Wolverhampton's The Way suspends activities for young people one year after royal visit
The Way Youth Zone is suspending some activities for young people as part of plans for a major relaunch of the service - just one year after the site's royal visit and as the Easter holidays begin.
From Tuesday until further notice there will be no evening and weekend sessions at the popular youth centre on School Street in Wolverhampton city centre, with the news announced at the start of the school Easter break.
Bosses say they will relaunch an improved service "as soon as possible" and have pledged to consult young people to put together an "exciting new programme".
Council chiefs say they are in the process of commissioning other local providers to deliver activity sessions for youngsters over the coming weeks.
The Way Youth Zone chair, Barry Fletcher, said: “We want to make sure The Way Youth Zone continues to grow and evolve to meet the needs of our amazing young people, their families and the wider community.
"That’s why we are going to take some time working behind the scenes on plans to relaunch The Way with an exciting new programme.
“While we develop these plans, we will be changing how our sessions are delivered to young people from The Way.
"This means that our regular evenings and weekend sessions won’t operate as normal, starting from today."
Mr Fletcher added that the one-to-one mentoring programme will continue as normal, while plans are in place for a programme of drop in sessions to support young people.
The Way opened to great fanfare in January 2016 at a time when the vast majority of youth services in Wolverhampton had closed down due to funding cuts.
It is run by Onside with financial backing from Wolverhampton Council and was part-funded by former Wolves owner Steve Morgan, one of a number of famous champions which also include local Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant.
The Duke and Duchess visited last May and joined a group of young people from The Way, Moreton School and Long Knowle Primary School during a wellbeing session with pupils, and met a group of HeadStart ambassadors.
Mark Taylor, the council's deputy chief executive, said: "Giving our children and young people the best possible start in life by giving them opportunities that are accessible to all is a top priority for the council, and The Way Youth Zone has an integral role to play in delivering this.
"The council has invested over £4 million in The Way and, as a key city funder, we are keen to see it continue to grow and thrive.
"We are working closely with the team at The Way and Onside to help with the relaunch plans, and will ensure that enhanced provision is available to the city's children and young people at the earliest opportunity."
