Caerau Youth Centre
On Friday 21st of April, the new Youth Works building was finally opened on Heol Ceulanydd, Caerau Park in Maesteg. Thanks to a partnership with Valleys to Coast and Lovell, Youth Works were able to purchase the youth centre and provide youth diversionary activities that have never existed on Caerau Park before.
There was a fantastic turnout at Caerau Park for the official opening of the youth centre with the deputy mayor of Maesteg, cabinet members from Bridgend Youth Council, Lovell, V2C, BCBC and most importantly, members of the local community gathering to support the centre.
There were various activities and events taking place including face painting, bouncy castle, arts and craft events, coconut shy and nail art. The fun day raffle also managed to raise funds which will go to maintaining and supporting the youth club.
Davinia Healy, Youth Works Project Coordinator Caerau, said that the local kids were getting bored on the estate and they had nothing to do with their spare time. So, having identified this need, the Youth Works Team set about trying to find a suitable centre for the youth of Caerau Park. She said that the youth centre provided the local kids with "something constructive to do and somewhere where they can all meet together".
The youth centre will be open on weekdays and Monday and Thursday evenings, and will provide a wide range of activities ranging from dance classes, football, recycled arts projects, willow sculpturing to outdoor sports, and an IT Suite will also be opened in the next year or so.
"The most attractive thing about the youth centre is the amount of land surrounding it. This means that local children can get involved in a wide range of outdoor activities, along with numerous landscape projects that will be taking place throughout Caerau Park in the future" said Davinia.
Representatives from Bridgend Youth Council said that we could do with more youth centres like this one in the borough, particularly as it was a way of getting the community more involved in local events and activities.
"The young people from Caerau Park have totally taken ownership of the youth centre which is great, and are really keen to help maintain it for the coming years" said Craig Lambourne, cabinet member of Bridgend Youth Council.
In order to get the youth centre up and running, Lovell Partnerships Ltd worked hard over the last few months to prepare the site. As part of their agreement with Valleys to Coast, Lovell carried out all new infrastructure work, all the design and foundation work to place the unit, drainage work and provided new fencing.
Jamie Graham, operations manager from Lovell stated that the youth centre will give the kids something to enjoy and something to get involved in. It is extremely beneficial to the community and helps bring the community together".
Craig Lambourne from Bridgend Youth Council agreed, stating that:
Caerau is just like communities used to be, when everyone cared about everyone else and everyone tried to help each other. Hopefully the Youth Centre will help to keep these networks and the community alive.