Catchy music blasting from the speakers, children and their family members dancing along and seeing smiling faces all over the room – this scene is nothing unusual for the Auckland Youth and Community Centre, a place that has quietly become one of the most important in Bishop Auckland, writes volunteer community journalist, Carla Krenzke.
The centre has been there for the residents of Woodhouse Close since 1964.
With the goal of building a safer, stronger and more cohesive community, they offer various activities for their visitors: weekly parents and toddler groups, table tennis, guitar lessons or a man cave are just some of their initiatives to bring the people together and build confidence and friendships.
But it’s not only the AYCC itself that moves the people of the town into the building.
The day we visited, a family disco was on the agenda, which had been organised by the WVCAG, the Wear Valley Community Action Group.
The independent and volunteer-led group has been running for nearly a decade and for the past three years has made the Auckland Youth and Community Centre the base for its events.
“Auckland Youth & Community Centre recognise the benefit of what we provide,” says Lesley Mellis, secretary of the Wear Valley Community Action Group, “and they continue to support us in various different ways.
“And they don’t charge us venue hire, as we are encouraging people to come along and use the centre.”
As soon as we arrived on that day, the building started to fill up with families and children.
The event costs them £1.50, which included the disco and some sweets for the children.
For the group, keeping every event this affordable is a point of principle — but it comes at a cost.
Money is never far from the conversation at the WVCAG. The group depends heavily on outside funding – for example, from the town council, Tesco or the believe housing group – and without it, much of what they offer would simply not exist.
From winter wonderlands to Halloween parties, the WVCAG has built a calendar of events that gives the community something to look forward to all year round.
Coach trips to the coast were once part of that too — until rising costs made them impossible to sustain. But the memory of those trips has not faded.
Lesley told us about a beach trip that reflects the effect of their work perfectly; as the children exited the bus, some were too stunned to speak because they had never seen the sea or the sand, even though they lived close by.
“It’s the kids’ faces, and it’s seeing people like that that makes you want to do what you do.”
Thankfully, the AYCC is able to host those kinds of activities and trips to create special memories for everyone participating.
Not everyone comes just to dance. At larger events, where up to 450 people attend, the Wear Valley Community Action Group cooperates with organisations that offer advice and support in various fields, such as housing, debt, cancer or quitting smoking. For many, an afternoon out is also the nudge they needed to finally ask for help.
Bethany Armstrong also attended the event with the Wellbeing for Life team.
As a community connector, she has been working in this field for almost five years now and told us about the importance and the demand for events like this: “Finding that space for people to come together and celebrate in one space… there is a lot of community engagement in this area, but it’s still important to let them know what’s on their doorstep to reduce social isolation.”
Behind every trip, every disco, every plate of food served, there are people who give their time for nothing — people like Paul Tisdall.
He is the volunteer chef and provides all the guests with delicious food. “I just keep coming after two and a half years, and I enjoy being with and helping just good people.”
At the AYCC, nobody is turned away and nobody is singled out.
That is something Trisha and Gillian Sanderson know well. The two of them had been coming to the centre when they were children, and now they attend with their own grandchildren.
One of the young grandchildren enjoying the centre was Ethan. “Him with his disabilities, he is involved with everybody,” explained the pair. “And he is not singled out. He is just one of the kids; he is just Ethan. That’s what we love about it here; nobody is above anyone else.”
With a team of staff, trustees and volunteers, the AYCC and WVCAG can offer the people of Bishop Auckland get-togethers that are unlike anything else in the area.
“It helps them, and it helps us,” says Lesley.
All these people — the dancing families, the volunteer chef, the grandchildren who bring their own grandchildren, the boy who is just Ethan — tell the story of what the Auckland Youth and Community Centre means to Bishop Auckland.
It is a place that costs next to nothing to walk into yet gives back something that cannot easily be priced: belonging.
The chair of the Auckland Youth and Community Centre, Bill Niblo, distils their success into a single observation: “It’s the fact that people keep coming back.”
In a town where social isolation is never far away, that simple act of returning says everything.
Carla Krenzke
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
