Monthly Archive 21 March 2024

Do you want to help shape the future creativity of North East Lincolnshire?

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ONE woman arrested for a serious crime, nine Fixed Penalty Notices handed out for cycling and one for littering, three parking tickets issued and support for rough sleepers – all in an afternoon’s work for a new taskforce in Grimsby town centre.

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The first stage of the review of library and archive services across North East Lincolnshire is coming to a close at the end of this week with nearly 600 people already having contributed their views.

The current statutory library service and archive service is operated by Lincs Inspire Ltd, from four key sites across the borough, Grimsby Central Library, Cleethorpes Library, Immingham Library and Waltham Library. The Archives service operates from within Grimsby Town Hall.

Cllr Hayden Dawkins, Cabinet member for Culture, Heritage and the Visitor Economy, explained: “We know that post-Covid, the way people use our archives and libraries is changing. We also know that although in person visits are returning gradually, last year, they were around two thirds of previous levels. Alongside this, we also know that many local people do not currently visit our archives and libraries or are unaware of the services that they offer.”

“We want to understand how people currently use the libraries and archives, or indeed why they don’t use them so that, with Lincs Inspire, we can help shape services for the future that fit local needs.”

As previously reported, this consultation will be carried out in two main stages throughout 2024.

In the first stage, which ends on 22 March 2024, the Council is asking both users and non-users of library and archive facilities about the service in order to understand what’s important to them, how they use, these services and indeed, if they are aware of the full suite of services offered and what they view as the opportunities for the services in the future.

This review will support the Council and Lincs Inspire in:

• Understanding how current user behaviour has changed and what are service delivery requirements for the future.
• Understanding what residents want from the service for the future, covering both user and non-user public consultation.
• Looking at how the area’s demographics may change demand for services.
• Considering the strategic fit of library and archive provision and how it complements wider outcomes and collaboration with other services such as health, business / resident support, internal council services and leisure.
• Understanding trends and our approach to library and archive service delivery, and how this compares to industry practice.
• Understanding the future local priorities for funding resources and how this is best utilised across the library and archives service.
• Developing a long-term plan for the future of library and archive services.

The results of the first stage of consultation will inform proposals about how the services may look in the future, which will be the subject of the second stage of consultation, likely to be released in the late spring or summer of 2024.

To take part in the consultation, visit www.nelincs.gov.uk/have-your-say- external site  and give your views by 22 March.

Article and image from NELC.

“Under this Conservative administration, we are in receipt of record grant-funding for regeneration projects, clearly demonstrating the Government’s confidence in us.” 

The Leader of the Council, Coun Philip Jackson, highlighted a raft of projects, initiatives and improvements happening in North East Lincolnshire during his speech to the latest meeting of the Full Council.

Addressing the chamber at Grimsby Town Hall, he said: “So many positive things are currently happening within North East Lincolnshire around regeneration, the local economy, business and jobs, service improvements, and progress with delivery against strategies and plans that I can only talk about the highlights tonight.

“Before I do that, let me address head-on one particular matter – the independent Nurseries Consultation Review Report.  All members have received a copy, and it has been considered by Scrutiny. This report vindicates my decision, as Leader of the Council, to halt what was clearly a flawed public consultation. I subsequently requested the Chief Executive to commission the report to determine how this unnecessary and damaging situation arose, and how we can ensure it is never repeated.

“It is clear from the report that council officers failed to adequately communicate with both the Cabinet and ward councillors regarding the challenges associated with the three nursery settings, and the proposed course of action and did not comply with normal governance processes. These issues must and are being addressed but, more importantly, while some focus their energies on political posturing, the Cabinet and officers are now working closely with the three settings to try to ensure their ongoing viability and sustainability so they can continue to serve parents and children within their communities.

“On a more positive note, for the first time in many years, we now have a team of permanent Service Directors and Deputy Directors in Children’s Services to support our new Director of Children’s Services, who joined us last December. Having a permanent leadership team in children’s services, particularly in children’s social care, is something that we haven’t had for several years and provides much-needed stability. We are now finding it much easier to recruit permanent social workers, which is so important for providing stability and continuity to children and families.

