We have officially opened our new venue in Lowestoft on Wednesday 12th June after months of renovation work. We have taken over Colville House on School Road from the Colville House Trust.
Inspire is a charity operating across Suffolk helping young people to build confidence, learn new skills and progress onto a positive future through various initiatives. The charity who have delivered their Prince’s Trust Team programme in Lowestoft for over 8 years, many of this from Colville House itself, has plans to expand its services in the Waveney area with this community site as their base.
The launch event, held on Wednesday 12th June, was attended by local individuals and businesses to visit the site and hear about the opportunities on offer by the local charity. The building was officially opened by the Mayor of Lowestoft, Cllr Alice Taylor and the rooms in the building were named after each of the Colville House trustees; Brian Hunter, Alan Denton, John Grant, Deanna Law, and Karen Booth.
As well as their Prince’s Trust Team programme, the charity will also deliver industry related Step Up employment courses for young people, free ‘Turn Up & Play’ sports sessions for children and has plans to open a Drop-In Centre offering employment support to young people.
Another of the key services provided by the Colville House Trust was the Colville House Youth Club, which has been running since the 1950s and Inspire has taken this into its portfolio of services running on Monday and Wednesday evenings for local young people.
Terry Baxter, CEO of Inspire, says: “For some time, we have delivered our programme at Colville House and during our time at the venue it had become clear that we were a charity that could help take on the legacy of the Colville House Trust and its trustees, ensuring the continued provision of a community hub for the local area and beyond. Our team and local supporters have been working hard to renovate the site over the past few months and we are really excited about the opportunities ahead for the local community.”
Brian Hunter, Chair of the Colville House Trust, says: “It is a very real pleasure to have been able to work with Inspire in a process which will not only allow present users of Colville House to continue, but also will bring about an enhancing and a sustainability position for the future. May I together with the Directors and former Support Group members of our Management Company wish Inspire every success for the future, and at the same time sincerely thank everyone involved in their support for Colville House which will provide an exciting future for our local community.”
To find out more about Colville House and the opportunities on offer, please contact Inspire on 01502 449830 or visit www.inspiresuffolk.org.uk
