The manager of the Beverley Cherry Tree Community Centre has said she is still in shock after DIY SOS proposed to build a new home for the chartity’s youth club.
The Cherry Tree Centre has been searching for a building to base its youth club since the COVID-19 pandemic when the room it previously used was converted into a well-used community pantry.
Since then, the youth club has lived a nomadic life, using building for short period before eventually relocating to Mudhills Park on the Swinemoor Estate.
With no roof over their heads, this meant to the youngsters, sometimes numbering 100 and aged between 10 and 17, plus their support workers, are out in the elements 12 months a year.
The only indoor space the youth club currently has is a garage behind one of the houses on Burden Road and the Cherry Tree Centre has been appealing for funding and donations to find a new home on the Swinemoor Estate for almost a year.
BBC DID SOS presenter Nick Knowles has already paid a visit to Beverley.
Jo Ramsay said that had it not been for the recent good news, the future of the youth club was severely under threat after another difficult winter outside.
“It was a volunteer who applied or DIY SOS on our behalf,” said Jo, who helped to set up the youth club in 2016.
“She wanted to volunteer for the youth club and was horrified to learn that we didn’t have a building and were out on the streets.
“We only found out that the application was successful a few weeks ago, but background checks on everything we do, even our social media posts, has been taking place for six months.
“Filming for the programme has started and we’re expecting that to continue until the crew arrive in May.
“Nick Knowles has already been to see us, and he was really nice and understood the situation we are in.
“He said that 50 years ago, he would have been in the same situation as our children if the youth club had closed where he was brought up.
“Up until the pandemic, the youth club met in a room at the Cherry Tree Centre. However, during lockdown, we decided to turn that into what we thought would be a temporary community pantry.
“I’d said to my staff that running the youth club outside at the park was not sustainable and after this winter, we wouldn’t be doing it again.
“I couldn’t put everyone through it again. So, the news about DIY SOS has been a lifeline.”
DIY SOS’ Big Build in Beverley will take place from Wednesday 14th to Wednesday 21st May, with the big reveal taking place the following day.
The DIY SOS team has put out an appeal for tradespeople, volunteers and suppliers who can donate their skills and materials to give the Cherry Tree Centre a youth club it needs more than ever.
This article first appeared in the April 2025 edition of local newspaper Beverley Life.