Young people transform centre for adults with disabilities

The young people who have been working on the Gateway Easy Does It community project, painting rooms, corridors and adding brightly coloured murals to interior walls

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A group of unemployed young people from Rochdale have rolled up their sleeves to make a difference to their local community, by painting and decorating a day centre run by Rochdale Gateway Leisure.

The youngsters are currently completing The Prince’s Trust Team programme with Groundwork, to give them the skills and confidence to find a job. During the 13-week course, they have been fundraising, helping communities and building their skills to help them find work.

The 11 young people have been working on the Gateway Easy Does It (EDI) community project for two weeks, painting rooms, corridors and adding brightly coloured murals to interior walls.

Rochdale Gateway Leisure delivers a range of services including Easy Does It (EDI) based on Lincoln Street just off Oldham Road. EDI is a successful day service established in 1995 for adults who have profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Pauline Duffy from Rochdale Gateway Leisure’s EDI service, said: “The Team have all done a fantastic job in freshening our base and creating a pretty sunshine room for our service users. We are privileged and grateful to have been part of the teams journey and we wish all the young people well in everything they do in the future.”

The team members raised over £200 by completing a sponsored walk at Hollingworth Lake to allow them to complete the project. The project also benefitted from donated materials from Lancashire Wallpaper & Paint in Sudden.

Michelle Garside, 24 from Alkrington is one of the young people involved in the project.

She said: “The project was great. I got involved in glossing and painting and my favourite bit was doing the mural in the sunshine room. It felt good helping the centre and their service users.”

Nicholas Mockridge, Prince’s Trust Team Leader at Groundwork, said: “The team knew straight away that they wanted to help at this project and make a difference to the lives of the service users. The group worked tirelessly to complete the project, being considerate of the people at the centre and taking great care not to make any mess. I’m delighted with all their efforts.”

The Prince’s Trust will help 55,000 disadvantaged young people this year, giving them the confidence and skills to turn their lives around. Three in four young people on Prince’s Trust schemes move into work, education or training.