The Riverside Warehouse

The Riverside Warehouse is a local community centre for young people aged between 10 and 25 who live in the Riverside area of Cardiff, or nearby.
It hosts a whole range of different activities designed to give young people something fun to do, and a place to make or meet friends.
There’s a large indoor hall used for sports such as 5-​a-​side and table tennis as well as dance and keep fit sessions, parties and events. The warehouse hosts events such as fashion shows, quizzes and multi-​cultural festivals from time to time, and also houses a recording studio for creative music-​makers, and offers a range of IT facilities including computers with internet access.
At the moment their various themed nights include Girls’ night on Mondays (5pm-​8pm), an over 13s night on Wednesdays (6pm-​9pm), a Juniors’ night for those aged 10 – 13 on Thursdays (5.45pm-8.45pm), and an over-​13s football coaching night on Fridays (6pm-​9pm).
While I can’t claim to be a ‘fan’ myself (as I don’t quite fit their target market), this is an obvious asset to the Riverside community. With a constant stream of young people wandering in and out of the centre, it seems to have been successful in creating a popular hang-​out for young locals who fancy getting out of the house to play Playstation or meet their friends.

In 2007 with a little help from a lottery grant, a disused building in Riverside was transformed into a community asset.
The Riverside Wherehouse was a godsend to the Riverside community and especially to its youth. When I visited the warehouse a t-​shirt printing workshop was on the go, a drum workshop was banging and a fine curry was being cooked.
The Riverside Warehouse also runs some fab festivals. Recently the Riverside festival took place down the road from the Warehouse in Dispenser gardens. The festival had a positive, multicultural vibe, food, story telling and music were on the menu and there was a focus on green issues.
The warehouse itself has a PA system and computers and they offer music and dance workshops. Inside there is a court for football and basketball, opposite the building is a small council playground.
Check it Riversiders.