Polly has welcomed the news that Labour’s Pride in Place funding will be used to save Pie Factory Music.
On Friday it was announced that the Ramsgate Youth Centre is to be saved from a sell-off by the Reform UK-controlled Kent County Council (KCC), after Ramsgate’s Pride in Place Board today agreed to use funds from the programme to purchase the centre. With support from Labour-controlled Thanet District Council, the intervention means the building can remain in public hands and its occupants, Pie Factory Music, will have a secure future.
Subject to approval by Kent County Council, the sale of the youth centre to Pride in Place will be facilitated by a loan from Thanet District Council, with the money returned following a disbursement of funds to Pride in Place from central government.
Pie Factory is one of the last remaining safe havens for young people in Ramsgate, and provides a space in Thanet where young people can access opportunities through youth work, music and arts projects, pastoral care, and counselling. It is hoped the securing of the building will allow Pie Factory to focus on expanding and improving the support it can offer to young people in Ramsgate.
Speaking after the announcement, Polly said:
“This is exactly what Labour’s £20 million Ramsgate Pride in Place programme is for – investing in our community again after years of cuts under the Tories, and now under Reform UK.
“Having visited Pie Factory Music many times to meet the inspirational young people and youth workers there, I have fought hard to save the centre from being flogged off by Kent County Council. Pie Factory Music has so much potential to expand and grow with the right support from Pride in Place. I could not be happier that with this money provided by our Labour government the youth centre’s future now looks to be secure.”
Ramsgate has been given £20 million over the next decade through the Pride in Place programme to invest in community assets and make long-term improvements for local residents. Overall, more than £5 billion is being spent to support nearly 250 Pride in Place projects across the country in areas that have disproportionately suffered under Conservative austerity. Find out more by clicking here.
The Pride in Place programme has also provided an additional £1.5 million to Thanet District Council, to be invested across the whole of Thanet by the end of 2026/27. With Pride in Place, residents, businesses, and community groups will deliver real improvements that matter, led by local people and backed by the Labour government. Communities can spend the funding on what matters most to them, from improvements to pavements and high streets to investing in culture and green spaces.
The Ramsgate Pride in Place Board is comprised of local community leaders, business representatives, ordinary members of the public, local councillors, and East Thanet’s Labour MP, Polly Billington.