Bracknell town centre youth hub set for Braccan Walk car park

Now Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) bosses are set to bring together a group of young people to help design the hub in the coming months.

Children and young people’s chief Cllr Gareth Barnard, said: “I think this is a really exciting step in this project and I think the really exciting bit is to set up a working group of young people in Bracknell Forest.

“I think this is a really fantastic opportunity and I think we will be able to bring together all these things in a location a lot of young people wanted it to be.

“When we consulted on this we made sure young people were an integral part of this process.”

In July 2018, the News reported Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) was undertaking work to determine whether the plans were achievable and following the authority’s study,

BFC considered developing the Coopers Hill youth centre site, an area in Princess Square and accomodation at the former 3M building before deciding on the Braccan Walk car park.

The plans could set the council back £750,000, with most of the funding expected to come from the sale of the Coopers Hill site.

It is estimated the youth centre will cost £40,000 a year to run but funding for this is expected to be included in BFC’s 2020/2021 budget.

Should these proposals get the go-ahead, the centre could open be open by 2021.

The space would include small meeting rooms, a kitchen, a social area and more, with the council’s Early Help and voluntary sector organisations set to work in the centre.

It would primarily be used for ‘outreach work’ targeting the borough’s most vulnerable people, including young carers, hard to reach youngsters, those with special educational needs and more.

Young people would be able to get support on mental health, wellbeing, and finding employment.

BFC asked more than 500 young people for their thoughts on a new youth centre site in July 2017 and 72 per cent agreed there should be a space young people in the town centre.

Responses sent to the council found young people wanted a social space open daytime, evenings and weekends and should be modern with food and drink available.

One response read: “It would be cool to have a place for young people only, and helpful to have courses to learn how to do helpful things in life.”

The authority’s top team met on Tuesday, July 23 to give the all-clear for a financial plan to be developed for facility and to set up a working group of young people to help with the design of the centre.