“Another positive is the safe reduction in our numbers of looked-after children – down from a peak of 629 in September 2022 to 476 as of March 14 – a reduction of 24%. The number of looked-after children in externally funded provision has reduced from a peak of 283 in November 2022 to 203, a very welcome reduction of 28%. While we are clearly now on the right road with Children’s Services, we recognise that there is still a long way to travel.

“While on the subject of a better future for our young people, the new Youth Zone, named Horizon by local young people, is a step closer to becoming a reality as work at the Garth Lane site continues to gather pace. I visited the site a couple of weeks ago to view the progress. Members may well have noticed the steelwork being erected for the new sports hall. Expected to open in 2025, the state-of-the-art youth centre will provide thousands of young people with opportunities to engage in activities and access support from skilled youth workers, helping them to develop their skills and reach their full potential. It will be open to young people aged between eight and 19 (up to 25 for those with additional needs), seven days a week, for just 50p a visit. Members will have access to an indoor climbing wall, a four-court sports hall, training kitchen, music room with a recording studio, a fully-equipped gym, a dance and drama studio, a 3G kick pitch, an arts and crafts room, and an enterprise and employability suite.

“Also in Grimsby town centre, work has begun on the NHS Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) within Freshney Place. This will occupy five retail units – that’s more than 18,000 sq.ft of space – and it is expected to open in the summer. The acility will provide the local community with better access to NHS services through its central location, providing a range of non-urgent test facilities, including non-obstetric ultrasounds, electrocardiograms, and X-rays. It is aimed to provide 150,000 additional health checks a year and will remove the need to attend acute hospital sites. The addition of the CDC to Freshney Place emphasises the aspiration of the council to create a mixed-use destination for the community, combining retail and leisure with services within central Grimsby, increasing footfall and boosting the town centre economy.

“Preparation work continues on the cinema and leisure scheme at the western end of Freshney Place, as well as on the conversion of St James House into a business and conference centre, all adding to the diverse offer in the town centre. Work on Riverhead Square is also resuming.

“Grimsby is one of 55 town centres around the country that were allocated ‘Long-Term Plan’ money from the Government to help transform it into a central hub for people and families to visit and enjoy. The £20-million scheme, with money to be spent over the next 10 years, will look at tackling issues like anti-social behaviour, graffiti, and other issues that, once addressed, will help people feel and be safe when visiting the town centre. The Government has also announced that Grimsby has been nominated as one of 10 towns to take part in a High Street Accelerator pilot scheme to help improve the town’s future. We have been invited to take part in a pilot programme to build on the work of the Town Centre Task Force, which has been meeting regularly over the last six months, to agree a long-term vision for the town centre, and we have been given an allocation of £237,000 to put initial interventions in place.

“Turning now to regeneration in Cleethorpes on the back of the Cleethorpes Masterplan and £18.4-million of Levelling Up funding. We should be able shortly to announce who will be leasing the new landmark Sea Road building, which already has planning consent, with construction commencing later in the year. Public consultation has now started on the refurbishment proposals for Pier Gardens and Cleethorpes Market Place, with very positive engagement.

“There have been several announcements about business and industrial investments. Good news for Stallingborough and Immingham, with the announcement that DFDS, which employs more than 1000 people on the Humber, has taken the first steps in creating a new combined commercial office by purchasing seven acres of land on Pioneer Business Park. The plan will create a modern and sustainable building to consolidate several of DFDS’s current office-based colleagues from various sites within the Humber into one collaborative and central location. This comes on the back of the recent sale of land at Pioneer Business Park to Associated British Ports to accelerate the development of the site.

