For more than 60 years, Streatham Youth and Community Trust (SYCT) in South London has been a constant in the lives of local families. Established in 1961 as a community centre and youth club, it has welcomed tens of thousands of young people from low-income families through its doors. 

Today, “it’s still one of the bedrocks of the community,” says Mark Wood, Principal Youth Worker at SYCT. Sadly, this is now unusual in the borough of Lambeth, where council-funded support and services for young people have dwindled. SYCT stands as one of the last independent youth clubs.

“We are lucky that we have survived this long,” Mark adds.

From football to art, cooking and sessions for disabled children, SYCT offers a safe and inclusive space for 7- to 18-year-olds to develop new skills or simply meet friends.

But for Mark, who grew up in the area and came to the club as a boy, providing children from low-income backgrounds with access to places and opportunities they wouldn’t normally experience is vital.

“Some people just grow up on an estate and don’t go anywhere apart from school or nursery. They don’t visit the countryside, they don’t see the seaside, they don’t get to have these new experiences.”

For many families in the area, the cost-of-living crisis has made those experiences even harder to afford. 

“People are struggling, especially the young people we see. It’s horrible. We run a food bank here and the people that turn up, you just don’t expect them to be struggling as much as they are.” 

Thanks to support from Variety, the youth club received a new Sunshine Coach in 2025, making it possible to take children and young people on trips many previously didn’t have access to.

The children we work with are all local from low-income families who don’t get these opportunities. They just don’t see certain things.”

“I’ve taken young people away to a residential for a weekend and they’ve seen cows in a field and couldn’t believe the size of a cow. We take them skiing, rowing, archery, things that they would never be able to do if they didn’t have these opportunities.” 

The club’s Sunshine Coach is in constant use. Not just for residential trips, but also for weekly visits from a local SEN school to do trampolining and cheerleading, plus spontaneous outings when it’s sunny.

Before receiving the Sunshine Coach, organising an outing was a logistical challenge. Mark explains, “You can imagine what it’s like to take 15 young people on a bus or tube in London during rush hour. Or taking them on a residential on the coast, where you have to get trains and buses in places you don’t know.”  

For children with additional needs and disabilities, access to trips was a bigger challenge. 

“There were times we couldn’t take certain young people with ADHD or autism on trains. They’d need a carer with them all the time and some don’t have that support. So in the past we’ve had to say, ‘As much as we’d love to take him, our risk assessment says we can’t,’” Mark recalls. 

But when you’re on a Sunshine Coach, it’s a much more controlled environment, so it’s a lot easier to handle.”

“Young people in wheelchairs were able to come on trips that they hadn’t been before. Just to see their faces, just to see the excitement. They were able to come and do what the rest of these young people were doing; before they’d missed out. For me, that was something I’ll always remember.” 

Aside from making trips more manageable and inclusive, the Sunshine Coach makes them more affordable too.

“On a train you’ve got to have more staff. On a Sunshine Coach we can have two members of staff. It makes it a lot harder and a lot more expensive. We took a group to the Sky Studios last summer during the drama camp on a train. We had to pay £120 for 15 young people and four staff. I was quite shocked. 

“It is cost-effective having a Sunshine Coach and it’s just a whole lot easier from door to wherever we’re going and back again. As staff, we really appreciate it, I think we appreciate it just as much as the kids.”

For Mark though, the greatest impact of the Sunshine Coach is seeing the children’s independence and confidence grow on trips they wouldn’t normally experience.

“We take them away for a week where they’re out of their family environment and they have to do new things, whether that be washing up in a caravan or helping make meals or tidying up and doing chores. Sometimes they don’t do that at home.

“You see their confidence growing. If you didn’t have that week away or weekend away, the process would be so much longer.”

The families feel the impact too. Mark explains:

“The parents are always very, very grateful. We’ve had times in the past where the parent wouldn’t let their young person go because of getting on trains, so for us to have that Sunshine Coach and it be a lot safer, the parents feel a lot more comfortable.”

Looking ahead, the club’s Sunshine Coach is booked out with a packed calendar of events for the year, from a May half-term trip, to swimming, cinema, bowling and summer residentials.

“I appreciate everything you do. We’re very thankful that organisations like you are going. A lot of people don’t realise, but to actually see and hear what the Sunshine Coach does, it really does make a difference to lots of young people and their families and us as well,” Mark concludes.