Totnes Rural Area Youth Engagement
This charity, known as TRAYE, was set up ten years ago and currently runs 12 different youth clubs, support groups and services each week. These take place in nine different towns and villages across rural South Devon – including amongst others Yealhampton, Holbeton, Bridgeton, Buckfastleigh, Totnes and Staverton. People in these areas can have various issues – such as rural isolation, lack of positive activities and volunteering opportunities locally, hidden poverty, and poor transport links, and young people in these areas can be susceptible to youth violence, drugs, knife crime, and exploitation by county lines gangs. TRAYE aims to bring isolated and at-risk young people together, to support and safeguard them whilst providing multiple opportunities to develop as individuals, have fun, learn new skills, and create new and safe peer networks.
At the June 2025 meeting of Trustees, the Allen Lane Foundation agreed funding over two years of £8,000 (£4,000 per annum). The grant is contributing towards the provision of one-to-one support for young people who TRAYE most identifies as at risk, or vulnerable to harm or abuse. Intended outcomes are that young people will receive increased and tailored interventions and support that will build confidence and self-esteem, and enable them to move forward in their lives towards a more positive and healthy future.
