Youth united
Reporter: Marina Berry
Date published: 30 September 2008
Plan for new town centre youth club
AN ambitious £5million bid to create a world-class town centre lads’ and girls’ club for Oldham has taken its final step.
A detailed 79-page document outlining why Oldham should get a share of the Government’s £160 million “My Place” fund to support youth initiatives was handed in today.
All the team behind the bid can do now is wait with fingers crossed for four months before they find out if they will get the cash to turn their dream into a reality.
The Stoller Foundation, founded by former Oldham businessman Norman Stoller, gave the project a kickstart earlier this year when it pledged a massive £250,000 to get it under way.
And if the scheme, which mirrors a hugely successful club in Bolton, gets the go-ahead, a new landmark club will be built at Marjory Lees Health Centre, Egerton Street, governed with the help of young people who will use it.
William Lees-Jones, the managing director of Middleton brewers JW Lees, who heads the initiative, said: “No-one across the whole of Oldham has so far said anything negative about the possibility of building such a fantastic facility, which speaks volumes about how the borough is behind the bid.
“We have been given the Marjory Lees site free of charge by Oldham Council, which would be knocked down to make way for a new iconic building which is quite stunning.”
The proposed youth club would be used by an estimated 1,500 young people a year, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and offer a wide range of indoor and outdoor sporting and social facilities.
The site was chosen because of its proximity to the town centre bus station, although cash would be set aside to lay on minibuses for young people with transport or other access issues.
Plans for the club include:
::A four-court sports hall incorporating a climbing wall.
::An external floodlit multi-use games area.
::A fully-equipped fitness suite.
::Welcoming recreational and social areas.
::A coffee bar and low-cost catering facilities.
::Flexible project areas for meetings, artisitc and cultutal activities.
The bid highlights the social tensions which resulted in the Oldham riots of 2001, and says a lads’ and girls’ club would promote greater community cohesion among young people.
It also outlines concerns made by young people, who said they found town centre streets intimidating and unsafe, especially at night, and were worried about violence and gangs and felt lonely and scared.
Their vision for a “youth zone” was somewhere to be happy, make friends and have fun, in a safe and welcoming home-from-home environment.
Needs
The driving force behind the scheme is a group of prominent leaders from private, public and voluntary sectors across the borough.
And its design has been influenced by young people who were drafted in to make sure it meets their needs.
It is aimed at young people between the ages of eight and 21, and up to the age of 25 for young people with disabilities or learning difficulties.
The scheme aims to encourage vulnerable, disadvantaged and traditionally hard-to-reach young people to join in.
