When the afternoon bell rings on Thursday, New Westminster's youth are invited to come celebrate a full year of having "somewhere to go and something to do" at the New Westminster's Youth Centre in Moody Park.
"It'll be one year to the day that we had the grand opening, so we decided we want to do a birthday party to celebrate it and a chance for all the community to see how successful we've been," said Sandon Fraser, youth services co-ordinator for the City of New Westminster.
The party starts at 3: 15 p.m. just as school lets out and the centre's peak busy time kicks in.
Fraser said everyone is invited for cake, music, games, prizes, beverages and fun, including a giant inflatable slide and inflatable sumo suit wrestling.
Fraser said the number of kids coming to the centre and buying memberships has been more than the city had hoped when the idea was first put forward, and it continues to grow as more kids learn what the centre offers.
"We initially thought 500 members. We budgeted for 300, but we thought, realistically, we can probably get 500 members in the full year. As of today, we have 705," Fraser said.
Not bad given that New Westminster only has about 3,200 youth in total, Fraser said.
Fraser suspects the centre's popularity is being driven by the options of recreational equipment and caring staff who have built a rapport with members.
"It's a gorgeous space. It has a lot of high-end equipment and quality equipment. That's something a lot of youth centres don't have, and we're fortunate to have," he said.
Fraser said he is often told by other youth workers in the Lower Mainland that New Westminster's Youth Centre is the "nicest they've ever seen."
In addition to the games and activities to keep kids entertained and out of trouble, the centre has also partnered with various community groups to offer biweekly help in job hunting, resumé building and job interview skills, weekly cooking classes, counselling, and visits with a public health nurse who can offer education.
A year-long membership is $15. Access to the state-of-the-art exercise room is $10 per month or $1 per drop-in.
To make sure no one is left out, students can pay their annual fee 50 cents at a time, and, if it's still not doable, staff will give a membership in exchange for 1.5 hours of volunteering.
The city's 2010/11 budget for the centre, which is used during school hours by seniors as an extension of the attached seniors' centre, is $150,000 for staffing, supplies and advertising.
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