The Stonebridge Adventure Playground team and suppporters
Ten years after Stonebridge Adventue Playground was closed by Brent Council, the Council has approved a £4m capital spend on youth facilities in the borough through another raid on the Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy Fund. It would have taken a tiny fraction of that amount to keep the much-loved playground going but hey-ho, that's the way it goes in Brent.
So it is with mixed feeling that I welcome the improvements to youth facilities that are planned. There are a number of caveats to the plans including complications around ownership of some of the facilities, a tight ceiling on expenditure that may mean projects have to do some of their own fundraising if they go over budget or seek partners (that failed with Stonebridge Boxing Club's King Edward VII's park plans) and a long delivery timeline.
Because of the above there is a larger than usual 20% contingency on the budget:
At the end of August 2025,
Brent had £156.9m SCIL with £80m committed and £72.9m allocated to pipeline
schemes.[total £152.9] Therefore, there is £4m SCIL available for this
programme and the Council’s Infrastructure Officer Working Group has approved
this as an appropriate use of the SCIL funding.
Because these organisations
are relatively small, they have limited capacity to undertake major capital
projects. Therefore, the intention is Brent project manages the works on their
behalf. This creates a risk that Brent is liable for overspends or changes in
project specifications. Agreements with these organisations need to be clear
that Brent’s maximum budgets are fixed and they will need to cover any
shortfalls or changes in project specifications.
Organisations can also apply
for alternative funding sources to supplement the Council’s contribution.
Should organisations successfully apply for additional capital funds officers
will seek to investigate these and any other funding streams to potentially
reduce the SCIL request for this programme. It is however recommended to
proceed with SCIL funding for the whole programme to ensure it proceeds in line
with the projected timescale.

A welcome innovation is the involvement of a Youth Panel in selecting the projects that will benefit:
Eleven potential projects
had feasibility studies undertaken, involving input and feedback from the youth
facility provider. Examples of the proposed enhancement works included
multi-use games areas, teaching kitchens, extension of existing facilities and
amenities, and reconfiguration of currently unusable areas for multi-purpose
youth provision.
A detailed scoring criteria
was developed by officers that included points such as the length of existing
lease on the building, location, current condition and anticipated higher
levels of participation from disadvantaged and hard to reach young people.
Organisations then presented
to a Youth Panel during a selection event. The Youth Panel was formed
consisting of young people from Brent Youth Parliament, Youth Justice Service,
Brent Care Journeys 2.0 and the voluntary and community sector, ranging from 14
to 20 years old. Members of the panel lived in different areas across the
borough. Ten organisations ultimately attended the Civic Centre to present
their projects to the Youth Panel at a Youth Facilities Capital
Investment Programme Selection Event.
These are the projects and costs for each plus some comments from the Youth Panel:
Cricklewood Boxing Club
Cricklewood Boxing Club,
The Boxing Gym (Dollis Hill Ward) £826k – The current facility, situated in a
four-story building located on the edge of a large residential district with
nearby schools and community services, has outgrown its capacity. As a result,
the club is currently forced to turn people away due to lack of space. This
expansion proposal seeks to ensure the club can continue to serve the local
community effectively. By upgrading essential facilities such as
the kitchen, to provide space for teaching healthyeating, increasing bathroom
and changing facilities to provide a more comfortable, hygienic, and accessible
environment for young people, improving the connectivity at first floor level
between the boxing ring and the gym space, and providing additional usable
space where garages are currently located.
Jason Roberts Foundation,
Gym and Sports Hall flooring (Stonebridge Ward) £1.06m– This project aims to upgrade the
foundation's facility in Stonebridge to better serve its diverse
and growing community of young people. By providing a safe, weather-proof and
accessible environment, the foundation will be better equipped to serve its
mission: creating inclusive spaces that foster healthy relationships, build
life skills, and support the personal growth of young people. The Youth Panel
were impressed by the organisation hosting additional activities to those
usually provided, with one young person stating, “it was unique” … “more than
just football, sports that I have never seen before in London – American
Football.” One of the female members of the group stated “girls-only football
was great” and it “felt like the project is safe”. The feedback included
positive comments about a “good sense of community”, with “good outreach and
good positive opportunities for growing children and young people”. While The
Pavilion venue where Jason Roberts Foundation
deliver many of their activities is adjacent to SCIL growth areas, it was
unanimously agreed by the Youth Panel that the organisation had a wide reach to
young people who reside in neighbouring growth areas and would therefore be
SCIL eligible. Jason Roberts Foundation were able to support this with their
own data which was provided on request.

The OK Club
The OK Club, Sports Hall
refurbishment (Kilburn Ward) £550k – The
proposed project will involve a full redesign and refurbishment of key areas
within the building to create more inclusive and sustainable spaces. There was,
positive feedback from the Youth Panel about the longevity and inclusivity of
the organisation and activities – “they own the building which is good” and “it
is open to all” and supports “a decent amount of kids.” This in turn means the club will be able to
better achieve its goals of meeting the growing needs of young people,
improving access and enhancing the safety and well-being of young people in the
area.
Roundwood School and
Community Centre with Sport at the Heart (Roundwood Ward) £390k - The building
is spread over three levels, offering a media suite, performance area, outdoor
multi-use games area, IT suite, dance studio, art room, café, and flexible
meeting spaces. While the existing facilities serve as an essential resource
for young people, this project will focus on maximizing the space and improving
its functionality to inspire creativity, promote physical activity, and support
the well-being of students and staff alike. Members of the Youth Panel wrote in
their comments that this project had a “clear vision” and “would have a big
impact.” They felt that this was in “an area that is needed, well known, and
the impact is already big, and this would increase it.” The organisation, venue
and project were described as “youth centred”, “very accessible” and “all ages,
safe area”. The young people understood
the aims clearly, appreciated the style ofpresentation, and identified that
“they [Beckmead and Sport at the Heart] want to help continue providing
activities and hobbies for all children and young people including [those with]
SEND.” They were also impressed by the “offer of a diverse range of activities
for all age groups, all needs and all different groups on the weekends, with
SEND specific activities.”
Young Brent Foundation,
The Anchor Youth Hub (Roundwood Ward) £500k – support the continuing
establishment of the new facility, whose tender was awarded in June 2024, with
capital investment. The facility will provide young people with access to a
wide range of recreational, educational, and wellness opportunities, fostering
a safe and supportive environment for personal growth and development. The
Youth Panel fed back that “the organisation is well known in the borough and
are aware of the context of the area.” There was positive regard towards the
organisation, with one young person stating that “They seemed genuine – they
showed that they know the situations with different areas and showed evidence
of someone with lived experience changing.” There was also an appreciation for
how they demonstrated that “they know how to keep young people from trouble.” The
project and venue were described as “accessible” and “seems like an organised project” with “good risk assessment”
and it was identified that “there are no gyms in the area so this project fills
that.”
The report suggests that the grants will help residents and you people to see the 'benefits' of development:
The application of Strategic
CIL can be used to demonstrate to communities the benefits that new development
can bring, through the provision of key infrastructure projects, place-making
and local improvements. This proposal aims to fund structural changes and improvements
to premises used by youth organisations to enable better access and an increase
in facilities and activities for young people in the London Borough of Brent.
Do remember that these are capital projects and that youth facilities face a cotinuing problem of securing funds to pay staff and running costs.