Description:My name Bob Tyler and I am Centre Director of the Post 16 Centre at St George’s. The building was originally opened as a school which closed in the mid 1990s, when I first came here, the building was empty. I began working with a number of partner organizations here and the first partners of the Centre were Handsworth College, which is part of City College. They wanted to provide education for 16-18 year olds and at one stage there were approximately 500 students doing GCSE and A Levels. Then the college merged with East Birmingham and the provision changed. Aston Adult Education were also based here in the Joseph Lucas Community Centre, therefore the centre provided education for all of the community. The Community centre was built here about 7 years ago. There are also other organisations that are here such as Titan who provide teacher training and arrange work experience for young people at school.
Recently, City College have left the Centre and that will mean there will be more organisations moving in. For example, one that trains young people to become volunteer youth workers and another which will support young women who have had children.
There are many stories that I can share with you about the Centre, I remember when Prince Charles came to open the centre it was glorious, I have got some lovely photographs. He came here 10 days after his divorce with Diana. It was a wonderful day and he planted a tree, and 13 years on it has grown into a very big tree.
Another story is that sadly, 5 years ago, 2 girls who attended the youth club, got shot dead in Aston. We felt that we had to get something positive out of it and launched the Charlene and Latisha Education Awards and we wanted to build a peace garden and it took a year to make. Trevor McDonald who is a national newsreader opened it 2 years ago and the young people are still involved in maintaining the garden.
My ambition would be to leave St George’s knowing that the young people who attend youth club and other activities here, become youth workers themselves and also that I bought about a long term change which made a difference.