Youth Centre Unveiled

The Lord Mayor, local councillors and celebrities including former boxer Clinton Woods, and Britain’s Got Talent belly dancer, Sophie Mei looked on as the Com.Unity centre opened with the teenagers behind the project giving demonstrations of martial arts, dancing and dj’ing.

Patrick Meleady, Positive Activities Manager at Sheffield City Council, said: "This is a world class community youth and resource centre. It’s now a very exciting time to be a young person growing up in the Westfield area.”

The Com.Unity centre will offer a broad range of activities which are designed to meet the needs of local children, teenagers, families and residents. Local resident and T.A.R.A Representative Shirley Frost believes: “If you don’t do anything for the kids they won’t do anything for you. They need help with their lives.”

Lib Dem Cllr Colin Ross and Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services said: “At a time when other local authorities are shutting youth centres down Sheffield is bucking the trend.” I can vouch that the hard work put into this by local teenagers is tremendous. They should quite rightly be really proud of their achievements.”

The regeneration of the Westfield area is a direct result of partnership working between Sheffield City Council, Westfield Sports College, Shortbrook Primary School, Sheffield Futures, Westfield TARA, Sheffield United Football Club, South East Community Assembly, Woodhouse and Mosborough Police Force and members of the local community.

Reader Response

Was the amount of time and money spent worth it?
Do you think they should have converted the pub or kept the pub and built a centre?

Hi. I am a resident who lives opposite the Golden Keys. To be honest when we initially found out about the proposals we were shocked and slightly disappointed to say the least. The rumour mill advertised the Com.Unity as a youth centre and being the mum of a 17 year old I was understandably concerned as I was well aware of the behaviour of certain locals and the last youth centre was wrecked on a regular basis.

However, it appears that the project is so far so good. I have only heard good reports from local people. I am out at work all day so by the time I return home it is usually closed and to be honest during these warm days it’s a relief not to have gangs of revellers outside until the small hours. Locals seem to be very impressed with the services provided.

The only criticism I have is that locals were not consulted directly regarding the proposals; it all appeared a little hush hush. You would have thought that residents who live less than 50 yards away may have been consulted a lot more with the proposals.  I have only received one leaflet regarding what actually goes on there and that was for an open day (which I could not attend as I was working)
All in all I wish the project every success but would like to be kept more informed of what’s going on.

By Leanne Bolan