Five youth centres open in Hackney
Gabriella Jozwiak
Monday, October 29, 2012
Five new youth centres were officially opened in the London Borough of Hackney at the weekend, which celebrated by holding a street play event.
Children aged eight to 18 were invited to test the new facilities, which cost £6.5m and were created using Myplace and council funding. Their design was agreed in partnership with a local youth steering group.
One of the centres is a new build with a climbing wall. The others are located in existing buildings that have undergone refurbishment.
The event was marked by the closure of one of Hackney’s streets using a temporary street play order, allowing members of Hackney’s adventure playgrounds and other local children to explore the new facilities.
“It’s great to see Hackney play service working with Hackney youth service to make sure that children and young people of Hackney get access to loads of different opportunities,” said Catherine Prisk, director of Play England.
“I’m really glad Hackney youth service is supporting temporary street play orders and Hackney’s adventure playgrounds are some of the best and oldest in the country. It’s great to see them getting involved.”
The centres will be run by Young Hackney, Hackney Council’s service for young people, which includes youth justice provision. This means children connected to a variety of services will be directed to opportunities at the centres, by probation workers as well as youth and play workers.
Each of the centres offer free activities and support services, and has been given a dedicated specialism. These are youth leadership, IT and media, arts and performance, enterprise, and sports and healthy living, at a site near to the Olympic Park.
“This is a really important project for us," said Rita Krishna, lead member for children’s services at Hackney Council.
"Investing in our young people is a priority for Hackney so I’m proud that we’re able to do that in such an exciting way, giving them a place to spend time together, learn new skills, and the great sporting opportunities form a key part of our Olympic legacy."
The opening also marked the official handover of responsibility for the centres from the youth steering group to Hackney’s Youth Parliament.