Throughout our 13 years of living and doing youth work on the estate young people have been saying there’s ‘nowhere for them to go’ and ‘nothing for them to do‘.
Through all our work to date we’ve been hiring and using community facilities across Bemerton Heath, however as our work has grown this is limiting the impact we can have.
Therefore, after much consultation and planning we want to create a dedicated space for young people on the estate that provides a home away from home where young people feel welcome, safe and can access the support they need.
This youth hub has designed based on feedback from young people and it will consist of two main areas:
- Creative Studio/Office – we want to give young people access to fantastic creative facilities so we can take our regular Creative Club to the next level. This includes recording and editing facilities alongside arts and crafts tools and resources. This area will also double up as a hot desking office so we can move out of Robin’s spare room.
- Youth café/drop-in – this larger space will be used for a regular after school drop-in as well as a youth café, where young people can hang out, build relationships, get drinks and play games. With a working kitchen this space will also be one we open up when running community events, and use for our weekly life group.
On a very practical level this venue will provide vitally needed toilet facilities and running water which currently we have limited access to for several of our activities.
Next Steps
Alongside further community consultations, we are working with architects to finalise the design. We hope to submit our full planning application in the Spring.
Fundraising for the youth facility has already started with young people completing challenges to raise support, alongside a pledge from a donor which will cover around 50% of the costs. Join them by donating here. We would also love to hear from you if you have expertise in this area and are interested in volunteering your time and skills.
