Our History
Established in 1961 JAYF has been standing alongside youth in need in Jersey, offering real hope that has lasting impact. JAYF was established with the objective to provide a good home for working boys and girls between the ages of 15-21 who needed home, security, and help, and were without suitable accommodation during those critical and formative years.
The inspiration for the establishment of JAYF was the talk given to the Jersey Ladies Literary Luncheon Club by a London Stipendiary Magistrate, the late Sir Basil Henriques.
Sir Basil – who having done much work for young people in the London area – had identified the difficulties and traumas that young people experienced when they left institutional care at the age of fifteen and were sent out to make their own way largely unsupported.
Image © National Portrait Gallery, London – Sir Basil Lucas Quixano Henriques
In 1962 a hostel for boys was opened in a rented house in Duhamel Place. In due course sufficient sums were raised to acquire a property in Clarendon Road that was then called Basil Lodge (sold in 2001).
Other properties followed. JAYF’s original accommodation was intended to provide staffed hostels where rooms were shared, dormitory-like, and food was provided in a dining room.