Excitement builds as two vibrant Youth Hubs come to life in East Sussex

Building work is progressing at pace for two new Youth Hubs in East Sussex. It’s an exciting time for young people and youth workers in Peacehaven and Heathfield, watching their Youth Hubs take shape.  

Last year East Sussex County Council was awarded a Youth Investment Fund grant of over £8million to transform youth services in Heathfield and Peacehaven. The grant will pay for a brand-new space for the Heathfield Youth Hub, replacing the original 1950s youth space with a modern, sustainable and accessible two-storey building. The grant will also enable a major extension and renovation for the JOFF (Joy of Finding Friends) Youth Hub in Peacehaven. Morgan Sindall Construction’s Southern Home Counties business has been appointed by East Sussex County Council to upgrade and enhance the two community youth facilities. The Youth Hubs will be ready to open their doors to young people in Spring 2025.  

Councillor Bob Bowdler, East Sussex County Council Lead Member for Children and Families, said: 

“We are very excited to break ground on these transformative projects in Heathfield and Peacehaven, which will not only enhance our community’s youth services, but also drive local economic growth.”  

“We are thankful for the Youth Investment Fund and the opportunity this fund is providing for improving some of our key Youth Hub sites in East Sussex. We look forward to seeing these projects come to life and making a lasting positive impact and seeing what Social Value Morgan Sindall will add to East Sussex via these contracts.”

Young people are at the heart of the new Youth Hubs, getting involved and co-creating the look and feel of their new spaces. The Youth Investment Fund grant package has enabled the youth team to run a series of arts project activities with young people across the two sites, giving young people a voice and ownership for their space. This included a Graffiti Workshop run with young people and Heathfield Youth Team and Morgan Sindall Construction. Working with Tom Goulden, a local artist, young people created graffiti messages using ply boards and sharing their hopes and dreams for their new Youth Hub. Graffiti messages included: Hope, Fun, Pride, Dare, plus young people created signage for the Youth Hub and Friday Night Project.  

Morgan Sindall Construction’s Project Manager, Nick Beaumont said: 

“It was great to speak to some of the young people taking part and hear all their positivity toward the new youth centre and we enjoyed taking part too! The boards will soon be displayed on our site hoarding, spreading positive messages and promoting the new Youth Hub!”

With building works taking shape, young people are getting involved in the detail of how the youth space interior will look, choosing the colours of the toilet cubicles, basin areas, tiling for toilets and kitchen splash backs, the colour of kitchen units, and more. It will be a space that young people can call their own.  

Young people are looking forward to their new Youth Hub, sharing their excitement. 

Youth club member, aged 15, said:

“I’m really looking forward to the new sensory room, that’s really important for me.” 

Another youth club member, aged 12, said:

“I can’t wait to try out the new gaming room and the kitchen.”

 JOFF Youth Hub in Peacehaven 

The Youth Investment Fund grant will pay for an extension and refurbishment of the existing Youth Hub across a two-storey building, originally built in the 1960s and in need of major modernisation.  

As the project progresses, the pre-existing building will undergo some internal reconfiguration with new floors and doors installed, as well as a new external lift added to make the space accessible to all young people. 

The new space will include a fitness suite as well as dedicated art, music and kitchen spaces. Children and young people’s views and ideas are key to the project’s design. And having a bigger and accessible space means that even more children and young people can enjoy new opportunities to have fun, make friends, get fit and get creative. 

Heathfield Youth Hub 

The Youth Investment Fund will create the brand-new Heathfield Youth Hub space. Building work is well underway, demolishing the old 1950s space and laying the foundations, ready to create a state-of-the-art youth facility. Once complete it will be a large two-storey and fully accessible modern space. It will be a versatile hub with spaces for arts, music and games as well as additional areas for early years groups. Sustainability and futureproofing were important aspects of the project, with a Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) frame specified thanks to its high-performance thermal efficiency and energy efficient properties. 

The Youth Hub aims to support young people in the area by creating modern, multifunctional spaces that will revitalise local youth services and provide a variety of activity options and social benefits.