Drawings

Interview with Claire Mears, youth club leader of ‘Friday youth group’.

“The space and facilities at my place are unmatched to anywhere locally”

Claire and Russell have worked for many years with different youth projects ranging from church halls to community venues, one problem they regularly faced was lack of facilities in general e.g; toilets, especially disabled facilities. At my place, there was a levelled entrance, lift to the upper floor and plenty of wide WCs. Watching Claire and Russell set up, I was surprised with how little they had to bring with them. (A panini griller, snacks eg bread, spreads, cheese and bananas. Also, they had a small bag of games and drawing supplies.) Claire recognized how vulnerable the young people were and providing some food really benefitted those in poverty. She quoted “The kids love creating different combo toasties and its become quite a highlight of their evenings”

The regular team on the reception desk ‘employed by my place’ are very good at noticing when regular families stop turning up or have an anomaly in their patterns. From this and their follow ups to reach out to families have unveiled some serious situations which were addressed with the right people.

The other great thing about it being a ‘Hub’ for lots of charities, agencies, youth workers, mental health team all working together in close proximity.

At My Place, a huge range of activities for different age groups are catered for including a Performance Hall, Music Room, Games Room, Frankie’s Soft-play and Cafe, Art Room, Youth Lounge, Health room and Counselling Room. It also provides ranging activities throughout the day such as kids clubs, youth groups, LGBTQ+, female empowerment, sport and fitness clubs, and even music academies.

Claires group is funded by the charity ‘Essex Boys and girls clubs’ which gives them freedom in their purpose. Most of the other activities are funded by the Local Authority however this means that every group has a function, purpose and a box to tick.

The premises is cleverly designed to use all the space available in a very creative way. (fish bowl) From the outside, the depth and space is deceptive for an urban area, from the outside you'd be surprised that there's a second level however once you're inside you're amazed how much is actually fitted on this second level. There is also a small outside area which is fully enclosed for safety.

Loads of natural light. The entire back of the building had coloured plastic ‘giving perception of stained glass windows’. The games room had a very large window wall at its end.