Salford Youth Zone opened its doors on Belvedere Road, Pendleton, on 5th July this year, but has proved a smash hit with local young people.
When the youth zone first opened there were already 2500 people signed up to become members, which has now doubled to around 5000.
Director of operations Geoff Hodges said that there were concerns from the community when the Youth zone first opened.
They were worried about anti-social behaviour from the groups of sometimes up to 300 children waiting to go in for their sessions.
However, these concerns have diminished massively, with the surrounding community being happier that their children have somewhere safe to go after school, and on weekends.
The centre offers over 20 activities, from rock climbing to dance, with free membership and only 50p per visit. The youth zone will be running a musical theatre singing programme for their ‘level-up’ classes, which are for children aged 11 to 14. This will run for 5 weeks, from the 8th November to the 10th December.
The youth zone has been putting on a number of successful events for the members, including a three-day Halloween extravaganza last month and an October holiday club.
There were games, a scare maze and even a Halloween disco for their junior members. The Youth centre even got stuck into celebrating Diwali and Black history month.
Some of the members were given the opportunity to perform at the 10th anniversary for the JD Foundation, a charity focused on young people and their mental health, as well as trying to combat homelessness of young people.
The community centre is developing their ‘maker space’, which includes equipment such as 3D printers, allowing young people to come together and network creatively.
They are also planning to add gaming and esports facilities with a new esports partnership.
Salford Youth Zone aims to be a safe space for children to go after school, open 7 days a week from 5pm.
Salford Youth Zone relies on receiving most of their funding from donations and fundraising. Donations can be made on their website here.
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