaviour hotspots our funders had identified, to help reduce risk.
There was no funding for it. A vehicle counts as an asset, so it fell outside the grants open to us, and sponsorship didn't materialise. We believed in it enough to back ourselves.
And it’s for everyone. Whatever a young person’s background, identity or ability, the van is an open, inclusive space where they’re welcomed exactly as they are — a safe space for all.
So we took the risk ourselves — a bank loan, our own vehicle, kitted out by us. What started as a "gaming van" has become something far bigger.
Open to everyone
A safe space for every young person.
Whatever a young person's background, identity or ability, the van is an open, inclusive space where they're welcomed exactly as they are.
Accessible and judgement-free, it's built around belonging — so every young person who comes over feels it was made for them, too.
A youth club & media hub on wheels
Step inside, and there's a reason to stay.
The kit is the way in — it gives a young person a reason to come over. The relationship is what keeps them coming back, week after week.
Music & DJ station
Decks and a media hub for recording, mixing and creating with young people.
Table tennis & chess
Set up outside under the awning — easy, open invitations to take part.
Basketball
Where space and safety allow — bringing energy and a crowd together.
From a gaming van to a mobile youth club.
What began as somewhere to play has grown into a full youth offer on wheels — a place to play, create, talk and just be, in the middle of the community rather than tucked away in a building young people would never walk into.
It works because it's familiar. The same van, the same faces, turning up reliably — that consistency is what turns a quick game into a trusted relationship.
Reach & trust
Known, and trusted, in the areas we serve.
We work across a number of areas, engaging 30 to 80 young people every session in some of London's most deprived communities. Many come back week after week — because they know the van as a space they can trust. Community members stop by to chat and find out what we do, and over time the van has become a trusted source of information in the neighbourhoods we support.
Those conversations open doors. Over time we’ve spoken with many parents at the van, helping to signpost their young people into further mentoring with us — and giving both parents and young people access to our accredited training platform, with recognised qualifications they can build on.
30–80young people every session
3 yrson the road, and growing
250+young people engaged every week
400+detached youth sessions delivered
Intelligence-led & joined up
Prevention, in real time.
Our detached work carries an element of youth-led intelligence. We listen, we notice, and we work hand-in-hand with local policing and community safety teams to respond to risk where it's actually happening.
After every session we feed back — so that no young person we've identified as at risk is left without follow-up. It's how a games night on a street corner becomes early intervention that keeps a young person safe.
Out in the community
The van in action.
“Taking support to young people, when and where they need it most.”
Youth Unity · Prevent · Prepare · ProtectBring the van · Refer · Partner
Want the van in your area?
Whether you'd like to refer a young person, bring the Mobile Intervention Van to a hotspot in your community, or partner with us so it can reach further — we'd love to hear from you. We funded it ourselves; partners and sponsors help us take it to more communities.
Email admin@youthunity.org or call 020 3105 3525.