Will It Ever End?
In the past couple of issues, I have been bringing you up to
date with the latest developments in the long running saga of the Folkestone
Youth Project and the new youth centre in “The Shed”. I’d like to say that it
was over and done with but it isn’t.
Five months ago, we inherited an empty freight shed in the harbour and set about
the enormous amount of work in front of us with gusto. In those days, the work
went quickly. Progress was marked by a wall disappearing here, another one going
up there, and an endless convoy of skips removing building detritus. People
scoffed when we promised an early completion, especially when the building fund
that we had in the bank was just a fraction of what the experts said that we
would need.
The three things that we had in abundance to counter our lack of funds were,
boundless enthusiasm, an unshakable conviction that we would do it and, most
importantly, the tangible support of dozens of local businesses. Without their
generous donations of time, effort and building materials, our rapidly shrinking
building fund would have haemorrhaged away even more quickly than it did.
But we opened on time! The building wasn’t finished but it was usable and, use
it we did.
As anyone connected with building development knows, when you get to the end of
a job, there are countless little “finishing” jobs that need to be done before
the project is completed. Every time you take one off the list it seems to be
replaced by two new ones and the list never seems to get any smaller. Where, in
the early days, progress was rapid and marked by major changes, it was now
measured in tiny steps. Where we once had a large team of burly builders, and
the funds to pay for them, we now have to count the pennies and do it ourselves,
which makes progress even slower.
The funds are gone, the boundless enthusiasm is not quite as boundless as it
used to be (to be honest there are days when it’s a struggle to get out of bed
to go and face yet another battle with laminate flooring that stubbornly refuses
to do what it says on the tin) but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the
unshakable conviction that we can do it.
Our current battle is against the lorry drivers that keep backing into the ISO
containers (you know, the large metal boxes that they stack on ships these days)
that we have used as an unmoveable (in your dreams) barrier to protect the kids.
Every time they reverse until they hit something big enough to register in their
tiny minds that they have gone too far, they move the containers another couple
of inches and dig up a little bit more of the skate park that we have just laid.
We haven’t actually reached the point where we are going to start letting down
their tyres in revenge– but it isn’t too far away. By the way, if you just
happen to know anyone with a spare 40ft container that they don’t need any more,
we could do with another one to fill a gap in the wall. We’d even be happy to
take a 20ft one if that’s all you’ve got.
Terry Begent.
Article from Go Folkestone Newsletter December 2007
