The greenlight has been given to build a brand-new Youth Zone in the heart of Salford, and it’s promised to bring “incredible facilities” to the community.
Thanks to a new partnership formed by Salford-born businessman Fred Done, Salford City Council, and Manchester-based charity, HideOut Youth Zone, and also with the support of national youth charity OnSide, the creation of the new state-of-the-art Youth Zone will “dramatically expand the opportunities” that are available to young people in the Greater Manchester city and wider borough.
Salford Youth Zone will take over two years to develop, and is set to be built in the heart of the city centre close to Salford Crescent train station and the University of Salford.
The new multimillion-pound space will be based on OnSide’s successful model, which has seen the charity develop 14 similar Youth Zones across the country, with five already currently in the region – HideOut Youth Zone in Gorton, Manchester Youth Zone in Harpurhey, Mahdlo Youth Zone in Oldham, Wigan Youth Zone, and Bolton Lads and Girls Club.
Aimed at young people aged eight to 19, or up to 25 for those with additional needs, Salford Youth Zone will open seven days a week and support around 4,000 young people.
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Members will get access to over 20 different activities every night, which range from sports like football, boxing, and climbing, to creative arts, music, drama, and even employability training – and all for just 50p per visit, or a £5 annual membership.
Trained youth workers and dedicated volunteers will also be on hand to offer guidance and support to help Salford’s young people thrive.
Salford Youth Zone will also create full and part time jobs, and up to 100 volunteering opportunities.
The new multimillion-pound space is to be built in the heart of Salford / Credit: HideOut Youth Zone
“Having been born and raised in Salford, I know just how much young people in the area would benefit from the opportunities available through a Youth Zone,” Fred Done said.
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“I have had the pleasure of supporting HideOut Youth Zone in Gorton to open its doors to thousands of local young people across Manchester, and now it’s time to take this to Salford and change the lives of many more.”
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett added: “The young people of Salford rightly deserve to see this investment in state-of-the-art youth facilities on their doorstep in our great city, after years of cuts to youth services across the country and underfunding by national government of what should be statutory services.
“The Youth Zone will offer so many services, experiences and activities within the area seven days a weeks, helping our young people achieve their potential, whilst also providing a much needed environment for young people to come together, socialise, enjoy themselves and importantly have fun.
“We often say that “our young people are the future”, so it’s great to see us demonstrating this in the delivery of the first Youth Zone in Salford.
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“I’m really looking forward to seeing it complete and meeting the young who will use this fantastic facility.”
The creation of Salford Youth Zone is still subject to further feasibility assessments and to a formal planning consultation and application – which is proposed to take place later this year.
Featured Image – HideOut Youth Zone
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Manchester’s iconic inflatable monsters are set to invade the city centre again this Halloween
Emily Sergeant
Dozens of huge inflatable monsters are set to invade Manchester next month, as Halloween returns to the city for 2024.
Yes, it’s that time of year yet again… the monsters are back.
After several years of looming over Manchester‘s most-notable rooftops and lurking around famous city centre sites, it’s been revealed that the iconic MCR Monsters will be returning for another year of spooky celebrations next month, along with loads of other terrifying tricks and treats – with something for the whole family to get involved with.
Organisers CityCo and Manchester BID are gearing up to “roll out the blood-red carpet” for its legendary and monstrous guests in a couple of weeks time.
This year’s annual Halloween in the City celebrations will kick off with a week-long colourful invasion of the MCR Monsters, before being followed by a two-day family festival across the city’s popular shopping destinations.
Halloween is returning to the city for loads of spooky celebrations next month / Credit: CityCo (via Supplied)
Crawling their way back into the city from Friday 25 October through to Halloween itself on Thursday 31 October, the epic MCR Monsters inflatable art trail – which is created by artists Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas – will be taking over leading locations like Manchester Arndale, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Corn Exchange, and New Century, with many more sites set to be announced soon.
A brand-new monster called ‘The Leech’ will be heading to town to join to celebrations this year, alongside some other spookily-similar faces from years’ past.
Buildings across the city will also be turning a ghoulish green once the night falls, while you can also expect to see thousands of little pumpkin lanterns adorning the city’s streets once again.
There’ll be something for all the family to / Credit: CityCo (via Supplied)
Some of the other fan-favourite events on the jam-packed Halloween in the City lineup confirmed to be returning this year are the ‘Monsters Rock! Music Festival’, with spooky live bands and DJs, as well as gruesome games and competitions, the popular ‘Team Trick v Team Treat’ fancy dress challenge, and the hair-raising monster procession ‘Rock! Party Procession’ – which will feature giant puppet monsters, stilt walkers, and a live band marching their way through Manchester Arndale and on Market Street.
Thousands of families are expected to come into the city centre dressed in their scariest costumes over Halloween weekend on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October.
Jane Sharrocks, who is the Chair of Manchester BID, said Manchester is set to transform into the “ultimate Halloween playground” this year, and that organisers are planning 2024 to be the “most thrilling year yet”.
“As the first UK city to host these incredible creatures, Manchester has become the ultimate Halloween destination,” Jane added.
Halloween in the City officially returns to Manchester on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October, with the monsters descending from Friday 25 October and the pumpkins potentially even earlier, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.
Featured Image – CityCo (via Supplied)
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‘Life-changing’ scheme helps house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of homeless people in Manchester have now been helped “get back on their feet” thanks to a successful pilot housing scheme.
Greater Manchester’s ‘Housing First’ pilot scheme was rolled out in 2019.
The scheme is all about recognising that “a good home has to be the first step to a good life”, according to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and since it was first introduced, it has primarily been helping people with chronic and long-standing experiences of homelessness into homes of their own, without preconditions.
Ongoing personalised wraparound support to manage issues, ranging from mental health problems to substance misuse, is also a key part of what the scheme’s all about.
Since 2019, the scheme then has helped a total of 413 people find “good, safe homes”, GMCA has revealed.
Around 75% of those housed have also sustained their tenancies too, with some even going on to form part of Housing First’s co-production panel – sharing their experiences, and making sure that the service continues to meet people’s needs.
Giving everyone a good, safe home is one of the best investments this country can make.
That’s why we want to take the lessons of our @GMHousingFirst pilot & follow @FinlandInUK by adopting it as our philosophy in Greater Manchester.
Because of the clear success of the pilot in our region, Greater Manchester and Mayor Andy Burnham are now calling on the Government to take the lessons learned from the scheme and embed them into a new approach to tackle the housing crisis nationwide.
Andy Burnham says he believes that giving everyone a good, safe home would be “one of the best investments the country could make”, as it would “take pressure off” other public services and public finances, and declared that our region is ready to follow in Finland’s footsteps by becoming the first UK city-region to adopt the ‘Housing First’ philosophy permenantly.
“The evidence is clear that it works, and when a pilot scheme gets results it shouldn’t end there – it should become the new normal,” Mr Burnham said.
A ‘life-changing’ scheme has helped house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people / Credit: Manchester City Council
“Housing First has shown that if you give people an unconditional right to safe and secure housing, backed up with personalised support, you set them up to succeed, so instead of winding it down, we should be scaling it up and turning it into a national mission.
“We’re starting that here in Greater Manchester.
“We’re bringing in new protections for renters, tackling bad landlords, and with the right powers and funding, we can deliver 75,000 new homes in this parliament.
“Our new Housing First Unit will drive this work forward, bringing together partners across our city-region with a clear goal – a healthy home for everyone in Greater Manchester by 2038.”