Fleetwood awarded £1million for new youth club at former Fleetwood Hospital in Pharos Street

The town has been awarded a £1million grant to renovate the former hospital building in Pharos Street and create a brand new youth centre.

The Youth Hub will be part of the phased redevelopment of the former NHS hospital building, led by The Fleetwood Trust, and will deliver much needed youth services for young people and the wider community.

The £1million project is to be funded by the Government’s Youth Investment Fund and the cash will also be used to improve part of The Hub Fleetwood community space and transform it into “a thriving and vibrant hub” for the town’s youth.

Fleetwood Trust said the new centre will provide young people with the opportunities to “make friends, have fun, discover their passions, and thrive”, as well as helping them gain vital skills for life and work.

With funding now in place, Fleetwood Trust said it hopes to be able to open the doors to the new centre next year and complete the revamp by 2025.

The new Youth Hub has been designed so that it will be an integral part of The Hub Fleetwood building, but with a dedicated entrance so that it can operate separately as required.

Planning consent for the redevelopment work has been secured in partnership with The Prince’s Foundation in November 2020 and, since then, the first two phases of work have seen new tenants, charity partners and new community facilities established within the building.

The trust is already working in partnership with the NHS, Blackpool & Fylde College, The Pantry Food Bank, Regenda Homes, Healthier Fleetwood, Macmillan Cancer and other groups and local businesses who will have a presence in the community-focused building to provide a wide range of services and opportunities.

Welcoming the Youth Investment Fund grant, chairman of the Fleetwood Trust – Fylde-born Lord Tom McNally – said: “I am grateful to our chief executive, Charley Wilkinson, and all who have helped her, in putting together this successful bid.

“Working in partnership with the young people of Fleetwood themselves, the Fleetwood Trust will use this funding to help meet their needs and priorities.

“It also means that the Fleetwood Trust has a significant building block in place towards the creation, at the old Fleetwood Hospital, of a multi-service hub which will meet the needs and priorities of all the people of Fleetwood."

Trust CEO Charley Wilkinson added: “We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded this grant which recognises what we are aiming to achieve.

"I am thrilled to be able to bring this amazing opportunity to Fleetwood and its young people. We hope its impact will be felt for generations to come.”

Lee Donner, director of Mason Gillibrand Architects who are working on the project, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be part of the brilliant team that has successfully secured funding for the new Youth Hub facility at The Hub Fleetwood.

"This new facility will make a real difference to the lives of young people in the town. The team at Mason Gillibrand Architects look forward to moving the project to the construction stage and to see even more of the former Fleetwood Hospital building making a positive impact within the community, adding to the services already available there.”

The Youth Investment Fund is part of the Government’s National Youth Guarantee to transform and level up opportunities for young people in England.

More than £300 million will be spent to build, renovate, or extend youth service facilities across the England, providing a minimum of 45,000 additional positive activities for young people, aged between 11 and 18, in parts of the country where new spaces and new opportunities are most needed.

The Youth Investment Grant will enable organisations like Fleetwood Trust to transform health, wellbeing, skills, and opportunities for young people.