Lease for former college building in Wellington handed to YMCA

The former girl's high school building on King Street will be managed by the YMCA from April

The lease for a former college building which is being transformed into housing for young people has been handed over to the YMCA.

The grade-II listed New College site on King Street, in Wellington, Shropshire, is being repurposed into 28 one-bed apartments.

Work on the £3.9m project redevelopment project began in March this year.

The building, acquired by Telford & Wrekin Council in 2019, will be managed by the YMCA once completed in April.

Designed as transitional accommodation, the development will include communal facilities including a garden and secured cycle areas, as well as laundry and shared waste and recycling facilities.

This refurbishment programme, led by MORRO partnerships, is the first phase of the wider regeneration of the former New College site, Telford and Wrekin Council said.

Councillor Lee Carter said the authority was "pleased" to see work on the building was progressing well.

"This project is restoring a grade-II listed building at the former New College site but also creating high quality transitional accommodation to support young people who find themselves homeless in our community," he said.

Mandie Mulloy, CEO of YMCA Wellington, said the opening of the building next year marked a "new chapter" in the charity's "almost 165 years of service" to people in local area.

She said the charity would be able to move young people from its supported housing to the new development in six months time.