The Prince’s Trust Team Revamps Youth Centre Space

A community project gives Charlie’s Youth Access Centre in Eastbourne a new lease of life with a music-inspired space for centre users to enjoy.

Students on the 12-week Prince’s Trust re-engagement programme, run through Sussex Downs College, Eastbourne, spent half term (23rd-27th October) revamping the studio space at Charlie’s Youth Access Centre on Seaside, Eastbourne.

As part of their course, the team, made up of nine young adults aged 17-24, chose to support Charlie’s Youth Access Centre for their community project. They raised an impressive £291 over three days of fundraising. This included cycling the distance from Eastbourne to London in the Sussex Downs College gym, a sponsored walk along Eastbourne seafront, from Holywell to the sewage centre and back, and a cake sale held in the College canteen. Following their successful fundraising, The Prince’s Trust Team set to work, revitalising the basement space, making it accessible for centre users once again.

The large basement area had previously been used as a recording studio, but for the past few years has been used for storage and inaccessible to users. The team spent two days clearing the area, separating rubbish from things that could be donated to the local Cats Protection Charity Shop. They then spent two days painting over the current designs, ready for their music inspired designs to be brought to life.

Lorna Gordon, Prince’s Trust Team Leader at Sussex Downs College, Eastbourne, said: “The team has worked incredibly hard to transform the space. They decided to clear the entire space and give the area a new lease of life, providing a chalkboard wall where music lessons can be taught from, an arts and crafts ‘messy area’, and a chill-out space around the DJ Decks, so young people can come and relax. They created music inspired designs for the walls and added sensory elements including different lighting and mirrored CD’s as a feature.”

The team are hoping to hold some activity sessions in the basement area in the near future and begin encouraging service users to access the newly renovated space.

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