“Further signs that the local economy is booming are the most recent Office for National Statistics published earnings figures, using data from the Annual Survey for Hours and Earnings. These show that, for 2023, the average gross weekly earnings in North East Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and the Humber, and England as a whole, are £663, £632, and £683 respectively. For the first time in many years, earnings in North East Lincolnshire are higher than in Yorkshire and the Humber and are 97% of the England average. All good news for our families and the local economy.

“The most exciting announcement must be the awarding of almost £120-million of Local Transport Fund monies to North East Lincolnshire to bring transformational change to transport within the borough. This is our share of the money released from the scrapping of the northern leg of HS2, a project I never supported, and which would have brought little or no benefit to our borough. Funding will be available from April 2025 and provided on a yearly programme until 2032, with a £20-million limit on individual projects. Cabinet has approved the start of a planning journey which will see a mapping out of how these significant monies will be invested. However, at the top of our priority list will be a new transport hub – bus station – in Grimsby town centre, for which we have already acquired the land. This will give a major boost to public transport, encouraging more people to use buses and improving connectivity.

“Continuing on the theme of public transport, the Department for Transport has permitted North East Lincolnshire Council to use Bus Service Improvement grant monies to allow once again those with bus passes to travel free on our buses before 9.30am. We are currently in discussions with Stagecoach as to how this will be implemented. It is many years since this concession was withdrawn and it is a Conservative administration restoring it. It will encourage greater bus patronage and more people into the town centre, especially once the new Community Diagnostic Centre opens.

“Turning now to waste and recycling. Following a big increase in recycling rates following this administration’s introduction of the new recycling bins and on the back of a successful food waste collection pilot, North East Lincolnshire Council has received £1.2-million from the Government to help implement separate collections of food waste for recycling throughout the whole borough.  The funding is to be used for procuring the bins and caddies, and the vehicles to help collect them.  We are currently assessing how the scheme will operate, with a view to providing an update in the autumn and implementation by April 2026.

“Under this Conservative administration, we are in receipt of record grant-funding for regeneration projects, clearly demonstrating the Government’s confidence in us. We are implementing improvements to services and public transport. We are seeing major investments from a whole range of private sector companies, bringing new jobs to the area, and a more buoyant economy with improved wage rates improving the lives of our residents.”

Grant funding to help shine the spotlight on the wealth of creative and heritage talent that exists in the region is now available through Create North East Lincolnshire.

Create North East Lincolnshire was launched last September to build on the success of Grimsby Creates. Following successful bids to the Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, work has been expanded to cover the whole of North East Lincolnshire for the next three years. Culture and heritage projects are also supported by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. A diverse range of heritage and cultural projects are already benefitting from recent grant funding.

Grants include:

• Small Project Grants to support brand new commissions up to a value of £1,500, available on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis.
• Large Project Grants to support brand new commissions between the value of £1,501 and £7,500, with a deadline of Tuesday 7th May 2024, 2pm.  They will be assessed by a panel in mid-May and clarifications will be made by May 31 2024.

(Note: activities for both small and large project grants could include dance, music, theatre, festivals, literature, poetry, design, fashion, visual arts, crafts, film, photography, publishing, radio, TV, gaming and more and no match funding is required).

Some recent recipients include:

‘Meet Us at Albert’s’, a Large Project Grant which explores the rich printmaking history of our area by Eleos Collective.

Sarah Allen, a visual artist and community arts facilitator, who is exploring creative health and art for wellbeing with her Small Project Grant funding.

Lynsey Wells and Natasha Morley, who contributed aerial hoop and contemporary dance and portraiture drawing and life drawing respectively at ‘Unseen Arts Presents’ in February at Docks Academy, Grimsby, with their Small Project Grant Funding.

On the Project Grant, Natasha said:

“We feel incredibly lucky to have had the support of Create North East Lincolnshire throughout this project. The funding you’ve given us has enabled us to deliver these workshops free of charge and in turn has removed a huge barrier to participation faced by many in the local community. Allowing us to engage with people that might not otherwise feel able to access this sort of creative education.”

