£2.7million funding for Grimsby Youth Zone
Onside Youth Zone will work in partnership with national charity OnSide on the project, which also has funding from North East Lincolnshire Council.
Preserving heritage for the next generation
The funding will be used to restore, refurbish and extend existing buildings at the town’s Grade II-listed West Haven Maltings site. Now fallen into disrepair, the historic location is currently on Historic England’s ‘at risk’ register.
When complete, the Youth Zone will welcome up to 5,000 young members. Its state-of-the-art youth facilities will include:
- sports hall
- fitness suite
- music studio
- art room
- boxing gym
- café
- recreation area
- teaching kitchen
- enterprise and study rooms
- 4G football pitch
Developing skills and confidence
Youth Zone members will be able to take part in activities to help develop their skills and confidence. They will also get the chance to challenge ‘end-of-the-line’ stereotypes of the area and take forward a new story of Grimsby.
Thanks to National Lottery players, young people are at the heart of the regeneration of Grimsby, ensuring they can play a special role in a heritage-led transformation of the town.
Interim Horizon Youth Zone Chair, Jason Stockwood
In December 2020, over 1,600 of Grimsby's young people voted to name the Youth Zone ‘Horizon’. The logo will incorporate Grimsby’s iconic dock tower to reflect their pride in their local heritage.
The young people also took a leading role in the funding bid, starring in this film:
Cllr Callum Procter, Cabinet member for Economic Growth, Housing and Tourism at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "This project is representative of this borough’s drive to invest in our children and young people...
"We are determined to overcome the challenges that we have within areas of our community to improve the opportunities for them."
Our work in Grimsby
Kathryn Morley, Chief Executive of OnSide, said: “How fitting that it was young people from the town that were integral in us being awarded this remarkable amount of money that will change thousands of lives.
"I’d like to thank them for their passion to create change for their peers and, of course, to the Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for investing in our future generations.”
The project joins several other Heritage Fund projects in the area which focus on heritage-led regeneration brought about though partnership working. This includes £647,700 to bring historic fish smoking and processing buildings in the new Conservation Area back into use.
David Renwick, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director, North, added: “We’re proud to contribute to the important partnership work already underway to enable heritage-led regeneration in Grimsby.”
