A Year On with 84Youth: LOFT’s Commitment to Community

LOFT attributes its growth over the past 20 years to the support and encouragement of community. Community is an integral part of LOFT’s foundations, and it is something that we aspire to enhance through our work across the property sector. As a company and individuals who have benefitted from the cradle of a community, we strive to lend back to our environment as much as we can – donations to multiple charities across the UK, upcycling of furniture and re-purposing of homes. 84Youth was one of these causes that LOFT could not be happier to support, an organisation that goes above and beyond to support and enhance the community.

84Youth is a community-integrated youth-led organisation that provides a supportive sanctuary to youths across the side Moss Side area in Manchester that have been affected by violence and trauma. Established in 2019, 84 Youth is a response to the rise in Serious Youth Violence (SYV) and Perpetual Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by criminal and harmful events within the area.

84Youth exist in response to traditional youth work methods of disrupting SYV and the resulting PTSD (Perpetual Traumatic Stress Disorder) that many experience due to high visibility of violence. The team are all from the community and have lived experience of the issues they aim to address. Alongside this, senior members of the team have over 70 years of youth work between them along with academic theory through university study.

LOFT began collaborating with the directors of 84Youth since its inception to conceptualise and provide a space that could serve as a sanctuary for young people within a trying area. 84Youth was much more than just a design brief for LOFT. It was a chance to create a safe space within a fractured community that not only facilitated growth and wellbeing but propelled it forward. We donated to the cause by designing, furnishing and installing the entire facility from top to bottom to provide a base of operations for the organisation.

Activities organised within 84Youth include such things as youth development and training, family therapy sessions and job interview preparation to name a few. 84Youth do an incredible amount of work for young people and families within the community and they now have a valuable asset in the form of this bespoke space to facilitate learning, growth and security within the community.

Akemia, the Managing Director for 84Youth, had this to say about the value of having a headquarters for the organisation and its members:

“Having a base for 84YOUTH to work from has been a real asset to us as it's given us the opportunity to grow and develop as an organisation. 

Our work aims to address the rise we are seeing in Serious Youth Violence, Perpetual Trauma and support families and young people affected by violence. Having the base has given us the freedom to host meetings, training, deliver sessions and meet our mentees and families without having to worry about finding funding for capital costs so we can really focus on our delivery. Without it, our work would be even more difficult than it already is!

The space is peaceful and provides calm surroundings to work around such traumatic issues while giving us the authenticity we were lacking prior to LOFT providing such a perfect environment for us.”

LOFT is and always has been a People First company and nothing fulfils us more than seeing a space we have created serving such a beneficial purpose for so many people. We are filled with pride to see the positive impact 84Youth has had across the local community and beyond – supporting and invigorating youth to fulfil their potential. Find out more about 84Youth and the amazing work they are achieving here.