• Development Fund to provide opportunities to support individuals with creative or heritage careers, develop themselves and channel their creative energy up to the value of £3,000, with a deadline of Monday 15th April, 11am. Applications will then be assessed, with a response expected by April 30. (Note: This fund could be used to support events such as exchange visits, workshop attendance, or mentoring and training).

Grants were awarded to the following:

Steve Dixey, a photographer who explores the natural and man-made features on local foreshores.

Turntable Gallery co-directors, Dale Wells and Darren Neave, were seen putting Grimsby on the map at Manchester Art Fair in November last year as part of their development fund to reach and attract national and international artists to exhibit at their gallery space.

Samuel Pearson, an actor, performer and aspiring puppeteer in training, who is developing his puppeteering skills via his Development Fund grant.

On the Development Fund, Samuel said:

“I have felt supported by the whole of the Create North East Lincolnshire team. I have appreciated the regular contact with the team. The hard work they have done to promote me through their social media channels, both in the ‘Discover Creative Careers Week’ and the ‘Trailblazing Thursday’, has helped raise my profile in the local area. A positive experience of accessing funding and running my own development project has piqued my interest in applying for funding in the future.”

• Creative Match Fund can be sought for larger applications to arts and heritage funders, such as Arts Council England or Heritage Fund, up to 10% or £5,000 (whichever is smaller), available on a first-come, first-served basis, with projects needing to be completed by the end of the funding programme (31st March 2025).

Successful applications that have been delivered or due to commence are:

GRIMM, an Immersive play by Evie Henderson, around the 1960’s Grimsby fishing community, being staged at Docks Academy, Grimsby and Polar Bear Music Club, Hull in March, funded by Arts Council England.

Coastal Voice Grimsby by Music in Mind, a project exploring dialect and sounds of the region alongside schools and community workshops to form part of a wider project to be shared with Dover and Sefton, funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund. This project will commence in late Spring 2024.

East Marsh People Power by The Enrolled Freemen, providing audience development activities at Freeman Street Market to support the lead into the People Power Partnership Reflections dance and visual arts performance at Garibaldi Street Car Park, in July 2023.

Claire Etheridge of the Enrolled Freemen said:

“The activities and events brought a sense of pride and worth to our community, volunteers and the team that worked on the project, encouraging them to explore more cultural and creative activities.”

Support to creative and heritage individuals and organisations

For those who need help to make sure that their grant applications are the best they can be, visit Create North East Lincolnshire’s website where you will find lots of advice and information on project planning and writing funding applications, plus other funding opportunities. Visit Home – Create North East Lincolnshire- external site 

If you want to find out more, there’s plenty of options:

• Creative Drop in will be at The Business Hive, Dudley Street, Grimsby on Tuesday 9th April from 9am to 12 noon.
• Creative networking – Tuesday 26th March from 5pm-7:30pm. Book your free place here: Create North East Lincolnshire Networking Event Tickets, Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 17:00 | Eventbrite- external site .
• Online session via Teams on Monday 25th March from 4pm to 5pm. To be added to the invite list, please email CreateNorthEastLincolnshire@nelincs.gov.uk.

Cllr Hayden Dawkins, Cabinet member for Culture, said: “These grants are a wonderful opportunity to help members of the local arts and creative community to bring their work to a wider audience.

“The expansion of the arts programme through Create NEL is a huge boost to the creative talent we have in the borough, and I urge them to take advantage of this financial support to allow more people to benefit from the various cultural and heritage projects.”

Article and image from NELC. Photographer Steve Dixey explores the natural and man-made features on local foreshores and has benefitted from grant funding.

PROPOSALS for a devolution deal for North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire Councils have been approved by North East Lincolnshire Council’s Cabinet and at a subsequent meeting of the Full Council.

The proposals, which would secure new investment of at least £720m into Greater Lincolnshire over the next 30 years, were approved by the Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday evening, before being discussed at a meeting of the full Council on Thursday evening.

Lincolnshire County Council approved the proposals on Wednesday night. Councillors in North Lincolnshire will review the proposals on Friday morning before submitting them to the Government.

