Myplace Update

MyPlace at St Mary in the Castle Update June 2009

For those of you that are not yet aware, we now have the architects confirmed that will be working on the St Mary in the Castle project – a collaboration of two local firms, coming together as Dunn & CTM. The selection process included a vote from the young people who attended the design day and witnessed 3 very different presentations.

Due to the tight schedule laid down by the Big Lottery, Dunn & CTM are very keen to undertake another 2 or 3 design workshops with young people in a bid to draw together and tighten up the ideas we have collected through various consultations. The first of these workshops was held on Monday June 22nd at St Mary in the Castle. The idea behind it is to engage the young people in situating the ideas within St Mary’s using structural plans and a model of the building to see the feasibility of the suggestions made and start focusing on design layout etc.

The youth client team working on this project recently had a day trip to the Sorrell Foundation’s Somerset House, where they participated in several workshops surrounding design and facilities for young people. After lunch they were given a tour of the Roundhouse in Camden to see what work was done within this Grade 2* listed building; especially considering the structural similarities. The young people that attended enjoyed the day and gained lots more ideas around designing and placing facilities within St Mary’s and the constraints it has due to its listed status.

Jodie, Youth and Community Engagement Officer, is currently going out to schools and local youth agencies to promote myplace and encourage greater participation from young people across the whole town. We have a summarised copy of Dunn and CTM’s presentation that was shown at the design day which available to be shown to young people and the wider community - should you know any agencies/organisations that may want to see this then please do contact Jodie so that arrangements can be made.

We are aware that there are some questions surrounding the involvement of the wider community in the facility once it is up and running, and also in the design ideas for St Mary in the Castle. The aim of the youth hub is to create a world class facility for the young people of the town, so it is a must that the young people have a great impact on the design layout and the chosen facilities to be placed within St Mary’s, however young people themselves want to wider community to make use of the building, and it is a key output of the funding that we provide intergenerational opportunities. Young people will welcome the community into the building, will help them to access the facilities and resources available, and will work with the wider community to promote community cohesion and joint working. The widest possible involvement and use of the building is essential to the sustainability of the project. Young people themselves will be presenting design ideas to the wider community (date in July to be confirmed), and there will be opportunities to feedback and help to refine the ideas into the final design concept. There will be an exhibition of ideas during August, prior to the submission of the final detail to the funders, and further opportunities for involvement beyond.


Notwithstanding the fact that young people are key to guiding the design and facilities, we are keen to hear your views and options regarding what facilities and resources you would like to see in the building and therefore we encourage you to contact us with your ideas, or if you would like to be more involved.

Contact details:
Jodie Taylor – Youth and Community Engagement Officer
jodie@hastingstrust.co.uk
Mel Bonney-Kane – Executive Director
mel@hastingstrust.co.uk
Carol Biggs – Assistant Director
carol@hastingstrust.co.uk

Telephone 01424 446373