HOW IT IS:

Growing up in Loughborough as a young adult (14-20) is not that easy because there are two main different street cultures. The skating culture which skate and hang around.These people need facilities that are of a highquality and are maintained reguarly. The other people you may see in Loughborough (Townies) wear sports clothes and hang about not doing much. Neither of them are better but still you get fights between them and trouble between them because the people who hang about in sports clothes are probably bored so they have to pick fights on the “skaters” because they are different.The ‘skaters’ might start the trouble up again as a sort of revenge for getting beaten up in the first place, the circle goes on and on and on so the two groups of people have to be seperated. The only way you can get on with both groups of people is if you are in the middle but still there are some people that won’t like you because you wear a certain trainer or top. The different groups are endless there are so many things that you need to know so you don’t get beaten up , keep away from certain people and try to allways be near people you can trust if you do get into trouble. It is sad that different people can’t get on! SOLUTIONS: The solution is simple : For the ‘townies’ a good youth centre which has facilities for creating music and workshops and computer games - this will get them out of a lot of the trouble they get into in the town centre.Next Level run by Charnwood Arts this summer was a brilliant idea. For the ‘skaters’ it would be good if enough money was raised so they could have good equipment for their hobby, like a skatepark which is monitored by people that want to help in the comunity. The skatepark should have some kind of cover so the skatepark could be used in all weathers. Quite a few people moan about trouble in the town centre and the whole of Loughborough but nothing much has hapened to meet the demands of young adults in the town. As a young person I don’t know of any youth centre that is open on Saturdays and Sundays so young adults can go and hang out with their mates and construct things instead of ‘destruct’ things. There are the little pieces of aperatus in Southfield Park intended for skating but it is not very amazing and quite a few things could be improved! Involve young adults with the construction of a youth centre and skatepark.Young people know what they want to see in these things.Most things to do in Loughborough cost too much money so can’t be done that reguarly. If you come from a low income family, forget it! If you want music lessons at school for example - they are so exspensive for young adults that a lot of people can’t afford them. I am supoposed to have a music lesson at school but it costs £8.95 for twenty minutes. It would be good if we had a system like the summer leisure pass but instead of having it only for the summer it would be good if young adults could benefit from the cheap price all year round. All these different ideas would cost money but isn’t it worth while if young adults have something to do at the weekends and holidays instead of hanging around and causing trouble. Next Level which was a place to hang out at everyday of the summer hols was a great place to hang out at, there were plenty of people to make sure you were alright and that is the first time I haven’t been wary of who I was in the company of. All my friends also enjoyed it, playing computer games and having fun. It would be great if there was something like that everyday. The skate event that happened during the summer holidays which was also held by Charnwood Arts and the borough council was also really good, there were about 100 young people and loads of pieces of aperatus it would really good to see something like that in Loughborough, that is more permenant. by Bob Hoskins aged 14 (not the Bob Hoskins)