A MASSIVE Government handout will see almost £5m lavished on a new youth centre in Partington.

Broadoak School will be home for the scheme, already christened Trafford Youth Village.

The facility will provide first class provision for information, advice and guidance for young adults, as well as facilities for theatre, cinema, dance, film and music making, art, sport and exhibition and conference facilities.

The council’s youth services division will also co-locate at the new complex, which should be up and running by 2011, Broadoak headteacher Andy Griffin told SAM.

“Obviously we’re over the moon,” he said.

“It’s a massive thing for Partington as this will help kick-start regeneration of the town. I think it will also help bring people to Partington rather than leaving.

“It’s quite a depressed area and people have been leaving over the past 10 years and the population has shrunk.”

Andy spent much of last summer writing out the bid, which was submitted to Trafford’s Youth Parliament in the autumn.

The panel picked three bids from a total of eight submitted from other Trafford groups, which the council then submitted for final approval by the Government’s BigLife scheme.

Broadoak’s was one of the lucky few nationally, and scooped the single biggest handout in the scheme.

A working group of 30 children from across Trafford are set to meet designers later this month as work begins on draft plans for the building.

Jennifer O’Neil, a Year 11 pupil at Broadoak who took part in a consultation exercise, said: “When we were asked for ideas in assembly and did a survey we thought Mr Griffin was dreaming the impossible. Now that it has finally happened we’re really excited about everything that is going to be available to us.

“It will bring us fantastic opportunities that will be available to us and all of Trafford to use such as the dance studio, theatre and cinema.