Up the Youth ClubEmma WarrenMainLabel: Faber & FaberDescription: AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR'A timely reminder of what we all truly crave as human beings - connection.' Doc Brown'Warren hows why youth spaces matter - not just for young people but for all of us.' Darren McGarvey'Community resilience kindness . . . A story of people at their best.' Richard KingA searching look at the rise and fall of the youth club by renowned cultural documentarian Emma Warren highlighting the seismic impact they have had on UK culture and why we need to ensure their existence for future generations.'Youth clubs have always existed. They always will because there will always be young people. How we care for our youth and what we owe them is a question for all of us.'In Up the Youth Club Emma Warren maps the shifting story of youth clubs in the UK and Northern Ireland from factory workers in Victorian Boys' and Girls' clubs to renegade self-emancipatory spaces in the 1970s and the music-generating youth clubs of more recent decades. With a mixed lineage in church evangelism the patronage of the upper classes grassroots' DIY and erratic state funding the youth club has had a huge yet almost invisible effect on music sport culture and society.Arguing that we cannot advocate for what we do not understand Warren positions youth clubs as a kind of engine room - from the famous success stories to come out of their doors such as The Specials or Stormzy to the untold stories of young people finding shelter sustenance and stimulation for over a century - and why their dwindling numbers largely due to austerity and funding cuts is of serious concern for us all.With this impassioned history Warren invites us to pick up the torch and play an active part in protecting and re-igniting this vital part of UK society.
