Better facilities at a Rotherham community centre are ‘opening doors’ for young people thanks to the Decent Homes Community Partnership Fund.
The Blackburn Community Centre on Baring Road is base to the Blackburn Club for Young People and recently received a donation of £4,300 to fit new doors and windows. The Blackburn Club aims to improve the life prospects of local young people by educating them during their leisure time. The recent face-lift courtesy of the Community Partnership Fund means a much more comfortable environment for the young people to enjoy.
But it’s not just the young who will benefit. The Blackburn Community Centre is also used for drop-in sessions for the elderly, community learning classes, church activities and is the location of Tenants and Residents Association meetings.
Users of the centre came together as the Blackburn Community Consortium to apply for the Community Partnership funding. One of its members, Mary Jacques, said: “The Blackburn Club for Young People offers a safe and secure environment for children, young people and vulnerable adults, helping to educate them through their leisure time.
“The recent improvements are benefitting our young people as well as other users of the Blackburn Community Centre. We are seeing much wider use of the facilities by groups from within the local community and are now looking to hire out the centre for events such as children’s parties and parents and toddler groups.”
The funding for the new doors and windows was provided by the partners working together on the Decent Homes* scheme, including 2010 Rotherham Ltd, Anglian Windows, Bramall Construction, Henry Boot and Rok. Each partner contributes funding to support long-term, sustainable projects in areas where Decent Homes work is taking place.
Rachael Ellis, 2010 Rotherham Ltd’s Marketing and Communications Manager, said: “2010 Rotherham Ltd and our Decent Homes partners want to leave a lasting impact in the areas in which we have been working on the Decent Homes Programme. The Blackburn Community Centre provides a vital base for many local community activities and is improving the quality of life for all Blackburn residents, young and old. We are very happy we have been able to support the groups using the centre by improving the facility itself.”