Turn empty Debenhams into a space for young people

Young people working on Ipswich's City of Culture bid have suggested turning the empty Debenhams building into a multi-purpose youth space.

Suffolk's county town is one of nine locations which has made a long list of candidates, with the winner getting £10m.

There is a series of community consultations happening to ensure everyone's views and ideas are included in the final submission.

Freya Walton-Phillips, 18, said the idea of using the former department store would "give them somewhere they feel has a purpose".

"[It] gives [young people] a purpose to go to and feel a bit more fulfilled than anything we have at the moment," she said.

The Debenhams building in Ipswich has been vacant since 2021 and has been described as a blight on the town centre.

The idea of creating a youth space was a common feature across the different tables of young people taking part in sessions run at The Church in Ipswich on Tuesday.

Alongside the community events, the bid team have been into schools and say the views of 1,000 young people have been gathered.

The town's final bid needs to be submitted to the government by 10 August.

Because of a recent change in the rules, large towns can enter the City of Culture 2029 contest.

Adam Locke, 20, is a student at the University of Suffolk.

"We want to bring the creative industry back to life through young people," he said.

"We want young people to not lose their free spirit... to keep creating and to show everyone else what they can do [but] there isn't the outlet for it."

Jack Broad, 20, who is also a student at the university, added: "To have a pop-up venue for us and anyone to use, anyone who's interested in culture, art, history or even just promoting their passionate interest, we think would be really beneficial for the young people of Suffolk."

Ed Sheeran and other well-known creative people from Suffolk are ambassadors for the bid, including musician Brian Eno, actor Griff Rhys Jones and theatre star Kerry Ellis.

Another is teenage musician Nandi Bushell, who has performed alongside the Foo Fighters and Lenny Kravitz.

She performed a surprise gig of new, original songs on Tuesday after the Future Engineers sessions.

She said: "I've lived in Ipswich almost my whole life and I wouldn't be the musician I am without Ipswich's support.

"There was these open jams at pubs and we would all improvise together and I learned stagecraft and how to interact with musicians.

"It's just given me so much support so I'm really grateful to be an ambassador."

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