Having been saved from demolition last year following a campaign by young people from Ealing Young Champions and their supporters, the Young Adult Centre (YAC) in Southall is set to be renovated by Ealing Council.
In documents released yesterday (19 April 2023) during a Ealing Council cabinet meeting, a report confirmed that £2.8m would be spent on the Park View Road YAC.
The report said: “The 2022-2025 Youth Plan was published in 2021 following consultation with young people and communities in Ealing. In this plan the YAC site was reaffirmed as a site for redevelopment. The confirmation of the redevelopment proposal followed on from a Council decision in 2015. Further consultation with young people and the community took place during 2022 and following this consultation, the decision was made that the site would no longer be regenerated for housing and that the YAC would remain on the site. It would be renovated to provide services that children, young people and the community want, underpinned by a sustainable finance model.”
The report also revealed the statutory requirement that Ealing Council provides youth facilities. It said: “The Council has a statutory duty as set out in Section 507B, Education Act 1996 to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people and to make sure young people have a say in the local offer. This is often referred to as the ’youth services duty’.”
The council confirmed that young people will be involved throughout the whole process of redevelopment of the YAC. It said: “To facilitate the consultation with young people on the development and refurbishment of the YAC, a list of proposed changes to the building have been provided to ensure it is fully renovated – Appendix One. Young people will be an important part of the future management of the YAC and other youth centres, so they will be actively involved in finalising any design and integral in the management of the building. Their views matter and these will be fully considered throughout the design and delivery stages of the building.”
Should there be no call ins, the council says it plans to provide a full timeline for the development of the YAC in July 2023.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Connie Hersch, opposition spokesperson on policing & communities said: “The Liberal Democrats support the refreshed focus on refitting the building rather than demolishing it. We have campaigned on sustaining community assets and the Young Adult Centre in Southall is a cherished key community facility.”
Last year, campaigners from Young Ealing Champions together with their supporters lobbied the council and took part in a council meeting to argue the need to keep the YAC.
In September 2022, Ealing Council leader Councillor Peter Mason said: “The young people of Southall came together to make clear that they wanted to keep the YAC where it is and, after our recent engagement and much thinking, we agree.”
Councillor Mason added: “To every young person who has raised their voice on such an important issue, we say: ‘We have listened to your thoughts on the plans for a new youth centre in Southall, we understand your concerns and how important the Southall Young Adult Centre is to you, and we agree should remain where it is.’ Not only that, but we now want to work with you to make the YAC even better, and find a way to put it into your hands permanently, for good.”
Since being notified in 2021 of Ealing Council’s intent to shut down the popular centre for young people, Ealing Young Champions, who are helped by the Young Ealing Foundation, mobilised themselves in person and on social media through the #SaveTheYAC hash tag.
Young Ealing Foundation is a charity which brings together the public, private and voluntary sectors to help and improve the lives of children and young people in Ealing.
A petition to save the young adult centre had over 1,500 signatures and was debated by the Council at their cabinet meeting on 19 October 2021.
Members of Ealing Young Champions and their supporters held a protest outside the Town Hall and gave a passionate speech at the cabinet meeting to tell councillors that they are wrong to consider demolishing it.
Young Ealing Champion Lily Connolly Woods, 18, presented the petition to councillors at the cabinet meeting.
On hearing that Ealing Council will now not demolish the YAC, Lily said at the time: “After all of our hard work, I am overjoyed at the decision of the council to keep the YAC open. It is clear that the centre is needed in the community, and I’m glad the young people of Southall get to keep this pillar in the local area”
Elly Heaton, chief executive officer, Young Ealing Foundation added: “We are absolutely delighted that Ealing Council have listened to the Ealing Young Champions and have made the decision to keep the Young Adults Centre open for future generations. We are looking forward to working with them going forward to ensure that the Young Adults Centre continues to thrive as a community hub, provide a safe space for young people, and is an asset the community can continue to utilise for the long-term future.”
Dr. Lynne Guyton, chief executive officer of John Lyon’s Charity also said at the time: “For the past 18 months we have been campaigning to save the YAC as a key youth club for the children and young people of Ealing. Having reached out to Ealing Council to help them understand what a critical resource and part of the social fabric the Club is, I am delighted that the Council has decided to keep the YAC open and fully supported. ”
Dr Guyton added: “More than ever before, in the wake of COVID and in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, youth clubs such as the YAC are a guiding light for many young people bringing together different communities, providing sports activities, clubs and a safe space for those at risk of violence and crime.”
In June 2022, local Southall campaigner to save the YAC, Minni Dogra wrote: “The site has been used for educational and youth facilities since the early 1970s. Many of us (who had nothing) grew up in Southall using Southall Youth Centre (SYC). It was a well located safe space back then and continues to be so. The Centre is fully supported by provision of various amenities. Presently, groups , organisations and individuals who are offering activities at SYC are being turned away because closure is imminent. I too have volunteered my time for supporting and teaching English as a second language. We have to bring these issues out in the open and Ealing Council must understand that SYC facility for our young people is far more important than their avaricious need to give up our valuable facility and land to yet more housing development for which there is no support in the community.”
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