Councillor Philip Jackson, Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said:

“I’m really pleased that my colleagues have approved these proposals. Tonight’s debate was very broad and Councillors are clearly supportive of bringing more investment and more powers to the area.

“A devolution deal will mean more funding for our area and extra powers from Westminster, and it’s important that this sits at a local level, with local decision-makers.  

“I’m confident that these proposals are right for our region, and are right for North East Lincolnshire, and for me personally this is an incredibly proud moment. It’s a historic day and will mean a great deal for our borough, and for Lincolnshire and the Humber region.”

Last year, an agreement was made between government and the three Lincolnshire lead authorities for extra powers and funding to be transferred from Westminster.

Article and image from NELC.

THE third annual Civic Awards got underway on Friday with nominees being celebrated for their significant contributions to North East Lincolnshire.

Nominees gathered at Grimsby Town Hall to enjoy a formal dinner ahead of the ceremony, where attendees heard the stories of fellow-nominees.

The awards were established to celebrate and recognise the impact of individuals, organisations and businesses in North East Lincolnshire. This year’s awards received 119 nominees across 8 categories.

In his closing remarks, the Worshipful the Mayor of the Borough of North East Lincolnshire, Councillor Ian Lindley, praised the incredible work of Civic Award winners and nominees.

Cllr Lindley said:

“It’s been a fantastic night and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed hearing the stories of those nominated. There are some very worthy winners, and some equally worthy nominees. They’re all winners in my opinion, and I feel certain that we’ll see many of them returning next year because they are really doing some great work in North East Lincolnshire.”

The awards are organised by North East Lincolnshire Council’s Civic Office.

Winners and runners up in the Civic Awards 2024:

Veteran in the Community Award

Winner: Mark Ireland

Environmental Impact Award

Winner: Grimsby in Bloom Repair Café

Sporting and Wellness Award

Winner: Mike Burton

Inspirational Young Person Award

Winner: Illie Jackson

Business in the Community Award

Winner: Blossom Home Care

Charity / Volunteer of the Year Award

Winner: Eve Samuels

Good Neighbour Award

Winner: PC Dave Cave

Mayor’s Community Impact Award

Winner: Carolanne White

Mayor, Cllr Ian Lindley, said that the evening underscored the importance of the awards and urged others to nominate their peers.

“We’ve seen and heard some great stories in this year’s nominations – people who really go above and beyond every day to support their communities, empower individuals to better themselves, and really make a difference.

“We know that there are more people out there who go unrecognised, who turn up each day and put in that extra effort. This might be a young person who is volunteering for charity, a veteran who is supporting others, or a business that invests in their community.

“It’s important that we celebrate these achievements and showcase the very best of North East Lincolnshire.”

The awards were judged by Councillor Ian Lindley, Mayor of North East Lincolnshire, Tony Gaskins, Chief Executive of Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Citizen’s Advice Bureau, and Liz Parry, owner of Abby’s Wine Bar and Bistro.

The awards were presented by previous award winners Jax Batty, Frank Sparkes, Kate Conway, Chief Executive of YMCA Humber, Theresa Ellerby from Children’s House Nursery, Liz Parry and Cllr Ian Lindley.

Article and image from NELC. More images are available on NELC’s website.

North East Lincolnshire Council have planted 416 trees in just a few weeks as part of its new Tree Strategy.

The plan, which has been in development since 2022, was formerly adopted by Cabinet in December last year. The strategy sets out their approach for managing and protecting the existing tree population, increasing the number of trees in North East Lincolnshire and for promoting the significant benefits that trees have in society.

It aims to give the residents of North East Lincolnshire a high quality, sustainable environment, which ties in with the Council’s aim to become Net Zero.

The Tree Strategy is also supported by two successful funding bids to the Forestry Commission’s Local Authority Treescapes Fund (LATF) and Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF), which will be used to support our tree planting efforts in 2023/24 and 2024/25.

