New centre aims to be a hub for young people in Dudley town centre
A new youth centre has opened in the heart of Dudley with the stated aim of giving children, teenagers and young adults a safe place to socialise, learn and access mental‑health support.
The Forge, based in Churchill Precinct, has been established by two local friends and social entrepreneurs, Adam Bradley and James Bragg, through their community interest companies, Headz Up CIC and Strike Youth CIC. The venue opens this month and will offer a mix of recreational facilities and education spaces intended to support wellbeing and skills development.
The founders say The Forge will operate seven days a week initially, between 10am and 6.30pm, providing free activities for members and seeking to become a focal point for the town centre.
"The Forge is going to put some much needed pride back into the town centre and give youngsters a place where they can meet, make friends, receive mental health support and learn new skills."
The centre's facilities include:
- darts lanes and pool tables
- a boxing machine
- a podcast studio and education room
- a communal kitchen for teaching healthy meal preparation
Those behind the project say the offer is deliberately broad to appeal to a wide age range and to combine leisure with opportunities for learning and informal counselling.
Roots in personal experience and wider services
Adam Bradley, founder of Headz Up CIC, told WE NEWS that his own experiences with chronic illness and mental health inspired the project. At 31 he was diagnosed with severe arthritis affecting his lower body and was warned he could require a wheelchair by the age of 40. After two hip replacements and training as a counsellor, Bradley established Headz Up to provide sports activities, education programmes and counselling.
The charity’s National Lottery‑funded MIND Collective programme now attracts around 100 men each week, the organisers say, and Bradley hopes The Forge will build on that work by offering targeted support for young people, with a particular focus on men's mental health.
Speaking about the aims of the centre, James Bragg said:
"We are placing the Forge into the heart of Dudley as we want it to be a hub that changes people's lives for the better."
Opening plans and fundraising
The Forge will open its doors offering a mixture of drop‑in and organised sessions. The founders have chosen Churchill Precinct to increase footfall in the town centre and to provide a visible, accessible space for young people who might otherwise lack local options.
To support the centre’s launch and ongoing running costs, Adam Bradley is undertaking a fundraising challenge: a 110‑mile run from Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium to Dudley’s Duncan Edwards statue — a symbolic route intended to draw attention to the project and raise vital funds.
| Opening hours | Times |
|---|---|
| Seven days a week (initially) | 10:00 – 18:30 |
Local context and potential impact
Community organisers and local residents have for years argued that Dudley town centre needs more youth provision and spaces where young people can be supported with education, employment skills and mental‑health services. The Forge’s combination of leisure amenities and an education room aims to respond to that gap, while also trying to encourage pride and activity in the precinct.
By offering free membership activities, the centre removes a key barrier for families on low incomes. The presence of a podcast studio and education room also points to ambitions for skills‑based projects that could feed into volunteering or employment pathways.
Organisers say they will continue to work with partners and funders to expand provision, and monitoring will be needed to see whether the centre can deliver sustained engagement with young people across Dudley borough.
For now, The Forge opens as a locally‑led experiment in combining community space with wellbeing and skills development — a model that, if successful, could influence how other high‑street locations are reused to support young people.
