Revamp gets full go ahead

The go-head for the regeneration of Southside Youth Centre, Bath has just been given which will completely remodel and upgrade the existing building to provide a vastly improved environment for children and young people to use.

The £2.3 million bid by Bath & North East Somerset Council went through the final stage of the approval process and the Council now hopes to start the tendering process for a developer by the end of March with construction starting in the summer. Completion will be under one year later.

Abby Calley, 19 years old, who was on the steering group that helped develop the proposals, said, "This is great news. We are all looking forward to work starting on the youth centre so it can be a great place to meet and socialise. We've enjoyed playing a big part in developing the plans with the Council and others. It's rewarding to have had a say about what the youth centre will be like."

Councillor Chris Watt, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, said, "The upgraded facilities will help Bath & North East Somerset Council's youth service deliver even better provision to improve the life chances of young people and children. The Council, myplace organisation, architects, and young people themselves have worked hard to get to this point by developing high quality proposals. The funding will also help the Council purchase two new mobile youth buses for use in rural areas where there is no fixed youth provision. Combined together, these projects are consistent with the Council's restructure of our youth services because we are specially targeting resources around communities which really need them."

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 boxing, 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.  It will also include drug and alcohol support services, sexual health advice, training and employment advice, and counselling services, which will be delivered by partner organisations such as Connexions, the Children's Society and Project 28.

The project is funded by The Big Lottery Fund under the myplace scheme for the benefit of young people. myplace is a £270 million programme funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and delivered by the Big Fund, the non Lottery funding operation of the Big Lottery Fund.