Nottingham charity launches a new look after 32 years.
Added by Love Business East Midlands | 17 March 2025
Base 51, a Nottingham charity that supports young people aged 11-24, have launched their exciting new look – including a brand new logo.
The charity’s new look was designed by Kind, a local branding company that focuses on working with ethical businesses; in 2024 they offered one charity the opportunity to get a brand refresh and Base 51 was chosen from the applicants.
Base 51 has been working in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire for over 32 years. Inspired by a project in New York called “The Door”, Base 51 was born from a belief that youth provision should be holistic, providing young people with a wide range of support from just one place. Base 51’s name was chosen by prospective users as the address of their original building was 51 Glasshouse Street. The charity opened its doors in March 1993 and offered counselling services, youth activities, a café, a baby day-care for teenage parents, an on-site nurse, legal advice, and youth development programmes.
In 2012 when the building in Glasshouse Street was demolished, the charity moved to the NGY building on Castle Gate as part of the “MyPlace” scheme which was set up to create world-class youth centres across the county. The NGY My Place building was previously the home of a Women’s Hospital and Trent FM, and was converted into a youth centre including counselling rooms, a music studio, dance studio, laundry services and a gym – providing a safe place to thousands of young people in Nottingham with the support of Nottingham City Council.
However in 2022, Nottingham City Council announced funding cuts throughout the city including to Base 51. The charity was forced to relocate again and in April 2024 they moved to their new home on Peachey Street. Previously the YMCA Gym, Base 51 converted areas into a youth club, counselling rooms and training academy to continue their work with 11–24-year-olds.
Over the years Base 51 has provided a range of life-changing support services, including the ever-popular Outburst group which launched in 2011 as the first ever LGBTQIA+ youth group in Nottingham, Evolution Plus to work with young people affected by violent crime whether they were a victim, witness or perpetrator, Thrive which supported young people living in temporary accommodation with their family and the charity’s core services of counselling and youth club.
“When I first joined Base 51, I was so lonely but then I came here and met some amazing people that really helped me. Without Base 51, I’d probably be in a prison cell”
"I am glad that services like this are here to support young people as I did not know where else to go”
Over the decade the challenges facing young people have evolved with the rise of social media, the recent cost-of-living crisis, mental health challenges and recent increases in knife crime in the city. Twinned with this, funding for youth work in the UK has fallen by more than 60 per cent in a decade – with a study showing that from 2011-21, local authority youth provision funding in England fell in real terms from £1,058.2 million to £408.5m, while the number of youth clubs operated by local authorities nearly halved in number. With this decrease in funding available, Base 51 has had to reduce their offering, including no longer providing Evolution and reducing open access youth club.
Despite the challenge being faced by the youth sector, Base 51 remains committed to evolving, growing, and ensuring that young people in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire receive the support they deserve – they are looking to the future and the needs of young people in the modern world, and the new branding reflects the charity’s aims for the next 30 years.
Darren York, CEO of Base 51 says:
“Since 1993 Base 51 has been at the forefront of youth services in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, helping to support and inspire young people to build a brighter future for themselves and their communities. Over the past decade young people locally and across the UK have faced increasing challenges and the services that support them have suffered significant funding cuts. – Base 51 has faced difficult times and continues to face them in 2025, now more than ever we rely on the support of local companies and individuals to help us change the lives of 11-24 year olds in the area. We are grateful to Kind for their hard work in creating this new branding, which will help us connect with more young people and will better reflect the services we offer and the future of our charity.”
Kind’s brief was to create a brand that better resonates with young people in 2025, reflecting society now whilst also being a brand that will last for many years into the future. Their goal was to create a brand that appeals to a diverse range of ages, services, audiences, and needs.
Michelle Pavey from Kind says:
"We became aware of the inspiring work Base 51 undertakes every single day in Nottingham city. Funding cuts have depleted essential services for teenagers in struggling areas, despite this, we’ve seen how dedicated, compassionate and hardworking the staff at Base 51 are and how much their help is so desperately needed in the city and beyond. Because of this we felt compelled to help Base 51 by creating a new brand which resonates with the young people they support, helps them to recruit future counsellors to their training academy, and crucially to raise awareness and secure long-term funding so they can continue on for many years to come."
To celebrate the brand refresh the charity are hosting a range of events for the public between the 17th and 22nd March for Base 51 Week, including Game For Good at Roxy Lanes, an Open Day at their youth centre, Art In Mind: Young Creatives Exhibition at Broadway Gallery and the Power In Partnership Awards at Alea Casino. The charity is also running a GoFundMe to raise funds to support their work, and will be selling branded merchandise including coffee cups, water bottles and notebooks.
More details can be found on their new website designed by H2O Digital : www.base51.org or follow them on social media @base51 Facebook and Linkedin, @base5_1 Instagram, @Base51notts on TikTok
