A community in Bristol has celebrated the reopening of its youth and community centre after a recent refurbishment. The Dings, a small community of residents close to Temple Meads station and St Philips, now need to fundraise to ensure the survival of their regular youth group.
The works themselves involved the fitting of a brand new kitchen in the Safe Ouse- a small container which is the only place for the community to gather. The community celebrated the reopening of the building during a fun day on Saturday (October 5), which included a football tournament lead by Wellspring Settlement’s Youth Work Coordinator, Luis Dias, who has been running regular youth sessions in The Dings.
As well as cooking sessions for local children and young people, the Safe Ouse on Oxford Street has its own library and use for community meetings. The Dings Community Association has managed the space for over 20 years but previously had no working sink or funds to replace their former cooker, but they now have brand new furniture and a ping pong table.
With the brand new kitchen in place the Dings Community Association hopes to generate a rental income which it can use to maintain and build on the current after school activities local volunteers run for the young people in the community. Local volunteers have been active in communicating with developers over the potential impact the Bristol Temple Quarter (BTQ) development will have on existing residents in The Dings.
Speaking about the Safe Ouse makeover, Dings Association Chair, Nola Hersey, said: “The Dings Community are beyond delighted with their newly refurbished community space and extend a very genuine and heartfelt thanks to all of the companies and individuals that helped make it happen. It is a real joy to see people’s reactions when they see the bright and colourful space for the first time.
“It was also great to work closely with those involved in the makeover and we hope they now feel a part of our lovely inner city neighbourhood. The space has already been used by community groups looking for a safe space to meet, by residents hosting special family occasions and as a venue for a team building day.
“We will be officially launching the space as a place for people to rent later this year which will provide us with much needed funds to keep the building open and operating for the community. The new kitchen, kindly donated by Wren, will provide many opportunities for us to run local events involving food and the community and we are really excited by all of the possibilities that are now open to us.”
The Dings community has benefited from direct investment from BTQ with the refurbishment funded by the urban design team behind the development, Prior and Partners, with the support of local business donations and workers from BTQ painting the container. The funding comes as part of the development’s social value commitments which is a requirement as part of their contract with Bristol City Council.