Youth centres - “boring, run down, unattractive and dull”.

They rarely rank high in people's opinions, as they are often seen as an “uncool” place to be. This lack of enthusiasm seemed to be a continuing theme when people are asked what they think about Swindon's youth service.

Many of the teenagers in Swindon are unaware of the help and youth service that is available to them. Although the council is starting to realise that we need better youth centres, they still have difficulties getting people interested and joining in.

Emma White, from Upper Stratton, said: “The youth centres could use more advertising, so that more people would know about what's going on and get more from the service. All in all though, they are a fantastic idea.”

Many would agree that this is a major part of the problem, because people don't know that things are going on.

On most occasions, the Youth Service has to use other groups' buildings for meetings, such as schools or offices. Unfortunately, this means that they can't be changed or personalised by the young people who take part. Also, they might be lost if there is a better deal from somebody else interested in using the facilities. This may lead to people that use the clubs feeling that the service is unreliable. A Duke of Edinburgh group, through no fault of their own, has had to change meeting place three times in the last two months, and now has nowhere to hold sessions. Although this isn't the youth service's fault, surely something could be done to ensure permanent sites?

The idea of advertising would really help teenagers to be more aware that youth centres are there for their own benefit. Without people going to them, the centres will not have a use any more. However, there is rarely an established set of events or skills sessions on at the smaller, more localised centres.

George Bennett, from Swindon, agreed. He said: “Although there are/have been many youth clubs, they are not easily sustained, as people start to lose interest.”

It's not especially easy to find your local youth centre anyway. Even people that live nearby often don't even know that they have a youth centre. Searching the internet comes up with next to no useful information on Swindon's youth centres, and as young people use the internet the most, that's where the information would be most likely to be found.

The youth service does a very good job, with the brilliant youth festival every year, and now The Platform (Swindon's new main youth centre). However, a youth centre of The Platform's calibre is very rare in Swindon, with most other youth centres not bringing people in in the same way that the Platform will. There needs to be an improvement to how people think of its centres and events, otherwise it will continue to be thought of negatively by the people it tries to help and entertain.

Sam Rogers, 14, from Bradon Forest School, said: “They're [youth centres] good for socialising, and there are plenty of them around – although there are maybe too many of them.”

This highlights the general consensus: if the council could get some permanent sites for youth centres instead of having to use spare school rooms, and get some groups into them, then it would find that more people would show interest and make it easier to get volunteers and workshops joining in. Not all youth centres in Swindon have to be like the Platform, in fact one Platform will do well enough, but more of them need to have the atmosphere of something new and interesting that the Platform has in abundance.

However, on a cheerier note, the people that work and volunteer for the youth service show a lot of dedication and will definitely take anyone's suggestions to heart. The Platform, which was named by a teenager, and relied on the ideas of young people in its development stages proves that the youth service is thinking differently now, and taking big steps in the right direction.

By James Fletcher and Tammay Broadfoot, both 14, Bradon Forest School