GB Paralympic star Kayleigh Haggo cuts the ribbon on North Carrick's brand new youth hub

A sprinkling of Olympic magic came to the opening of the first top-class facility for children and young people in North Carrick.

Kayleigh Haggo, who cut the opening ribbon for the new KA19 Youth Hub in Maybole, has been selected to be part of the GB Paralympic Boccia team going to Paris this August.

Kayleigh, from Maybole, was joined by young TV stars the Barclay twins Cameron, Finlay and brother Archie, who feature in the BBC’s This Farming Life.

Around 150 children, parents and guests came to the official opening of the KA19 Youth Hub last week.

The sun was shining as everyone enjoyed popcorn, slushies, hotdogs and sandwiches. It was a magical evening in the outdoor garden with knife juggling from Matthew Kerr, followed by games, karaoke and live music.

The Youth Board gave an inspirational presentation and thanked the Carrick Centre for taking this leap of faith in taking on the building for young people, and funders the Big Lottery and William Grant Foundation, and South Ayrshire Council for their support.

They said KA19 was “providing opportunities” to young people from the town and rural villages, described it as a “wonderful place” to hang out and create memories and a venue to “help them achieve their dreams.”

South Ayrshire Council’s Jamie Tait, service lead for Thriving Communities, praised the “fantastic facilities” managed by the Carrick Centre charity. He said it was clear by the amazing turnout that the KA19 Youth Hub had the full backing of local people.

And Jamie was delighted to hear that decisions on activities at the hub were being taken by young people themselves.

He added: “We need everyone to get behind this facility.”

Carrick Centre Chair, Marguerite Hunter Blair, thanked everyone for coming and led three cheers for the hub’s Youth Development Worker, Fergus Blair.

She said: “The Carrick Centre is contributing to the local celebrations for Robert the Bruce by opening the first ever building dedicated to Children and Young People in North Carrick.

“This first-class facility marks a significant investment in our children and young people. Together with our Youth Board we are creating an exceptional legacy for North Carrick.

“Over 17 per cent of our local population is under 17 years old and it is time that local funding was targeted at the needs of our young people. This is the first step on our journey to support young people to have fun, thrive and achieve their potential.”

The Carrick Centre charity had always planned to develop dedicated facilities for young people and the opportunity of taking on this fully renovated building came just in time as the new school campus could not accommodate a youth club.

Many parents expressed their delight at the Youth Hub facilities and wished that they had somewhere like KA19 when they were growing up.

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