Cleator Community Centre benefits from nearly £0.25 million revamp : Cumbria County Council

You said… we need a place in Cleator Moor for young people and community groups to meet.

We did… worked with residents and local organisations to win funding from the county council and other organisations to create a state of the art youth and community centre.

Cleator Moor Youth and Community Centre officially opened on 23 April after a refurbishment and upgrade costing almost £0.25 million.

The formerly under used centre, in the centre of the town, has been transformed from an unfit building with poor lighting, no insulation and no heating to a state of the art youth and community centre with help and funding from Cumbria County Council.

The project has been a partnership between the Cumbria County Council’s Community Unit in Copeland, The Phoenix Youth Project, Cumbria Constabulary, Cleator Moor Amateur Boxing Club, Regen North East Copeland and local community members.

Plans to develop this important facility in Cleator Moor came about after group of young people from the Cleator Moor went along to Cleator Moor Neighbourhood Forum, which is run by Cumbria County Council and Copeland Borough Council, to apply for a Neighbourhood Forum Grant for equipment and give residents an update on The Phoenix Youth Project.

At the meeting, the local county councillor raised the issue of the virtually unused Cleator Moor Club for Young People and the need for a place of young people in the town to meet and a new home for The Phoenix Youth Project. A discussion followed and staff from the Community Unit were tasked with finding out if anything could be done to try and bring the club back into use.

Staff at the Community Unit helped the Community Centre Committee get the development on track, including helping apply for and win funding to the tune of £227,000.

The centre has now had a massive overhaul, from structural changes, to new heating and wiring and amenities. The Phoenix Youth Project, Cleator Moor Amateur Boxing Club and Cleator Moor Spiritualists Society all call the centre home and the committee are looking to hire the centre out to other groups.

Paul Rowe, Youth Development Officer at The Phoenix Youth Project, says: “The transformation in the centre has been incredible and since its opening in April it is already fast becoming a great resource for the community in Cleator Moor – we’ve had enquiries from more than half a dozen separate groups in the town who’d like to use the building and its new facilities.

“The Community Unit have been a great help in this project – put simply without their help the community centre would still be an unfit building. I would categorically recommend anyone to get in contact with the Community Team if they need help and support with a community project such as this because they are wonderful to work with and a great fount of knowledge.”

The project has been funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas (£78,110); a Landfill Communities Fund grant awarded by Waste Recycling Group, administered by WREN (£49,916); Francis C Scott Charitable Trust (£30,000); Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust – Cumbria Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (£20,000); Cumbria County Council – Youth Capital Fund (£19,920); Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust – Cumbria Sustainable Buildings Programme (£12,000); Cumbria County Council – Local Capital Scheme Grant (£6,000); Cleator Moor Town Council (£2,300); Cleator Moor Joint Neighbourhood Forum (£500); The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation (£6,000); North West Together We Can – Revitalising Community Spaces (£500); and the Hadfield Charitable Trust (£2,000).