Kevin Kerrigan acted as the client for the ProjX activity focusing on regeneration of the site of the old Opera House in Workington. He worked with the young people remotely, briefing them and then receiving and discussing their presentations.

‘It was a very positive experience  and we were very impressed with the way the young people approached the task.  There had been more general engagement on the town centre regeneration in Workington but this was the first specifically involving young people.

‘There was huge variety of ideas that came forward but with a core of common themes.  We are potentially progressing a number of regeneration projects and there are no proposals funded for the Opera House site at present, so the work done by these young people is valuable input at this early stage.

‘For the next cohort it would be good for schools in Whitehaven and Keswick to focus on projects within their own towns to make it more local and relevant to them personally.

‘It is very important to get young people involved in developing the future of the areas where they live so that they feel invested in the future of the towns.

‘We are certainly happy to continue to support ProjX and other programmes run by the CforLP involving young people. The programmes that CforLP creates make it easier for us as a local authority to engage with young people because the schemes already exist and take care of considerations such as safeguarding and the format.’