Hello!
We wanted to provide an update on the future of our home in South Bridge Resource Centre and give a bit more detail of some of the changes that are ahead for CY over the coming months.
You may be aware that earlier in the year City of Edinburgh Council announced that the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society (EFFS) will be taking over a long-term lease of South Bridge Resource Centre. Their ambition is to create “Fringe Central”, a space which will house the operations of the Fringe Society as well as meeting space for artists, community groups and a space to be used throughout the year.
For a number of months, CY has been in discussions with the team at EFFS and the City of Edinburgh Council to look at ways that we could work together and remain in the building alongside EFFS. These discussions have been really positive, and we are delighted that we will be able to remain in our home and welcome the opportunity to work alongside EFFS as partners.
So what’s next?
EFFS will take over the lease of the building around August/September time and then there will be period of refurbishment for around 12-15 months. The plan is to make significant changes to the entire building to make it fit for purpose and give it some much needed love and attention. During the refurbishment, CY will move to temporary premises and then following the refurb we will move back into the building using different space than we do now, but with the same welcoming and nurturing approach that CY is known for.
We have been working away behind the scenes to set up plans for a temporary home to minimise disruption and to ensure services can continue for children and young people. We are pleased to confirm that we will be using the following spaces whilst we are decanted out the building-
The Braidwood Centre (Dumbiedykes Road)-this will be our main office base as well as where we will run our youth and children’s clubs from.
6VT (11-15 The Vennel) – our youth work friends over at 6VT have very kindly offered us space to use for the delivery of our group work programmes
Tone Garden (Summer Hall)- we will be taking our Creative Hub sessions over to Tone Garden which is ideal for young people to continue to make music and be creative
Specific dates are still to be confirmed; however our plan is to be using the temporary spaces for the new term around the start of September.
To say ‘C Ya’ to South Bridge (for just now) we will be hosting a live gig with music from Creative Hub young people on Friday August 9th 2-3pm and we’d love you to join us. We see this as a great opportunity for the future of CY and there is lots of potential for the development of new projects and ideas working together with EFFS.
We will keep you posted with further developments as we have them, and staff will be in touch over the summer with detailed information relating to specific services. However, in the meantime if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Keep an eye on our social media platforms and website for our next update