Wolverhampton's The Way Youth Zone attracts 1,500 in two weeks
Bosses at Wolverhampton's £6 million new Youth Zone are celebrating after 1,500 members have already signed up – half the yearly membership target.
In just over two weeks, hundreds of young people have become members at The Way which has so far delivered more than 280 activities.
Meanwhile, in the first week alone, volunteers gave more than 650 hours of their time.
Philippa Gregory, development manager at The Way, said: "We're delighted that The Way Youth Zone is being used by so many young people in Wolverhampton.
"We've only been open a couple of weeks and we've already reached half our membership target for the year.
"We're so proud to be giving young people somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to."
The centre, on School Street, opened its doors on January 16.
It has been spearheaded by Wolves owner Steve Morgan and backed by a number of high-profile people including One Direction's Liam Payne, former Wolves star Steve Bull and rock legend Robert Plant.
The centre offers a one-stop all inclusive activity hub for young people aged between eight and 19 and those up to 25 with a disability.
There are more than 20 activities every night for young people to take part in such as indoor rock climbing, football, gym sessions, art, boxing, employability sessions and lots more.
The state-of-the-art facility boasts a high spec music room, a 3G pitch, enterprise media suite, climbing wall, multi-use four court sports hall, cafe, dance studio, gym, cooking area, general recreation area and much more.
The centre has also recently launched a new netball programme for girls in Years 4 to 6. Leading the sessions is Youth Zone general manager, Alice Davey, one of the region's most highly-qualified netball coaches.
A number of organisations have thrown their weight behind the centre including Wolverhampton Homes which pledged to invest £75,000 over the next three years.
The body – which looks after more than 23,000 homes on behalf of Wolverhampton council – was named as a founder patron of the multi-million pound project.
Underpinning the funding from The Way's founder patrons is £5.5m of investment from The Morgan Foundation, The Queen's Trust, St James's Place Foundation, Sport England, Garfield Weston, Football Foundation and Keltruck.
Wolverhampton council is also investing more than £3m in The Way's development and running costs. Other supporters include City of Wolverhampton College, Marston's and Carvers.
