Swannery Summer Celebration

We had a fantastic time at our Swannery Summer Celebration last week, and huge thanks to everyone who came along and helped put the event together.

The Swannery Youth Club has been open since October 2024, but we wanted to host an event to thank everyone who contributed to its development, and one that allowed our many partners and funders to see what the space is like in full swing. What better time than the start of the summer holidays?

Wellspring Settlement CEO Beth reflected on the journey the youth space has been on, from first being dreamed up in 2019, to the closure of the former Swan pub and offer by its owners to sell to Wellspring Settlement. The community fed back to us that a youth space was desperately need in the area, and with the support of our funders Power to Change and City Funds, as well as others who supported the organisation during that period, we were able to buy the building.  It was in quite a state when we got hold of it and we focused at first on making it safe and watertight until funds could be raised for the project.

In 2023 we managed to secure funding from the Youth Investment Fund, Community Infrastructure Levy and the National Lottery Community Fund to pay for the work to transform the building from a pub into a community space.

During this time several young people worked with our youth team to select Barefoot as the architect, Dukes as the builders, and start to plan what the space would look like and how it would be used. All throughout the building work we had young people visiting the site in their hard hats, meeting the contractors and keeping things on track. Toward the end of the building work they were picking colours, furniture, planning activities, and even helping put the furniture together!

Beth said: “This project has absolutely been driven by those young people. There are lots of other people who’ve helped us get to where we are today, the funders, our team, the youth workers from our partner organisations like Learning Partnership West and Bristol Somali Resource Centre and various people who are here like the architect and other contractors. But the young people who helped, we’re so incredibly proud and happy that they were able to guide this project, and say this is what it needs to be like for us to want to come here, and that’s so special.

So today is about having the opportunity to say thank you, and acknowledge the really hard work they’ve done. And I think where we are today with this service, four days a week activities for young people, lots of things happening, cooking, trips, work experience, all the things that young people want to do, that’s all been enabled by young people involved in this project.”

Luis, our Youth Coordinator added: “We usually get around 100 kids each week at our open access sessions, but we also do one to one work with young people. They’re able to talk to us and trust us, and we work closely with the schools and can go in to the schools to support the young people and get them on the right path. Without the young people, we’d be nowhere though, it’s all led by them, they’re the ones in charge!”

Beth, Luis and some of the young people who have been involved in the start then unveiled a plaque reading ‘This plaque celebrates the contributions of the young people of Barton Hill who helped Wellspring Settlement with the design planning and opening of The Swannery Youth Club in 2024. A place for all young people.’

It was then time to see what the youth sessions are really all about: fun and chaos! There was a craft activity, tug of war, egg and spoon races, skipping, singing, sack races, and a very popular barbecue, all in between the rain showers. One partner commented that it was the happiest he’d seen young people in all his visits to youth centres around the country!

Find out more about the Youth Sessions in The Swannery here.