Feature Articles

myplace Chesterfield

Heather Fawbert didn't have to go far to find the perfect spot for myplace Chesterfield. She discovered the site - an expanse of open space: tennis courts and overgrown, disused allotments that hadn't been dug for over fifteen years - on her way to work.

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myplace Mansfield

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myplace Newcastle-upon-Tyne

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myplace Havering

"It's like that music venue in Australia," says Charlotte, as she pours over a book on architecture, with page after page of beautifully photographed buildings. It turns out that she's referring to the Sydney Opera House.

When Nicole Burke addressed the Blackpool business community at the Pleasure Beach at the end of the Knowsley and Blackpool ambassadors event, her audience was gripped. Nicole talked about what myplace meant for the young people of Blackpool, and people immediately wanted to get involved. Nicole made it sound like fun. People started to think of offering help in ways they hadn't thought of before. Good communication sparks creativity in all of us.

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myplace Knowsley
"Bring a buddy for a bacon butty"

It's not your run-of-the-mill recruitment ad, is it? But then, working with the Ourplace Forum in Knowsley isn't your run-of-the-mill kind of job.

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myplace Leicester
Miracles do still happen

There's a newspaper cutting stuck on the wall outside one of the dressing rooms in the Leicester Haymarket Theatre. Written by Sheridan Morley in August 2004, and published in the Daily Express, it talks about the Haymarket's performance starring Ronni Ancona. "Singin' In The Rain that reigns supreme," is how the glowing review begins. It was just one of many glowing reviews for the myriad musicals staged in this theatre.

As part of my role as a young consultant I visit myplace projects to see how they are involving young people.  There have been a number that have stood out and impressed me for a variety of different reasons, however one in particular that I found stood out was the myplace project in Carlisle.  This project has involved young people from the beginning, sending them to leading youth centres in and around London to find out what they want in their centre and involving them in the design process. 

myplace Hartlepool
Hartlepool's Got Talent

Hartlepool's got talent.  Loads of it.  So much talent in fact, that the town recently held not one talent contest, but two: Hartlepool's Got Talent and Hartlepool Has Talent.

Beth Marshall, a key young person in the myplace team, who has a big talent for guitar playing, singing, and doing cover versions of Jack Johnson and The Beatles, lights up when she talks about the excitement behind the scenes at Hartlepool Has Talent.

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myplace Bristol
No Height Restrictions

"Do you have to be a certain age?" The question comes from the audience, from a six-year-old boy called Adam. We're in a dramatically lit, makeshift auditorium in Bristol's former Bridewell Fire Station, in the heart of the city. It's not a question that anyone else has thought of. But Adam has a point. It's a good question to ask. Because at the moment, he's too young for myplace. When he gets his answer, "13-19", he realises that he will have to wait a few years - seven, to be precise.

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Westfield Folk House - result of a structured programme for development

Objectives: A scheme to transform Westfield Folk House Young People's Centre in Mansfield has won a £5 million fmyplace grant. This case study shows how the project developed from a logical and well structured plan to boost youth provision following years of under-investment. Successfully involving young people in planning and decision making has played a major role in this. Read more...

Bolton Lads and Girls Club is a renowned youth social club in Bolton, Lancashire.

It was set up in 1889 to provide a safe place for young lads, particularly those working in the mills, to enjoy leisure activities.

Over the next century the club grew and grew and began letting girls in from 1991. After further development it was decided that the original 19^th century building could be stretched no more and needed updating.

This case study highlights the work done by Islington Council in securing local buy-in and agreement to a forward strategy for youth facilities. This allowed them to engage over 3500 stakeholders and create a compelling case for change that resulted in an overarching strategy for young people aged 11-19.

Young Peoples Production Company
Boclair Academy, Glasgow

Boclair Academy is a secondary school in Bearsden; a small commuting town three miles north of Glasgow.  In 2005 the school got funding from the Scottish Arts Council through a bid by the local authority (East Dunbartonshire Council) to develop a purpose-built digital film studio on the school campus.

The Salmon Youth Centre, known as Salmon, is a Christian-run project that seeks to work with young people of all faiths and none. It is located in Bermondsey, London. Their focus is youth work, an extended youth centre; voluntary activity in the leisure time of young people that helps them move along a pathway from apathy through involvement to engagement.
Salmon has been awarded cash from myplace for a one-year project to complete an extension to the pre-existing youth facility, which will cost just over £1.1 million.