Lyneham's New Youth Shelter Opens
18th June 2005
Star Wars 'Darth Vader' officially opened a state of the art youth shelter for Lyneham's youngsters. An echoing plea from the youth and a typical kinder-cliche "we've got nowhere to go" has been answered by a community project team in Lyneham. After months of painstaking planning and fundraising the Lyneham Youth Shelter Project has been completed.

During the summer of 2004, Lisa Mitchell, RAF Lyneham's Community Development Worker (CDW), became aware that the young people who live in Lyneham were limited in where to go and what to do in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays.

To remedy this, volunteers who would be willing to help do something about this situation were sought and the Youth Entertainment & Leisure in Lyneham (YELL) group and committee were formed. The group consists of local military and civilian community members and aims to improve the quality of life for all young people living in Lyneham, from 'tots to teens', by developing youth facilities and recreational and leisure opportunities.

The establishment of a youth shelter in the village was something that the young people themselves had expressed a need for, and so became part of YELL's initial focus. A youth shelter is basically an outdoor structure designed to meet the social needs of young people - it's a sheltered place to sit and talk. It has a roof for protection from the weather, but most are open on all sides, enabling all round visibility, 'natural policing', and safety for the users.

With support from the Community Development Worker, YELL managed to secure grant funding of £6629 from North Wiltshire District Council, £2000 from Lyneham & Bradenstoke Parish Council and £1000 from the HIVE Information Centre to pay for a giant 'Spider' youth shelter to be erected at the back of the Slessor Road playing field.

Additionally, the RAF paid for a concrete path to lead from Portal Place to the shelter site plus the lighting for this path, and Monster Play Systems, the company who are providing the youth shelter, agreed to fund the £1586 required to concrete the flooring area inside the shelter. The 'Spider' shelter is one of the newest and biggest designs currently available. It comes complete with bike racks, seats around 15 young people, measures 2.5m high x 5m wide x 4m deep and is shown above.

Youths congregating together on street corners, especially outside the local chippy, can appear very threatening, even if they are not making trouble. In providing "a place to hang out" you can divert young people away from anti-social behaviour and crime. A dedicated facility such as this youth shelter provides an unsupervised gathering point which is easy to police. The installation of a youth facility can promote youth inclusion, creating a better relationship between youths and authorities. There is also an elevation in self-esteem as youths become confident in the knowledge that their contribution is valued by society. As a result, they take "ownership" of the equipment, therefore reducing any tendencies to vandalism.

The Grand Opening day was a remarkable day for the local community, with temperatures peaking in the high 20's, the only person wishing the thermometer was quite a few galactic degrees lower, was the official guest Star Wars Darth Vader. His transit to the wonders of celestial Lyneham, robbed in warming black cape and helmet, he must have wondered if he was visiting the closer orbit of the Sun.

Greeted by hundreds of local children, all eagerly waiting to speak to the Dark Lord of The Sith, he officially slashed the ribbon with his awesome saber opening this excellent new facility. The Grand Opening event on the Slessor Road Playing Fields, had many sideshow attractions to entertain everyone. BBQ, Lyneham Radio, Army Climbing Wall, Raffles, Helter Skelter, Shooting Gallery, Ice Cream stall, Giant Slides, GWR Black Thunders, Temporary Tattoos were among the numerous attractions on offer.

The Chairman of Lyneham & Bradenstoke Parish Council, Mr Malcolm Petch, spoke about the enthusiasm of the community team, playing an active role in bringing new amenities for the younger generation of Lyneham. "It's absolutely fantastic and a great play area for the youth"

What's Next?
The establishment of a youth shelter in Lyneham for local teenagers has been Yell's first big achievement, but it won't be the last! They are currently exploring the development possibilties of some of their other project ideas including, for example, the provision of a skateramp facility and improvements to children's play areas and equipment.

If you would like to know more about the youth shelter, YELL, or how you can get involved with this group and it's new projects, please contact:

Lisa Mitchell
Community Development Worker
Royal Air Force Lyneham
Teal House
20 Teal Avenue
Lyneham
Chippenham
SN15 4QA
Tel: +44(0)1249 892947
Fax/Admin Assistant: 01249 897641
Email: CDW-RAFLyneham@btconnect.com

Did you know! The Darth Vader actor in Star Wars Dave Prowse M.B.E was born in Bristol and was also once known as Anakin Skywalker.