Published: Tuesday, 30th November 2021
Published on behalf of Vision King's Lynn.
Young people would like to see more sports and leisure facilities and a designated space of their own in King’s Lynn according to the findings of a survey carried out by the Town Deal Board.
The study, which saw 167 16-25 year olds give their views, highlighted trampolining, adult soft play, and indoor go karting as facilities respondents would be keen to see in the town.
And, a theme emerging throughout the feedback was that young people would like a designated space to call their own, where they can meet up with friends, study and have fun.
The consultation also revealed that just under two thirds of respondents feel that they can fulfil their career aspirations in King’s Lynn - meaning that just over a third (37 per cent) think they can’t. Consequently, young people would like more work experiences, more job opportunities for graduates, and more creative industry/arts opportunities in the town.
Only 60 per cent of respondents said that are planning to stay in the town in the next five years, further underlining the need to provide greater opportunities for young people.
Graham Purkins, Chair of the Town Deal Board said: “We are so grateful to everyone who took part in this consultation. We are committed to providing a range of ways for people to help to shape the Town Deal projects, now and into the future.
“We have an opportunity to create more facilities that meet the needs of young people in the town, and other projects, such as the Youth and Retraining Pledge, which will allow us to provide more training and support for young people.
“We want young people to see their future in King’s Lynn, we want them to be able to access the opportunities to which they aspire, and we want young people to feel able to stay here to build their careers. Through the long-term vision we’ve set out for the town, we want to achieve this.
Following the survey, a workshop will be hosted for interested survey respondents by Harry Seaton, MD of Fluential. Harry is involved with the Town Deal work in the town including the young people consultation and he welcomed the findings. Harry said: “I’m delighted to see how many people got involved and told us what they’d like to have here in King’s Lynn, especially considering I share a lot of the same ideas.
“It’s so encouraging to see that I’m not the only under 25 with a desire to make the town as good as it can be. I’m hoping a few of those that responded will be keen to get involved further so that we can really start to make a difference”.
At the same time as the young people consultation, a survey was also taking place amongst businesses and potential traders to gauge interest in a pop-up retail offer in the town.
The survey, which saw 104 responses, found an appetite for accessing monthly pop-up spaces in the town centre that could help businesses to grow.
The consultation discovered that lack of space was deemed a barrier to business growth, and traders would be interested in flexibility around pop-up spaces.
The findings from businesses came after previous consultation with the public highlighted a desire for pop-ups in the town.
Discover King’s Lynn, together with the Town Deal Board, led the consultation and BID Manager Vicky Etheridge commented: “The insight from this survey will help us to develop our pop-ups offer in the town centre.
“We know that pop-ups can provide a really useful tool for businesses who wish to start out, grow, or test a new product and this consultation has confirmed that having affordable space for pop-ups in King’s Lynn could be of value for traders.
“Thank you to everyone who took part in the survey and whose feedback will now allow us to focus what we offer in the town centre.”
Graham Purkins added: “Consultation and engagement, giving space for people to share their views, and listening to that feedback, is core to the development and delivery of our projects and plans.
“We will continue to offer further opportunities for people to have their say in the coming months as we establish our business cases for the projects which will be the focus of the Town Deal investment in King’s Lynn.”
Anyone aged 16-25 wishing to sign up to the young people workshop can do so by contacting Vision King's Lynn