A council has shared new images of what renovations to youth buildings may look like following multi-million pound investments.

Blackburn with Darwen Council secured £8 million through the Government’s Youth Investment Fund for four projects across the borough. 

It was the largest amount of money awarded to any one single place in the country in the August round of announcements.

The majority of the money is being spent at the Blackburn Youth Zone area and Darwen Youth Centre.

Darwen Youth Centre could almost double in size with a new first floor being added to the Knott Street building.

This would pave the way for a wellbeing area, creative workshop space, recording and DJ studio, gaming zone and multi-use spaces.

Outdoor sports facilities there could be significantly upgraded too.

The Blackburn Youth Zone’s Fuse Box Building will be developed into a new Employment Skills Hub, thanks to £2.9m worth of funding.

It will aim to  ‘support young people into work and helping them fulfil their potential with a state-of-the-art Employment Skills Hub’.

Shadsworth Hub, where £800,000 is being spent is part of the Newground Together bid, where Together Housing Group is investing almost £20m in plans to improve community facilities, outdoor spaces and homes in the Shadsworth area.

The new youth hub, opposite the local park, will be open to all youngsters in the area, offering impressive new indoor and outdoor spaces for them to enjoy.

A planning application submitted by the council for Audley and Queen’s Park Children’s Centre will see a £1m transformation of the facilities.

Plans for all the schemes submitted have been developed by architects John Puttick Associates working with planning consultants, Cassidy & Ashton.

Cllr Julie Gunn, the council’s deputy leader and executive member for children, young people and education, said: “This is a really exciting next step for our plans to improve our facilities for young people living across Blackburn with Darwen after successfully securing the Youth Investment Fund grants back in August.

“We were ecstatic to be awarded more than £8m of new funding – supporting our key Council mission to provide our youngsters with the very best opportunities to fulfil their potential.

“One of the real strengths of our bids was that we had projects that could be brought forward quickly alongside really strong partnership working, something Blackburn with Darwen is renowned for and I was proud to see in action.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

What the new Audley and Queens Park centre could look like.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The proposals for Audley and Queens Park are part of the Council’s Children’s Centre and Family Hubs review.

The planning application outlines how the existing facilities there could be extended to create a new youth centre to be run by local youth organisation, IMO.

The centre would be open seven days a week with a specialist mental health offer, employability and rehabilitation support too.

Cllr Gunn added: “The designs for these two schemes are impressive, but what’s important is that we know the facilities will help change lives.

“As a council, we also recently secured £20m through the Levelling-Up Fund for an educational campus of national significance – part of the £250m Blackburn Town Centre Masterplan.

“Work has started on the Department for Education’s flagship development of Blackburn College’s iconic Victoria Building too – creating state-of-the-art facilities there.

“We are working incredibly hard to give our children and young people the very best start in life, we will not let them be left behind.”