Our Story

In 1987 we had a vision to replace the Hereward Wake House and Benham Hall which had been built in the centre of Northampton in the 1960’s, with a larger venue on the edge of the countryside.

Through a remarkable and divine revelation, a five acre site was chosen on Kings Park Road overlooking fields and woodland, opposite to Nationwide Building Society offices.

With support from the Benham Charitable Settlement, Bernard Sunley Foundation and many generous donors, the King’s Park Conference Centre and Benham Sports Arena opened in June 1990 by the late Queen Mother.

The main purpose of King’s Park Conference Centre is to provide a residential facility for the training of youth leaders and leaders of other organisations and Christian ministries, including many other caring professions.

Benham Sports Arena (now Benham Sports Centre) provides for the leisure time needs of children and young people from youth groups and schools in the area and beyond. A County Tennis Centre was built and opened in 1998 with 4 indoor and 4 outdoor courts on an additional 2 acres of land.

Our Christian Values and Beliefs

The unwavering commitment, tireless efforts, energy and enthusiasm of our dedicated staff form the cornerstone of our achievements. Consistently upholding high standards, contributes significantly to our ongoing success and solid reputation for delivering top-notch services. This has resulted in an outstanding 97% satisfaction rate among guests visiting the centres.

Our values trace their origins to the beginnings of the NAYC charity. Our primary goal is to aid, support, and educate young people, with a particular focus on fostering physical, mental and spiritual development leading to their full maturity as individuals. Residential experiences serve as transformative opportunities for young individuals to cultivate a positive outlook on the future.

Our initiatives extend a helping hand to those facing adversity — individuals living in poverty, challenging circumstances, at-risk youth, those with disabilities, special needs, and coping with serious, life-threatening illnesses. Through our programs, we aim to empower them to develop qualities such as character, independence, teamwork, and self-confidence, effectively breaking the chain of boredom, truancy, vandalism, addiction, petty crime, and drugs.

All our facilities are purposefully designed to positively impact peoples’ lives. This holds true not only for young individuals but also for conferences and groups utilising our centres to unite people, provide training, education, and study opportunities, sow the seeds of positive change, and break the monotony of daily routines with a visit to our centres.

Action Centres and NAYC

Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs (NAYC) is the charity, whilst ACUK (Action Centres UK Ltd) operates as the trading company. ACUK oversees and manages several activity, conference, sports and training centres, including King’s Park Conference Centre, King’s Park Sports, Pioneer Centre and Whitemoor Lakes.

The surplus generated by ACUK, through the operation of these centres, serves as a vital source of support for NAYC’s charitable endeavours. This unique structure allows us to extend our reach beyond Northamptonshire, impacting communities, young people and individuals across various regions, while ensuring a sustainable flow of resources to fulfil our charitable mission.

Together we are committed to make a positive and far-reaching impact on the lives of young people and communities – releasing their potential!

Since 1961 we have stood firm on our mission to help and educate young people through leisure-time activities. Over the years we have been the forerunner of many different initiatives to help and support young people.

NAYC Youthwork

NAYC plays a pivotal role as an infrastructure organisation in Northamptonshire, delivering crucial youth services to the Voluntary VCSFE sector. We actively collaborate with our members in local communities to address the needs of young people. Our dedicated Youthwork Team is engaged in supporting essential work across four primary workstreams: (1) youth provision, (2) activities delivery, (3) volunteer training, and (4) young people’s leadership.

Find out more about our work here.

NAYC and Discovery Centre Uganda

This unique facility was born out of a vision of NAYC to develop a centre based on similar principles to their centre in the UK, but expressed in a way that is relevant to a third world situation. The centre overlooks Lake Victoria in very beautiful grounds extending to over 20 acres.

Interested? Find out more here.