It will also aim to improve canopy coverage across North East Lincolnshire from 10.5% to a minimum of 15%. Some boroughs, including East Marsh, West Marsh, Sidney Sussex, Immingham, and Croft Baker have as little as 2% tree coverage.

Already, a number of community projects have been carried out across the area, planting nearly 100 trees in the process.

On Friday 23 February, community volunteers and children from Signhills Academy joined North East Lincolnshire Council, Equans, Friends of Haverstoe and All Things Good and Nice CIC to plant 12 new trees in Haverstoe Park and on Taylor’s Avenue in Cleethorpes.

The second tree planting event took place on Tuesday 27th February in the West Marsh Ward. With the help of community volunteers and children from Macaulay Primary, Littlecoates Primary, and Ormiston South Parade, with support from West Marsh Community Centre, Grimsby in Bloom, Equans, North East Lincolnshire Council, Together for Childhood Grimsby and All Things Good and Nice CIC, 25 new trees were planted in the Duke of York Gardens.

On Thursday 29th February, a tree planting event took place with some of the children and staff from Springfield Lodge Montessori Day Nursery and Pre School, with support from North East Lincolnshire Council and Equans. The nursery runs a forest school as part of its education programme, and during the event, they helped plant and water six new trees on the land opposite their nursery off Springfield Road, Scartho.

The most recent events saw volunteers plant 12 trees in West Marsh on Tuesday 5 March, 25 in Sidney Sussex on Wednesday 6 March and 16 trees at Barretts Rec in Grimsby on Thursday 7 March. There are also a number of other events taking place throughout the rest of March to help plant more trees across the borough:

• Wednesday 13^th March – Sussex Rec, Cleethorpes
• Monday 18^th March – Grimsby Institute
• Tuesday 19^th March – Junction of Pelham and Worsley Road, Immingham
• Wednesday 20^th March – Weelsby Woods, Grimsby
• Friday 22^nd March – Ainslie Rec, Grimsby
• Monday 25^th March – Old Road, Great Coates
• Wednesday 27^th March – Thrunscoe Primary Academy, Cleethorpes
• Thursday 28^th March – Pocket Park, Haverstoe, Cleethorpes

Councillor Stewart Swinburn, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport, said: “It’s brilliant to see how many trees have already been planted across the borough.

“When Cabinet adopted the strategy we were committed to working with local groups in the community and we’ve done just that. I look forward to increasing the canopy coverage much more as we continue to work hard with groups to get more trees in the ground.”

Article and image from NELC.

If you’re interested in the heritage of North East Lincolnshire and want to get involved in helping to preserve, protect and share our joint heritage, here’s something for you!

With the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Heritage Network led by Heritage Lincolnshire has been meeting since 2021, to discuss heritage in all its forms: built, natural, industrial and community.

The Network is being restarted this year with a call for anyone that’s interested in North East Lincolnshire’s heritage including new and unfound or untold stories of our place.

The network usually meets quarterly and brings together people who have an interest in heritage to help build collaborative networks across the borough to showcase our local history, develop new projects and benefit from training opportunities.

Building on the success of the Heritage Starter Fund and grounded by North East Lincolnshire’s status as a Heritage Place, the Heritage Network will also help to administer a small grants pot for local heritage projects, with a few members helping the decision-making process about where those grants should be awarded. More details about the grants available will be released in the future.

Cllr Hayden Dawkins, Cabinet member for culture and heritage, said: “Over the last few years, we’ve really been working on protecting and restoring our heritage across the borough through the Heritage Starter Fund, and supporting people to apply for larger grants to the Heritage Fund and Historic England. The programme helped deliver lots of heritage activities locally, helping the voices of the past come through to educate, inform and inspire the people who live, work and visit North East Lincolnshire.”

Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “We are delighted to continue our support for the Heritage Network in their collaborative approach to celebrating and preserving the rich heritage of North East Lincolnshire – a key location in our Heritage Places initiative. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have seen some amazing projects from local people as a result of the Network in the past and we’re very excited to see what this next phase brings.”

