Press release

Government confirms capital funding for youth projects

The myplace programme secures £134 million to complete its work.

• From: Department for Education and Tim Loughton
• Published: 7 December 2010

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Children’s Minister Tim Loughton confirmed today that the Department for Education has secured capital funding to enable all 57 remaining projects planned under the myplace programme to continue.

The department has secured £134 million over 2011-13 to complete the programme.

Children’s Minister Tim Loughton said:

I am delighted to confirm that 57 projects funded through the myplace programme will be able to continue to completion. In the tough economic climate, securing this funding is testament to the importance the government is placing on supporting young people.

It is vital that communities provide fun, safe places and activities for all young people, as well as extra support for the more disadvantaged, at a place that is popular and accessible.

I will be looking to these projects to make the very most of the resources they are receiving and to take every opportunity to promote young people’s positive and active role in society. I want to see them working closely with their communities and local businesses to ensure they are sustainable in the long term. I also want projects led by local authorities to transfer or share ownership with the local community and with young people.

There are already 12 myplace centres open across the country, being used by hundreds of young people each week, a further 31 are currently under construction and 26 are yet to have their plans approved. The government has instructed the Big Lottery Fund, who manage the myplace programme, to ensure that they and project sponsors are confident that projects are sustainable in the long term before giving them final approval to proceed to construction.

Jeremy Glover, Chief Executive of Onside North West, former CEO of Bolton Lads and Girls Club, said:

I’m absolutely delighted that the government is committed to investing in facilities for young people. Young people do not have a strong collective voice and often their needs and aspirations are overlooked. At a time of unprecedented cutbacks, it really is fantastic news that the Government is investing in young people and their futures.

Mark Blundell, Chief Executive, Salmon Youth Centre said:

It is fantastic news that in these difficult times the myplace programme is going to continue to develop world-class facilities for young people to become actively involved in positive activities in their communities and the big society.

As an early recipient of a myplace grant enabling us to complete our £11 million centre, we know how important it is to have quality facilities for young people. Moving forward there will undoubtedly be hurdles to overcome in fulfilling the vision and passion that was behind the development of all the individual myplace centre proposals, but simply knowing that these state-of-the-art buildings have or will very soon be completed around the country can only be good news for this and future generations of young people.

Notes to Editors:

1. Tim Loughton wrote to projects to confirm the capital funding they were awarded through the myplace programme.

2. The funding was secured as part of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review settlement and will be available to projects over the next two years, subject to meeting programme requirements, particularly in relation to financial sustainability.

3. Table of funding allocations:

Funding round	Region	Local authority area	Project name (* projects complete and open to young people)
Fast Track	East	Norfolk	OPEN Central*
		Southend-on-Sea	Shoeburyness Youth Centre*
	East Midlands	Derbyshire	Myplace Chesterfield*
		Leicestershire	Hinckley Club For Young People*
	London	Camden	New Horizon Youth Centre*
		Enfield	TAB Centre Plus
		Southwark	Salmon Centre*
		Wandsworth	SuttonLife Centre*
	North East	Durham	The Hub
		Hartlepool	Northern Lights Academy
	North West	Cumbria	Carlisle Youth Zone
		Lancashire	Bradley Youth Centre
	South East	Kent	The Hub
		Oxfordshire	Pegasus Theatre - Building The Future*
	South West	Bournemouth	Primetime
		Devon	Dawlish Youth Centre*
		Somerset	Access All Areas*
		Somerset
			Minehead EYE*
	West Midlands	Stoke on Trent	The Young Persons Village
		Walsall	To be confirmed
	Yorkshire & Humberside	Leeds	The Big Hub
Standard track	East	Hertfordshire	Extreme Connexions
		Suffolk	The XCHANGE Project
	East Midlands	Leicester	Leicester City Youth Hub
		Lincolnshire	The Showroom
		Nottingham	The NGY
		Nottinghamshire	Myplace at Westfield Folk House Young Peoples Centre
	London	Bexley	Thamesmead Youth Leisure Zone
		Brent	The Roundwood Centre - A Beacon for Young People in Brent
		Hackney	Hackney's Youth Hubbz
		Harrow	The Pitch - A Place to Go
		Havering	Dream Street
		LB of Islington	Hornsey Road Baths Youth Centre
		Newham	Plashet Young Peoples Hub
	North East	Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough Myplace at the Custom House
		Newcastle-upon-Tyne	Myplace@Vine Lane (MP@V)
		Redcar & Cleveland	Tuned In
		Stockton-on-Tees	ICE Centre (Inspiration, Creativity & Entertainment)
	North West	Blackburn with Darwen	Blackburn Youth Zone
		Blackpool	Southpoint - the Blackpool Youth Hub Centre
		Halton	The Buzz*
		Knowsley	Our Place 'Where there will be more young people than adults'
		Liverpool	Toxteth Youth and Sports Centre
		Manchester	Manchester Youth Zone (Harpurhey)
		Oldham	Oldham Youth Zone
		Trafford	Trafford Youth Village
	South East	East Sussex	HastingsYouth Hub
		West Sussex	The Phoenix Centre
	South West	Bath & NE Somerset	Southside Regeneration Youth Project
		Bristol	MyPlace Bristol
		Torbay	Parkfield
	West Midlands	Birmingham	Youth Centerprise
		Birmingham	Integrating Youth Project
		Shropshire	TeenSpace Shrewsbury and TeenSpace Oswestry
		Solihull	MYplace in Solihull
		Staffordshire	Chesterton's Vision
	Yorkshire & Humberside	Bradford	Culture Fusion
		Doncaster	Myplace in Doncaster
		Rotherham	Rotherham myplace (RMP - working title)
		Sheffield	U-Mix
		Wakefield	The HUT - One Hut, Five Towns, Many Talents
Round two	East	Luton	TOKKO
	London	Enfield	Project Inspiration@ Edmonton Youth Hub
		Lewisham	Wells Park Youth Facility
		Tower Hamlets	Spotlight Youth Centre
	South West	Dorset	STEPS: Weymouth Young People's Union
	Yorkshire & Humberside	Calderdale	The Orangebox Young People's Centre
		Kingston-upon-Hull	Hull YP Interchange
		North Yorkshire	The Street

DfE media enquiries

Central newsdesk - for journalists 020 7783 8300

Published 7 December 2010