New YMCA campus will provide 199 beds for homeless young people in Milton Keynes
A new YMCA campus is due to open its doors in Milton Keynes providing refuge for 199 formerly homeless young people.
The eight storey campus, which also has a café, nursery, and meeting rooms, has been under construction for six years and will be ready in a few weeks.
It has been mainly financed through a land swap deal between the charity, the council and MKDP.
This involved demolishing the old YMCA building a new high rise YMCA on half the city centre site in North Seventh Street.
The other half will be used for an eight-storey high block of 250 private apartments.
MK Council contributed almost half a million pounds towards the project, which they say will making a lasting difference for young people in MK.
Councillor leader Pete Marland visited the impressive facility to see its development.
He said: “It’s great to see that the YMCA is almost ready to open its doors and that our funding has been put to good use. A world-class facility like this will help prevent people falling back onto the streets and will change young people’s lives for the better, helping them fulfil their true potential.
“Thanks to the YMCA team for all the hard work that’s gone into this project and I look forward to continuing to work with them to tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping in MK.”
Chief Executive of MK YMCA, Simon Green said: “Something that most people don’t realise is that each YMCA is an independent local charity. For us to build a project of this size is a huge achievement and the ambition of it is in keeping with Milton Keynes as a place. As a result of financial austerity It has been tough times for both Milton Keynes Council and Milton Keynes YMCA but with the help of the council and others we have been able to create an amazing campus to provide high quality homes for young people in MK.
“We look forward to working in partnership with the Council to improve young people’s housing options into the future.”
Meanwhile MK Council has agreed to allocate a further £4m to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in its 2020/21 budget. The funding will help the council run existing support services and expand how it supports rough sleepers to move from temporary into permanent accommodation.
These services have already resulted in more than 130 people being helped off the streets for good.