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Former college site reopens as YMCA accommodation

BBC A young man with blonde hair, black tshirt and a chain around his neck, standing in front of a brick buildingBBC
Richard Owens said the new accommodation would give him a sense of "freedom"

One of the first people chosen to get a place at a newly converted YMCA property has said he "couldn't stop smiling".

Richard Owens has moved into one of 28 flats in what was once New College in Wellington.

The charity said the aim was to create a cheap place to live for young adults who were starting out on their own and maybe looking for a job or going into higher education.

It cost £4m to refurbish the Grade II listed building and Mandy Malloy, YMCA Wellington Chief Executive, said the opening of the new site was a "joyous time".

The New College site on King Street was acquired by Telford and Wrekin Council in 2019 and the YMCA was given permission by the local authority to take on the site in 2023.

The surrounding area has been handed over to developers, but Dr Haydn Griffiths, the chairman of YMCA Wellington, said he was pleased to be able to do something with the older part of the site, which was once a girls' school.

He said: "It's such an iconic building and the last thing we would have wanted was to see this bulldozed like the rest of the site."

While some changes had to be made, to convert it into flats, he said "we preserved as much as we could".

A woman with dark hair and a dark top with large white spots in a room with bunting on the walls
Mandy Malloy said there had previously been a lack of accommodation for young adults in the area
The front of a large two-storey, red brick, building which was once a school
The building was formerly a further education college and before that a girls' school

Ms Malloy said it had been "one heck of a journey" to repurpose the building, but she thought it had "brought life back to young people" in the area.

She said there had previously been a lack of accommodation for young adults, creating a bottleneck in the YMCA's accommodation for younger people.

The "transitional accommodation" at the New College site is being offered at 20% less than the local rental rate.

Richard Owens said being able to have a say in how his flat was furnished gave him a sense of "freedom".

A young man with blonde hair and black clothes sat on a small sofa in front of a low table in a grey-carpeted room
Richard Owens said the move into YMCA accommodation would allow him to achieve

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