Braintree Youth Project Charity began life as a project run by one of the churches to provide somewhere for young people to meet up. The youth of the church said there was nowhere to go that was free and where they could just hang out with no pressure to buy coffee. If there were things to do, that was a bonus! A local builder offered an old hut that was due to be demolished, and The Hut was born.

When the leader of the project moved away, Braintree Area Churches Together decided it was too good to abandon, and proposed to create a charity to run the drop-in. In 2011, Braintree Youth Project Charity was officially registered, with Board Members drawn from various churches in the town.

With demolition of the old hut on the cards, new premises were needed, and a site was found on Leather Lane. Thanks to grants from Braintree District Council among others, the venue had a kitchen and toilets installed, and full re-decoration. A part-time youth worker was appointed, and with our own premises the sessions could expand in number.

We stayed at Leather Lane for four years before a change in the buildings’ ownership meant we had to look for a new location. Those years were great fun - we ran music sessions, art sessions, had trips to the Lake District, Skate Parks and Sailing, all alongside regular drop-in sessions. It took nearly a year of peripatetic sessions in church halls before we completed a move to our current location at 2 St. Michael’s Road.

In November 2016 we moved in. Now we had an outdoor space to kick a football around, and rooms where different activities could go on, so the crafters didn’t have to share a space with the gamers. Since then, there have been various renovations (a new toilet and kitchen) and we are always looking at ways to make the space as welcoming and flexible as possible.

The aim of the work hasn’t changed - to provide somewhere for young people to meet up and socialise that doesn’t cost them anything, and to be a safe space for them to grow and develop. As well as sessions in the building, we run various trips to challenge and motivate, and hopefully to have fun! The work is led by a Youth Worker, overseen by a Management Board, and supported by a Centre Manager. We remain a Christian charity, and that is core to our ethos - that everyone is deserving of attention and nurture.