Heritage Lincolnshire said: “Since 2021, we have worked with North East Lincolnshire Council to successfully support local people and groups through projects that have allowed them to access and enjoy their local heritage. Moving ahead in 2024, we are excited to see how the Heritage Network will grow and provide further opportunities to enrich the lives of the local community, all made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.”

The next network meeting is on Thursday 21 March 2-4pm at Central Hall, Grimsby.  Please sign up here: North East Lincolnshire Heritage Network: developing capacity for the sector • Heritage Lincolnshire- external site  if you’d like to come along or if you’d like to find out more or if you’re interested but cannot make that date/time.

If you want to find out more about creativity, culture and heritage across North East Lincolnshire, then visit www.createnortheastlincolnshire.co.uk- external site  – the new hub for information about grants and activities across the area.

Supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and National Lottery Heritage Fund, the network will help to place heritage and culture at the heart of communities in the area.

Article and image from NELC.

A “stand on the land” event took place on the site of what will be the new Horizon Youth Zone located in Grimsby town centre in the former West Haven Maltings and Migar House buildings.

Key supporters including Cornerstone and Founder Patrons, and Horizon Youth Zone board members, were invited onto the construction site to take a look at progress being made including visualising the new sports hall and MUGA pitch which are soon to be erected. Guests were given an update by the property team behind the construction of the Youth Zone including milestones over the coming months.

Representatives from North East Lincolnshire Council were in attendance, as well as Horizon Youth Zone’s new Chief Executive Lucy Ottewell-Key.

Horizon Youth Zone is being delivered by national charity OnSide, in partnership with North East Lincolnshire Council which is contributing towards the Youth Zone as part of the Greater Grimsby Town Deal. Other key supporters include Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Ørsted, St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation, The Youth Investment Fund and private donors.

Expected to open in 2025, the state-of-the-art youth centre will provide thousands of young people with opportunities to engage in activities and access support from skilled youth workers, helping them to develop their skills and reach their full potential. It will be open to young people aged between eight and 19 (up to 25 for those with additional needs), seven days a week, for just 50p a visit. Members will have access to an indoor climbing wall, four court sports hall, training kitchen, music room with a recording studio, fully equipped gym, dance and drama studio, 3G kick pitch, arts and crafts room, enterprise and employability suite.

Horizon Youth Zone is an independent charity with a private-sector led board, and once opened will be part of the OnSide Network of 14 Youth Zones nationwide, supporting over 50,000 young people annually.

Lucy Ottewell-Key, Horizon youth Zone Chief Executive, said: “This is a really special day for everyone involved in Horizon Youth Zone as it’s an opportunity for supporters and trustees to see firsthand the progress that has been made on site. I want to thank everyone that has been part of Horizon’s journey so far, because of your support we will soon be able to transform the lives thousands of young people living in Grimsby and North East Lincolnshire. If you would like to be part of this inspiring charity, please do reach out as we are keen to work with anyone who is passionate about providing our young people with the opportunities and support they need to flourish.”

Cllr Philip Jackson, the Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “What we will have in this new Horizon Youth Zone is a fantastic venue for the young people of our borough. It will offer opportunity for sport, for social events, for learning and to give our adults of tomorrow inspiration, and encouragement for their futures. It also offers a fantastic new use for these historic and prominent buildings within our town centre. We are delighted to be a part of it, and I would like to thank all the other partners involved for their support.”

Construction of Horizon Youth Zone is well underway and contractors Hobson and Porter continue making good progress against plans for the build. [what is next on the list in terms of the build]. Behind the scenes, the Youth Zone team is starting to take shape and a number of new roles will be going live as we move closer to opening in summer 2025. Funds continue to be raised for the running costs of the Youth Zone and anyone who is interested in supporting

For further information, please visit: https://www.horizonyouthzone.org/support-us/- external site 

Article and image from NELC.