Young people celebrate as planning is approved for East Manchester Youth Zone

Young people from East Manchester are ecstatic to hear that planning approval for their brand-new £6million Youth Zone has been granted. East Manchester Youth Zone will be the second OnSide Youth Zone in the city, providing a safe and inspiring place for young Mancunians to spend their leisure time, meet new people and develop new skills.

Set to open in 2020, the Youth Zone will cost £6million to build and will be located on the former Gorton baths site at the corner of Hyde Road and Queensland Road. It will provide thousands of young people from the local area with somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to.

East Manchester Youth Zone will be open to young people aged 8-19 and up to 25 for those with a disability 7 days per week. For just 50p per 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 and much more.

On hearing the good news, one young person said: “I am really looking forward to trying all of the new activities that will be on offer at East Manchester Youth Zone, especially the climbing wall. At the moment, there isn’t much for me and my friends to do in the evenings, so we can’t wait for the Youth Zone to open.”

The Youth Zone is being developed by national charity OnSide Youth Zones in partnership with Manchester City Council, and a number of supportive local businesses. It will join a network of 10 Youth Zones with locations in Bolton, Blackburn, Carlisle, Wigan, Manchester (Harpurhey), Oldham, Wolverhampton, Wirral, Chorley and Warrington – with another three Youth Zones currently under construction in London.

Joanne Whittaker, Chair of East Manchester Youth Zone said: “Manchester is bursting with bright and talented young people who need somewhere safe and inspiring to go and East Manchester Youth Zone will provide just that. It will be an energetic, creative and social space for young people to express themselves, develop their skills, nurture their talents and have fun in their leisure time. If you are interested in supporting young people through this new and exciting charity then please get in touch.”

Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Schools, Culture and Leisure at Manchester City Council said: “We are delighted to welcome a second Youth Zone to Manchester, knowing it will make a fantastic difference to the lives of thousands of young people by providing enriching activities and quality youth work 7 days per week.”

Lisa Mcfarlane, director at Seven Architecture commented, “Working once again with OnSide, this time in East Manchester, is a fantastic opportunity to provide another world class youth centre in the North West following planning approval of the scheme.
Creating a visually appealing, safe and inspiring place for young people to enjoy spending time was a key consideration to the design. The building elevation will consist of charcoal grey brickwork on the ground floor, contrasted with coloured metal cladding to the upper levels for striking visual impact. Rooflights will provide natural daylight and ventilation into the central recreation area and the large double-height internal spaces will create an open and welcoming feel.”