Our History
The Ernest Mason Youth Foundation has existed for 100 years in delivering and supporting Youth Work to Attwood Green and the surrounding area.
The Birth of the Boys Club (1920s)
Ernest Mason boys club was founded by Ernest Mason. Ernest Mason was deeply rooted in the local community, being church warden to St. Thomas’ church on Holloway Head. Ernest Mason also wrote a history marking the centenary of St. Thomas’ church.
The boys club was launched on the premises of a disused public house on Washington Street during the 1920’s becoming a community centre for the local area. Here, Ernest Mason commissioned the construction of a purpose-built club on the intersecting corner of Washington Street and Ridley Street. This enabled the club to show films in the basement alongside other community activities.
Ernest Mason was passionate about addressing social inequality and poverty, which was rife in Birmingham in these years. It was not uncommon to witness children begging for sandwiches from factory workers and to have poor footwear if not no shoes at all. Various organisations sought to address this problem. This included schools providing porridge for breakfast before morning lessons, and the Birmingham mail boot fund would provide hobnailed boots for children, so the leather on the children’s boots would not wear out.
The youth club provided plimsolls for children and youth people when they came to the club. Ernest Mason would arrange opportunities for families to have a summer holiday at the seaside, which included arranging their travel arrangements by train.
Post War
After the Second World War Lee Bank (now named Attwood Green) was redeveloped. This began in the late 1940s and continued until the late 1960s.
During this time, Ernest Mason arranged for the construction of a brand-new boys club on Cregoe Street which opened in 1963. This coincided with the publishing of the Albemarle report, which drastically changed the approach to youth work, professionalising and resourcing youth work nationally impacting the youth club on a local level. Birmingham City Council and the Boys Club partnered in work towards young people.
There have been many youth workers since then that have positively contributed to the youth work in the area. Terry Hopkins is one that is remembered for the Land Rovers that he used for expeditions to Europe with young people.
The youth club celebrates a history of inclusion and diversity particularly in the wider social context nationally, where some institutions would ban people of colour from attending their venues. In these years, the youth centre regularly hosted music events delivered by the local Afro-Caribbean community.
The 1970s saw the impact of the faulty aspects of the previous housing development in Lee Bank, where residents had developed serious health problem such as asthma. It was only in 1980s after much campaigning that the Lee Bank estate was regenerated. The Government invested £55 million into a programme delivered by Optima (now Citizen) housing association from Lee Bank, to Fiveways estate, Woodview, Benmore and Sentinel Towers.
Post 2000
Later, the Youth Centre relocated from 65 Cregoe Street to 40 Irving Street where a new building was constructed.
In recent years, the Ernest Mason Youth Foundation have streamlined its work and support of youth work in the area, to focus on investments and offering support more widely to youth work in the local area. CCS Birmingham have a licence with the Ernest Mason Youth Foundation to deliver Youth work and to manage the building on 40 Irving Street, who have taken on the trading name of ‘ER Masons Youth Club’ and operate using the name of the building ‘ER Masons Youth Centre’ .