In a bid to boost hope and aspiration for youngsters in Gloucester, a visionary plan to transform a city hotel and car park into a wellbeing hub has been put forward.
The brainchild of Marksteen Adamson, founder of Cheltenham creative agency, Asha & Co, is for supported accommodation to be created alongside mental health support to help young people reach their full potential.
He's earmarked The Fleece Hotel and Longsmith Street car park as the perfect place for the project.
Marksteen said: 'Many young people today are lost and have little hope. The Phoenix Village project has been created to provide purposeful activity, accommodation, training and support. The programme will be focused on creative, professional and personal development.
'It’s a proven holistic approach that delivers practical solutions for mind, body and soul. We will bring in new technology partners to give young people the opportunity to innovate for the future.
'If we want to see less crime in our cities, we need to give young people hope, opportunity and purposeful activity to make them grow in confidence, equipped with life skills, and enable them to become productive members of society.
'We’re not here to make a million. We want to reach a million young people.'
Gloucester city councillors will consider the ambitious plans at March's cabinet meeting. To get the scheme off the ground they'd have to agree to the historic hotel being regenerated and the car park redeveloped.
The Fleece Hotel opened in 1497 as one of the three inns for pilgrims visiting the tomb of Edward II. The site includes part of a Grade I listed 12th century vaulted undercroft and Great Inn.
It closed in 2002 and ownership passed to the council in 2011, which has since spent £350,000 to protect the buildings from disrepair.
The new 400-space car park at The Forum would offset the loss of Longsmith Street car park, with the council looking at other options in the city to increase car parking.
If given the go-ahead, the council would work to attract funding for the project with an aspiration for it to become a key city destination with pop up retail, food and drink offers.
It’s proposed the village complex would have spaces set aside for wellbeing and socialising, along with independent businesses set up to give them on site experience.
Focused on disenfranchised young adults, the project would offer supported accommodation with skills training and assistance with health and mental health issues to help them reach their full potential.
Leader of Gloucester City Council, Councillor Richard Cook, said: 'This is an exciting and really worthwhile project aimed at making a real difference to the lives of our young people.
'We know how challenging it is for young people today and many of them need a helping hand to be able to turn things around.
'Not only could this scheme make good use of a much-loved historic building but it will hopefully become a destination and another part of the massive regeneration taking place across our city.'
