Saturday, 27 November 2010
Bath & North East Somerset Council is encouraging young people from across the area to help shape the new Southside Youth Hub.
The Council secured £2.3 million funding from the Myplace scheme to completely remodel and upgrade the youth hub and purchase a mobile youth bus to go out into the rural villages and Bath City centre. All work is expected to be completed by March 2011.
The Myplace funding will also help the Council buy a new mobile youth bus for use in rural areas where there is no fixed youth provision. To ensure this meets local needs the youth service will need to work closely with the local town and parish councils. Combined together, these projects are consistent with the Council’s restructure of youth services which is targeting resources around communities that really need them.
More young people are needed to put forward ideas, for everything from developing the music studio, and gym through to the café menus, activities available, opening times and publicity. Youth worker Jenny Williams said: “We really need more young people to come along and get involved – we want them to help decide on key elements of the new centre.
“Anyone aged between 13 and 19 can get involved. They don’t have to be from the Whiteway area or even from Bath, this is a big project for the whole of Bath and North East Somerset and we’re hoping young people from across the area will benefit from it. We’d love young parents and young people with disabilities to come along and put forward their ideas too.”
The new venue will feature facilities such as a community cafe, music studio, ICT suite and various sports facilities, and will enable young people to take part in activities ranging from gym, basketball and trampolining to streetdance, martial arts and music. The centre will be fully accessible for young people with disabilities and will include a special sensory room that will stimulate senses such as touch and sight. The youth service will be supporting the voulautary sector to provide a wide range of activites, including drug and alcohol support services, sexual health advice, training and employment advice, and counselling services, which will be delivered by partner organisations such the Children's Society and Project 28.
Southside Youth Club is meantime still operating in the Cabin in the outdoor court and has lots of activities going on from Monday – Thursday evenings. You don’t have to be a member of the youth club to join in activities, and most cost just 30p.
Thursday evenings (7 – 9pm) are dedicated to developing the MyPlace project. If you’re interested just come along or call Jenny on 07875488718.
Myplace is funded by the Government and delivered by the Big Fund, the non Lottery funding operation of the Big Lottery Fund.
