Dartmoor teens at the heart of Devon youth charity’s £84,000 campaign

A Devon youth charity has set out how young people in Dartmoor towns and villages are being supported as it launches its 10th birthday fundraising appeal.

SPACE Youth Services is entering its 10th year as a charity, and is aiming to raise £84,000 by February 2027, representing ‘one pound for every one of Devon’s 84,000 teenagers’.

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Following on from the launch of this campaign, The Moorlander reached out to the charity, who provided a breakdown of its work within Dartmoor communities, where transport, distance and limited local provision can present challenges for young people.

Figures show 112 young people from Okehampton and the Northern Moor attend SPACE youth centres or take part in outreach activities, including teenagers from Okehampton itself as well as more rural locations such as Belstone.

In the eastern and central moor area, including Moretonhampstead, Bovey Tracey and Ashburton, 16 young people are recorded as attending, with five attending from Buckfastleigh and one from the Tavistock and Mary Tavy area.

SPACE also operates a digital youth centre, with young people logging in from deep rural Dartmoor locations inside the National Park boundary, including Moretonhampstead (TQ13), Chagford, Mary Tavy (PL19) and the Belstone and Sticklepath area (EX20).

The charity said it also has a digital presence in gateway communities on the edge of the moor, including Bovey Tracey, Bridestowe, Sourton, Ashton and Teign Valley, as well as across Okehampton.

Chief Executive Dan Barton said: “When we invest in young people, we invest in Devon’s future.”

SPACE’s Community Team also works alongside voluntary youth clubs in rural areas to help keep local provision running. 

“We have recently attended Chagford Youth Club, delivering invaluable work on alcohol and sex education,” a SPACE spokesperson told The Moorlander.

“Katie from our Community Team brought some fun resources with her to deliver informal education around the topic of safe sex, sexual health, helping bolster the voluntary provision’s work on this topic. 

“Moreover, Katie also provided assistance to Moretonhampstead’s local club, the Yard, in December last year, helping them review policies and update risk assessments to ensure safe practice and stronger governance for the local provision.”

The charity said funds raised through the appeal would benefit young people on Dartmoor by helping secure its digital youth service, continuing support for rural community clubs and subsidising trips for young people attending centres in Okehampton and Newton Abbot, including partnership work with Devon Wildlife Trust.