A £492,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund will help provide support for young people in South Gloucestershire.

The Youth Partnership brings together Creative Youth Network, Krunch South West, Southern Brooks, Diversity Trust and Wickwar Youth Centre.

Funding will focus on supporting vulnerable young people by enabling organisations within the partnership to work together better.

Over the next three years the partnership will reach more young people, particularly those with complex needs including mental health, housing, unemployment, drugs and alcohol addiction and family breakdown.

The new funding will provide activities at six youth hubs in Stoke Gifford, Hanham, Wickwar, Patchway, Thornbury and Frampton Cotterell and easier access for mental health, housing, employment and other specialist services.

There will also be volunteering opportunities for young people to mentor their peers in youth work sessions and achieve a qualification in youth work.

Sandy-Hore Ruthven, CEO of Creative Youth Network, said: “Challenges, particularly around mental health and well-being, are affecting the lives and opportunities of young people in South Gloucestershire.

"The Youth Partnership wants to make sure, even in this age of austerity, that we offer young people the best support we can.

"This funding brings together the best organisations in the area to improve services, and this innovative joined-up approach means that young people will get the best start in life because of the work we will do over the next three years.”

Tom McCulloch, head of funding at the Big Lottery Fund, said the partnership was 'a fantastic example of people coming together to support young people'.