MyPlace
Situated on the east side of town not far from St Ann's Roundabout is the new YMCA development called MySpace. This flagship centre for White Rose YMCA together with local partners cost £3.4million and is part of the organisation's nationwide initiative to interest and include young people in the community.
The new centre has been designed by Rotherham MBC's Environmental and Development Services' in-house architects and wasbuilt by Wildgoose Construction. Sorry boys and girls but it is frankly a very ugly building and that's just the outside because I haven't been in. It was built on a car park described in the blurb as being "disused" but which was only disused because it was closed to traffic in the hope of lucrative sale or development. MySpace overshadows the flats behind it and if I lived there I would be a very unhappy bunny.
It opened in December 2011 and the "Youth Hub" includes a wide range of integrated services and opportunities for young people aged 11 to 19, such as a graffiti art room, IT suite, cinema, performance hall and caf&eacutte;. It will also act as a base for agencies to provide a wide range of support and advice directly to young people on issues which affect them. The project focuses on social enterprise activity and recreational activities. An alternative curriculum ise offered to young people who have been excluded from mainstream schools. Connexions and Rotherham Children, Young People and Families Voluntary Sector Consortium will also provide support issues such as homelessness, sexual health and drug rehabilitation.
More at www.myplacesupport.co.uk/Yorkshire-and-the-Humber/rotherham-myplace.html.