The Norte Joven Cultural Association was created in 1985, at the initiative of a group of people wanting to raise awareness about youth who had abandoned school and were out on the street, without supervision or any options for their future. That year, the first of the workshop-centres was opened in the Madrid district of Fuencarral-El Pardo, alternating vocational training in the electricity, leatherworking and carpentry trades with cultural instruction so that students could complete their compulsory education.

Since then, the Association has continued to work to combat academic failure and offer alternatives for the future through training based on three pillars: apprenticeships, instruction aimed towards obtaining the compulsory secondary education completion certificate, and the development of personal and social skills.

All of the Association’s activities focus on the overall vision of the person, the cross-disciplinary nature of the activities carried out, adaptation to labour market demand and staying in permanent contact with businesses.

For more than three decades, the Association has maintained its keys to success: open enrolment, personalised training and individual attention. Norte Joven’s presence as an NGO has increased following the opening of two more workshop-centres, one in the Villa de Vallecas district and another in the municipality of Alcobendas.