Levelling up secretary compliments Barnsley town centre as government awards £10m for youth projects in the borough

Dehanna, who grew up in Sheffield, complimented Barnsley town centre today on her visit today, adding that she “couldn’t be prouder” of the improvements that have taken place over the last few years.

The funding, from the government’s flagship levelling up fund, will be used to build an activity park next to the town centre’s forthcoming Youth Zone, including a skate park, bike track, new active routes and play spaces.

Some of the cash will also be used to create a new Northern Academy for Vocal Excellence in the former Computer Centre building on the corner of St Mary’s Place and Westgate behind the Town Hall.

The academy will provide a new home for the award-winning Barnsley Youth Choir, and provide singing tuition to young people.

Some funding will also be allocated to boost refurbishments at The Civic, bringing into use parts of the building not used for many years.

When asked if the levels of deprivation of areas like Barnsley had been taken into account when allocating funds, Dehanna said: “Barnsley was a priority one area for the levelling-up fund anyway, that was one of the factors that went into the scoring process, but largely it was about the quality of the bid, value for money, and deliverability.

“It’s the taxpayer’s money and you want to make sure it’s spent well, and we thought his project really fit the bill to go a long way towards levelling up, on the basis of providing brilliant opportunities for young people.

“I grew up in Sheffield and used to come to Barnsley Market with my nan at least once a month.

“Seeing how much it’s changed for the better and hearing about the incredible work that’s going on, not just to improve the town centre but to improve opportunities particularly for young people, but for people right across Barnsley – it’s inspiring to me and as a South Yorkshire lass I couldn’t be prouder.”

Sir Steve Houghton, leader of Barnsley Council, said he was “really pleased” that the council has been awarded the funding, and added that it will make a “huge difference” for young people.

“It’s about making sure the next generation do better than this one, and the generation after that do better than them. That’s what levelling up is about,” he said.

Sir Steve added that the council’s unsuccessful second bid, for Elsecar Heritage centre, will be re-examined and potentially resubmitted for the next round of funding.

“We had a second bid for Elsecar, I was really disappointed in that. We think that was a high quality bid and we’re sorry that it didn’t get through,” he said.

“However, we’re not just going to take that lying down, we’re going to look for other funding streams from from the council.

“The Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard has agreed to work with us on this as well, so we’re not letting this go.”