Joy as sessions to resume at The Way Youth Centre in Wolverhampton after suspension

"We know that there's lots of temptation out there for kids to go down the wrong track but I think by having them here – this is their home from home, they know the staff and we all know the kids, and this is a good place to come – they can make positive choices."

Those are the words of The Way Youth Zone's new chief executive Jackie Redding who was all smiles ahead of open access sessions returning for youngsters which were halted over Easter.

Bosses at the popular youth facility – visited by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last year – made the decision in April to suspend evening and weekend sessions amid Covid-19 and staffing concerns.

Some sessions started up at the Wolverhampton site – run alongside partners at the YMCA and Wolves Foundation – a month later as a major recruitment drive got under way to tackle the issue.

And now the School Street location is set to offer its evening and weekend facilities once again from next week following a restructure, with events being held this week to celebrate the relaunch – much to the delight of the youngsters.

Ms Redding, speaking at a Willy Wonka-themed celebration event for youngsters on Tuesday, said: "It's great [to have the sessions back].

"We're just so excited and we were very keen to get open, but we knew we had to wait and get everything in place – so we've waited inpatiently, but we're delighted now we're open.

"It's been so lovely [to see the smiling faces]. We have had activities on during the time, the Wolves Foundation and YMCA have been here, so we've been able to have small numbers of young people coming in and doing some activities but this is the first time we've been able to have bigger numbers in."

The return of The Way Youth Zone will be seen by some as a major boost for the city, which has been rocked by increasing spates of youth violence – with two boys, aged 15 and 16, being killed in two separate incidents.

Ms Redding said: "It's vitally important [youngsters have a place to go] and what's really good about The Way is that we take children from eight years old, so early intervention, prevention, [and we] encourage them to do positive things and make positive friendships. And we hope that will stay with them," the 60-year-old said.

"We know that there's lots of temptation out there for kids to go down the wrong track but I think by having them here – this is their home from home, they know the staff, we all know the kids, and this is a good place to come and they can make positive choices.

"They do things here that they wouldn't have the chance to do anywhere else. And it's just giving them something else to do, rather than hanging about on the streets getting into trouble."

Ms Redding, from New Oscott in Birmingham, took on the role of chief executive in May. She has worked in the charitable sector for almost 25 years, with her last role being the assistant director of operations at sexual health and wellbeing charity Brook.

She is also a magistrate working on the youth bench, meaning she has experience of being involved with young people in difficulty which is why she "wanted to come here and do the prevention and ideally try and stop them from getting into difficulty."

The new boss took up her role just a few weeks after services were suspended for staffing and Covid-19 concerns, with the service getting to a point where there were not enough trained staff to ensure everything could be opened safely.

"What we didn't want is for the kids to come in and it's 'Oh I'm sorry, football is not on tonight, climbing is not on tonight' – we wanted everything to be open, so we made the really difficult decision to pause delivery for a little while, have just targeted sessions during the time and then just work towards getting everything open," added Ms Redding as she set out her vision for the future of the service.

"We've recruited lots of new staff, we've got a complete new senior leadership team, so we're moving forward positively now. We'll work up to opening Mondays and Sundays because our aim is to get back to seven days a week and full provision.

"So we think that will definitely be sort of Christmas latest, so from the autumn what we're going to do is add another night. We've got a Saturday day session, so we'll add a Saturday night and then a Sunday day and Sunday night.

"And obviously we'll do it gradually because we've still got new staff to recruit and it's all dependant on that, but we just want to do it a bit at a time."

Youth work manager Rebecca Bunger dressed up as Willy Wonka for the celebratory event – complete with the purple coat and top hat – much to delight of youngsters aged between eight and 12 attending the themed event on Tuesday.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to bits. It's really exciting to see the children back here," the acting-chocolatier said.t

"We have a wonderful team here, too, and they make it nice and easy for the children to enjoy themselves."

Meanwhile 10-year-old Peter Zangov was among a whole host of children to return for the event and was outside on the football pitch – instantly being singled out by his teammates as the best at doing keepie uppies. He said he had attended the venue for a number of years and was excited to be back.

Liam Gordon, a volunteer who was overseeing the youngsters outside on the football pitch, said: "It's great to see them with the opportunity to have the smiles on their faces again and make new friends."

Nine-year-old Bailey Taggart won plaudits from his fellow youngsters after he took on a climbing wall challenge, which saw him tasked with not dropping an "egg" – a football – as he climbed up the wall.

Anna Reece, who was overseeing Bailey's challenge and is from Eastfield in Wolverhampton, said: "It means everything [to be back]. I'm literally able to do my job again and that's the reason why you get a job like this, it's to help the kids.

"It's super rewarding, especially with children, because you can see the difference in their confidence levels. Quite often kids come in and they are scared of heights and in a few goes, you literally see the young people change before your eyes.

"I had a girl who didn't want to have a go, I challenged her to get her foot on the green line [near the bottom of the climbing wall] and then something just clicked for her. And about an hour after that she got to the top of the wall."

Other youngsters, including nine-year-old Julia Olowniuk, 12-year-old Owen Davis and 11-year-old Oliver Homer, each said they were "very excited" to return.

Oliver said he enjoyed the boxing area along with the foosball and pool tables, before the youngsters flocked to see Wolves mascot Wolfie.

Another special event – this one boasting a prom theme – to celebrate the relaunch will take place on Friday, between 4.30pm to 9pm, for people aged between 13 and 19, or up to 25 for those with additional needs.

The Way, which opened to great fanfare in January 2016 at a time when the vast majority of youth services had closed down in the city, is run by Onside with financial backing from Wolverhampton Council.

It was part-funded by former Wolves owner Steve Morgan, one of a number of famous champions who include local Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant.

Sessions will fully restart for youngsters aged between eight and 12 every Tuesday and Thursday between 4pm and 8pm next week. And sessions for seniors – aged between 13 to 19, or up to 25 for those with additional needs – will be every Wednesday and Friday, from 4.30pm to 9pm, and Saturday from 10am to 2pm.

Membership costs £5 per year, and sessions – which normally cost 50p – have been waived for members up until September 5. For more information, visit thewayyouthzone.org