Youth handed golden ticket
Reporter: by Marina Berry
Date published: 04 March 2009
£5 million windfall will help build best club in the land
OLDHAM is celebrating a £5 million windfall which means it will get a cutting edge youth centre to rival the best in Britain.
Today’s announcement that Oldham has won a multi-million handout from the Government’s My Place fund was greeted with excitement from the people who put the bid together.
It is the end of an anxious wait to find out if the grant would be awarded, and marks the start of an 18-month drive to turn the ambitious plan into reality.
Oldham Council has donated the site currently occupied by Marjory Lees Health Centre, Egerton Street, which will be the home of the new youth club.
And the Stoller Foundation, founded by former Oldham businessman Norman Stoller, gave the project a kickstart when it pledged £250,000 last year to get it under way.
It paid out an initial £50,000 to fund the cost of preparing the bid, and Mr Stoller today told the team: “I am delighted yet humbled by the opportunity that has been created for you to do so much good, simply by financing the cost of the bid and by helping to support your future endeavours.”
He said: “A day cannot have a brighter start than this,” and he commended the successful bidders for their hard work and dedication which he said had created a “golden opportunity” for a dramatic change in the outlook and prospects of today’s youth.
William Lees Jones, the managing director of Middleton brewers JW Lees, who heads the initiative, said: “This is a great day for young people in Oldham, and I am sure we can repay the Government’s confidence by building the best youth club in Britain.”
About 1,600 young people across the borough were involved in the consultation process which preceded the bid.
Salma Begum (17) said: “I am ecstatic. We are marking the beginning of Oldham’s transformation into a fun and exciting place for young people to be in.”
Mohammed Adil (19) said: “We feel on top of the world. Why? Well we have officially got the £5million funding for a youth centre. We haven’t stopped cheering and shouting. This is definitely for the best and most important thing for Oldham young people. We, the development group were excited and we are sure that all young people will be as happy as we are.”
Nazma Begum (15), who is young people’s development group chairman, said: “We were absolutely thrilled when we heard the news. This new development will have a great impact on our lives as this centre will bring young people from different communities together.
“Young people are often not taken seriously but this new centre will change that. Young people being involved in the development of the centre will show that they can express their views and opinions about the activities that they want providing in Oldham and will allow young people to make key decisions on a very important project.”
Piara Khanom (18) said: “The whole process has been exciting from placing the bid to planning what we will do if we get the money. Now that we know it is going to happen it’s a step towards a brighter future for young people in Oldham.”
It is estimated around 1,500 young people will use the youth club each year, which will be open 365 days a year.
It will have indoor and outdoor floodlit sporting facilities, recreational and social areas, a fully-equipped fitness suite and areas where meetings and artistic and cultural activities can be held.
Mr Lees Jones said Oldham’s young people would get the chance to be involved in the scheme as it progressed, and details on how they could do that would be announced soon.
Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas said: “Congratulations are due to Positive Steps who once again are at the cutting edge of solving Oldham’s problems.”
