Excitement builds as OnSide Youth Zone in South Bristol comes to life

Last week, the Youth Investment Fund team had an amazing tour of the impressive Onside Youth Zone in South Bristol. Michael Schierenbeck, Project Manager for OnSide and Henry Walsh, Site Manager for Galliford Try, gave us a special tour to see all that has been accomplished so far.

Alongside being awarded a £8.8M Youth Investment Fund grant, the 224 Youth Zone is supported by Bristol City Council, with additional generous funding from Garfield Weston Foundation, Origin Foundation, St James’s Place and others.

224 Youth Zone is delivered in partnership with Bristol City Council and powered by Youth Moves, a South Bristol youth-driven charity. Youth Moves’ approach is that ‘Everyone is welcome. Everyone is valued. Everybody matters.’ Named 224 (standing for today, tomorrow and forever) by young Bristolians, South Bristol’s Youth Zone will enhance the local area by providing a destination for local young people. 224 will be part of the growing OnSide Network of 15 Youth Zones nationwide, supporting more than 50,000 young people annually. Youth Zones are open to young people aged between eight and 19 (up to 25 for those with additional needs), seven days a week, for just £5 annual membership and 50p a visit.

It will be a state-of-the-art space with over 20 activities to try, staffed by skilled youth workers who believe in young people and help them see what they could achieve. This exciting new building will be located on the undeveloped land close to the roundabout which connects Hengrove Way and Hartcliffe Way.

It’s an impressive build, covering 2,500 square metres! The huge construction is taking shape, and you can already envisage the large sports hall and signs of where the climbing wall will be and all the exciting new features. The outside will include a large Multi-Use Games Area, complete with an accessible ramp to ensure everyone can enjoy it. There’s an accessible lift and the whole space has been built with accessibility in mind, making sure that nobody misses out.

As we walked around the site, you can see how much time has been invested in digging the foundations and levelling the land. Michael Schierenbeck, Project Manager for OnSide, told us that in the pre-construction phase, digging out the rubble was a huge undertaking, and took eight weeks to complete.

One side of the 224 Youth Zone site is flanked by beautiful mature trees. The team want to make the space as green as possible and plan to plant another 300 trees! It will be an idyllic space for young people to enjoy.

Sustainability is at the heart of the build. The whole building will be clad using recycled materials, the roof will include vast solar panels, and heating will be delivered by an air source heat pump. All the material suppliers have been selected on their carbon reduction and sustainability credentials. The building’s car park will be deliberately small to discourage driving. The Youth Zone is on a main bus route, making access easy, and there’s a cycle path next door.

There were some lovely little insights that made us smile. Along with the overall construction, they have worked hard to ensure the construction team’s working environment is extra special. Using reclaimed wood, they built flower planters, wooden benches, a rain shelter and little features to make it a welcoming and comfortable space for everyone working there.

The project has a dedicated team, so much so that Michael Schierenbeck, Project Manager for OnSide, has built a scale model of the youth zone in his spare time. It’s very impressive!

Young people in South Bristol and beyond have so many exciting features to look forward to, including:

• a 4-court indoor sports hall

• Indoor climbing wall

• Fitness Suite with state-of-the-art gym equipment

• Boxing and martial arts room

• Performing arts studio

• Music suite with instruments and recording equipment

• Large open plan recreation area

• Project rooms, including arts, crafts and fashion

• Film and multi-media facilities

• Teaching/mentoring kitchen

• Café serving hot nutritious meals costing no more than £1

• Multi-use games area/kick pitch with flood lights

• Breakout room to include activities such as employability workshops, general and gender specific health/youth issue topics/projects and youth participation.

We can’t wait for the 224 Youth Zone to open its doors to young people. It’s going to transform south Bristol and provide an exciting, safe place to connect, have fun, get support from trusted youth workers and pave the way for brighter futures.