UKSPF: New youth education building opens at Spartans

Written by Georgina Bowyer, UKSPF Grants Manager

Marking a significant milestone in the UKSPF programme, we were delighted to see the completion of the new youth work and education building at Spartans Community Foundation recently.

The Foundation is the charitable arm of Spartans Football Club, co-located on the same site, where professional sports facilities are found in amongst the communities of north Edinburgh.  There is something intrinsically uplifting in arriving at the site, often with the buzz of the second league team practicing on the main pitch whilst youth and children’s clubs take place alongside on the other pitches.  The Foundation visibly stands on the principle that the children and young people of north Edinburgh deserve the best and are invited to achieve and succeed.

The new space is built on these same values.  The design was developed in partnership with young people who use the building, alongside mapping of how they used the previous space and acknowledgement of the things they loved about it.  Beforehand the work was housed in an ageing and second hand portacabin – however it had warmth, familiarity and fostered a sense of belonging through features such as the artwork on the walls which the young people were fond of.  The new space brings with it excellent flexibility, with sliding doors that can be pulled across to divide a large space, and a roomy well-resourced kitchen complete with a moveable island and an optional service hatch for when the kitchen is used in a café format.  There is also outside covered space and an outdoor sink, ensuring young people can be out in the fresh air all year round and providing facilities for large scale artwork.  Additionally, there are two dedicated sensory rooms providing a quiet refuge when required.

The new building has been a success story for partnership working, with private and public investment contributing funds, including that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has played a part.  Community wealth building principles were considered throughout the project.  The building contractor employed is a local firm that has been hugely supportive of the Foundation since its inception, and they have provided work experience opportunities for young people on the site.  The project is a testament to what can be done when people and organisations work together, and in the case of Spartans, their local, long-term and embedded approach is a large part of what corrals these different parties together.

Going forward the building will host not only a range of various youth groups across the week, but also the alternative school, where the innovative and creative approaches to teaching are engaging children who otherwise would likely miss out on an education.  We hope that the building will be a powerful asset for many years to come, and alongside the remarkable passion and dedication of the staff, foster hope and ambition in the children and young people that come through its doors.