22/04/10 - £4.4m approved for 'Vision Centre'

Having now been awarded nearly £4.4 million under the Government’s ‘Myplace’ scheme, the young people of Greater Chesterton will now see the site of the current Youth Centre transformed into a state-of-the-art ‘Vision Centre.’ The grant will be administered by Big Fund, and will also fund two bespoke mobile units serving young people within Chesterton, Holditch and surrounding areas.

Richard Green, Director at Thomas Vale added: 'The Directors and staff at Thomas Vale are honoured to be involved with the construction of the Chesterton Vision centre, it always gives us an element of satisfaction in providing facilities that will benefit local communities and especially the younger generation of the community as this is valued investment for everybody's future'

Although given the initial award in principle last year, members of the project steering group have worked hard over the last 12 months to finalise the second stage of the bid. This means that work on the new centre can officially start within a matter of months. Contractors Thomas Vale has estimated a start on site of June 2010, with an expected opening in late 2011.

Jessica Davies, 14 who attends Chesterton Youth Centre said: “It will be sad to see the old building being demolished, but the new building will be a huge success and a great new facility for Chesterton.”

Staffordshire Young People’s Service, part of Staffordshire County Council, is contributing a further £253,000 to support the project.

County Councillor Ben Adams, Lead Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture said: “I’m really pleased that we have been given the go-ahead for this project. The Vision Centre will incorporate a whole range of services for young people, from confidential support and advice services to training, as well as being somewhere they can relax and enjoy a variety of activities. Young people have been involved in this project every step of the way, and will continue to do so throughout the build and beyond.”

The myplace programme is funded by the DCSF and delivered by the Big Fund, the non-Lottery funding operation of the Big Lottery Fund. It is funding world-class projects across England that are working to create safe places for young people to go, where they can get involved in a wide range of exciting activities and get information and advice from people they trust.