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You hear The Addy before you see it.
Music’s blasting, but it’s drowned out by the squeals and laughter of scores of children here for the youth centre’s open day.
Most came for its star attraction: A sprawling, imperious wooden adventure playground.
A structure an eight-year-old can only dream of, it’s equipped with a zip line, monkey bars, spider web netting, and rope bridges.
As children leap down, scale up, and swing along, parents enjoy picnics. Some teenagers are playing a spirited game of football. There’s a dance class going on in the middle of all this, too.
This joyous chaos is normal for Elaine Young and Elaine Vickers, bosses of 54-year-old charity Manchester Young Lives (MYL), which runs The Addy. They’ve seen generations of children come through its doors, which opened in 2003.
Sadly, the much-loved adventure playground is showing its age. Beams have been replaced, some sections are out of order, and there’s moss aplenty.
Although it’s still safe to use, still within its expected lifespan of 25 years, the 22-year-old structure’s time is nearly up. That’s why MYL is fundraising £650,000 for a new model.
While a state-of-the-art playground might seem like a nice-to-have, the two Elaines are confident it’s an essential tool to stopping Wythenshawe’s youngsters from a life dominated by knife crime, poverty, or low aspiration.
“Wythenshawe is one of the largest council housing estates in Europe,” explains chief exec Elaine Young.
Manchester Young Lives Community Group, unveil their new play space at their hub in Wythenshawe
“With all of the social issues in Wythenshawe, places like this are needed. A lot of young people in Wythenshawe have low aspirations compared to more affluent areas.
“We are here to make them aware it’s not the area you come from, it’s about ambition and taking opportunities available to you.”
MYL’s 38 staff and nearly 100 volunteers focus on instilling ‘skills to put you on other pathways in life’ when working with the 900 six-to-24-year-olds who regularly come five days a week over the course of a year.
Ms Young explains staff focus on how teens can remove themselves from ‘risky situations’ in an area where ‘the crime rate has increased’, improve job prospects in an area where ‘there’s low employment’, and entertain children at the area’s ‘only free adventure playground’.
Elaine Vickers, play and youth manager, whose own daughter and granddaughter came along, explains what regular attendees get from it: “The kids are confident they can have conversations, they can tell you if there are any issues, they are so independent
“I just think they learned so many other things. Education is a massive part of our lives, but when face-to-face socialising is not the way for a lot of kids, I do not think you can beat it here.”
One child who saw the benefit is Tammin Yorke-Davenport, who grew up on Woodhouse Lane, where The Addy is. Along with her eight brothers and sisters, Tammin played religiously after school here.
She remembers what it was like when she first arrived, at five years old: “I just felt really happy. It’s my comfort zone. We are in an area with challenges, so you’re grateful for the opportunity.”
Now 23, The Addy has been central to Tammin’s life ever since: She started volunteering in her early teens, then became an MYL staff member after she started at Salford University studying English.
She kept her job while studying for a PGCE at the University of Manchester, and is now working part-time in the summer holidays, having just finished her first year as a secondary school English teacher in Gorton.
Not content with all that, Tammin starts a Master’s degree at Edge Hill University soon.
When it’s put to her, she’s ‘a machine’, she smiles: “It’s all come from here. I found my friends here, and some of the skills I learned here come into teaching.”
Parents of current children are also quick to praise The Addy for developing friendships outside of school, improving their loved ones’ confidence, and providing ‘exceptional’ care.
It’s testimonies like that which underscore the importance of keeping The Addy’s adventure playground, Elaine Young believes.
“15 years ago, there were 650 adventure playgrounds across the country,” she says. “In 2022, there were only 126, and there are probably less than that now. There are only three in Manchester – here, and our other two centres in Moss Side and Ardwick.
“If this were to go, it would be a massive loss to Wythenshawe.”
You can donate to The Addy’s fundraiser here
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