Young Hackney's Forest Road Centre wins top award
The Forest Road Young Hackney centre has been awarded for making a big difference to the community in Dalston.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has presented the centre with its award for Community Benefit and Project of the Year Award for the London region. The centre will now go through to the national final.
Forest Road opened in 2012, as part of the Council’s £5m investment in the borough’s youth centres, which saw five hubs across the borough built or refurbished. Forest Road is home to Hackney Youth Parliament as well as a huge range of targeted and universal services, including holiday activities and drop in sports sessions.
Before starting work on the Forest Road centre, Matthew Lloyd Architects consulted extensively with young people on the look of the centre, including cladding, colour schemes, fittings and graphics and, crucially, the choice of activities and special projects the centre offers.
The Award for Community Benefit recognises outstanding achievement in "providing a facility which directly benefits the local community", with its huge range of activities and excellent feedback from the young people who use the building.
We’re really proud of our Young Hackney centres, so it’s great to have Forest Road recognised in this way by such a prestigious organisation – both for its facilities and the impact it’s making in Dalston. Young Hackney centres provide vital services for some of our most vulnerable young people but equally important are the opportunities they offer for all of our young people, from somewhere to hone sporting or creative talents to somewhere to just spend some time with their friends.
Find out more about Young Hackney at www.younghackney.org