Bohemia Village Voice

Karen Manning - proud of the YMCA.

The Village Voice has recently turned its attention on the problems of local youth – both the problems they cause and those they experience. The lack of a local space in which to play football was the major hassle described by the kids we spoke to back in March. In response to their plea the Voice identified a useful facility down at White Rock Gardens, and if that wasn’t enough we’ve since had a call on the same subject from Karen Manning, who runs the YMCA in St Paul’s Road.
 Karen insists that anyone can use their facilities to play football or other sports, or to take part in the youth clubs that run four nights a week. In fact the range of activities that goes on at the YMCA is surprising. ‘We run football sessions for primary-school children on Wednesdays and Fridays from 3.30 to 5pm, and there are other groups who use the sports hall for football. But that’s only a part of what we’re about.
 ‘We have a thousand people a week through the doors,’ Karen says proudly. ‘For instance, we started the free-skate sessions back in November, and we now have 240 members for that night alone.’ The free skate, which is open to anyone aged 14 and over, takes place on a Tuesday night from 8 to 10.30pm, while other clubs for 13–19-year-olds are held on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights from 7 to 9pm. ‘We’d like to be open earlier, but there’s a limit to how much funding we can get for staff. That’s always the biggest problem, and it’s why we have to hire the hall out whenever we can. Of course, we’re a community centre, but we’d love to be more youth-based. We just can’t afford to do it.’ The YMCA is also now registered with the Open College Network, and is currently running the Toolbox Project, which teaches carpentry skills to secondary-school children, some of whom have been on the verge of being excluded. ‘That’s been a great success,’ says Karen. ‘We run two-hour sessions in the workshop, morning and afternoon,  five days a week. The kids love it, and a lot of them have taken it further and learned a trade. Other schools in the town want to send some of their children here, but the classes are full.’ Karen is currently looking to secure £100,000 for the installation of a kitchen at the centre, as well as refurbishment of the sports-hall floor and provision of disabled access. But that’s not the limit of her ambitions for the place. Currently, part of the top floor of the main building is used by the Jigsaw nursery. ‘We’d like to put up a new building for them where the Portakabin classroom is now, and that would free up more space upstairs. In the end it all comes down to money. But anyone can use our facilities if there’s space available. They just need to come and see us or give us a ring.’ Karen’s number is 429677.

The sports hall at the YMCA.

The fully equipped workshop.

The Youth Club room.