Blackpool Council have been successful in securing £4.4million to deliver a state of the art facility for Blackpool’s young people where they can make new friends and learn new skills.
The grant from myplace, a Department for Children, Schools and Families scheme delivered through the Big Lottery Fund, will be used for a brand new youth facility located on the Palatine campus in the south of the town, featuring a huge range of activities, guidance and support services all under one roof.
Myplace aims to deliver world class youth facilities driven by the active participation of young people and their views and needs. So far, myplace has funded 62 projects across England worth £240 million.
Young people in Blackpool have been helping to design the innovative Blackpool Youth Hub Centre in Southpoint, which will provide a great opportunities for young people mainly aged 13 to 19 who live in an area where there is a shortage of safe places to go and things to do.
The new centre, being developed on an existing campus with a children's centre, primary school, sports college, leisure centre and library, will use modern construction methods, including transparent cladding, to open up the building to the community. It will include a community kitchen, café, ICT suite and a gym. Open seven days a week, the centre will offer arts classes, music tuition, sports coaching, DJ training, bike maintenance and advice services to help young people get back into education or employment, as well as other services.
Nicole Burke, Chair of the Blackpool Young Peoples’ Council, aged 15, who has been involved with the project, said: “This is very much some of the best news we have had for the young people of Blackpool. The myplace funding is a really important opportunity to raise the aspirations of young people and further develop some of the good work that goes on. We thank the government for this opportunity because now we can have somewhere to go that will be attractive, modern and that meets the needs of today’s young person.”
Partners in the project include Barnardo's, Police, PCT, Blackpool Enterprise and Blackpool Council. |