10 May 2024
Pioneer Club CEO Danny Clare reveals the current shape of the venue’s ongoing renaissance and new members of the team.
“A lot has happened at The Pioneer Club over the past few months. We continue to refurbish and upgrade the site through donations, sponsors and a lot of hard work from volunteers. Almost every area of the site has been redecorated.
“As a non-profit, our goal is to deliver a circular model, providing entertainment and experience to St Albans residents, and channelling revenues towards empowering young people in the creative arts. With funding and availability of such activities scarce, we aim to deliver opportunity working in partnership with the local community.
“Alongside existing skate programs, we are partnering with Headliner Spaces to deliver live music and academies, St Albans School of Performing Arts on dance, and are in talks with a number of partners to add drama, art, creative writing and many other activities. We aim to create a centre of life and opportunity and ensure no child gets left behind.
“As part of our community outreach, we actively work with local organisations and causes to empower the local community. We were thrilled to host filming of the recent TBC Mash Up Video 2024 and hosted a fab premiere event with local businesses. We’ll also be hosting The Funding Network’s 2024 event on Wednesday May 22nd.
“Partnership is key to us, and we want to be a centre for empowerment and volunteering.”
“We’ve also added a couple of key contributors to the team, Sarah Dyer as Head of Community and Programmes and Jon Prayer as Head of Events.”
Sarah said: “The Pioneer Club has been a creative youth and community venue at the heart of St Albans and beyond since 1941. Our vision is to open doors and open minds, providing opportunities for young people to improve their mental health, stay active and find their passion.
“Alongside our skate and performing arts activities, we are currently building our weekend and holiday programmes based around creative arts and music. There will be provision to support the young neurodiverse population in and around St Albans, as well as providing subsidised places for children from the least advantaged communities who otherwise wouldn’t have access to these opportunities.
“As a social enterprise, we are here for the community. Together we are stronger, and we are working with local groups and charities to support young people and their families.
“Our upcoming events include It Takes a Village, a youth conference which will be delivered collaboratively with Youth Talk and Herts Young Homeless, as well as many other local youth service providers and groups. The aim is to equip parents and youth practitioners and organisations with information and strategies to support the teen community, as well as showcase the support available locally.
“We are also hosting a Ted X Salon, which will be centred on the issues facing young people today, and be delivered and facilitated by young people themselves. This will give young people a voice, which we will feed into our service provision so that young people are heard and seen and have their needs met.”
She emphasised their commitment to safeguarding: “We are committed to creating and maintaining a safe and secure environment for all young people. We have policies, procedures and training in place to ensure the highest level of safeguarding for children, young people, vulnerable adults, and all other individuals who come to The Pioneer.
Jon revealed some of their future plans: “Following on from a successful first meeting of the Retired Ravers Club last Saturday, this Saturday sees Eurovision come to the Pioneer Club!
“We’ll be showing the whole event on the big screen, alongside drinks and snacks from across the Euro zone and even a themed DJ set afterwards.
“This is now a free event, so come along and see the big event on our big screen.
“The following Friday (17th) sees us open our doors and showcase who we are at our ‘Pioneer Presents’ night. This is a great opportunity to learn more about The Pioneer Club and what we do, what our plans are for the future (there’s a lot of them!), and most importantly maybe even join us and become a part of something special!
“We’ll have the whole venue open, including the bar, with DJs and live music on the menu plus more, and we’ll all be on hand to answer any questions about events, private hire, volunteering or donating. This is a free event but we also have a donation ticket available should you so wish.
“With announcements to follow for a summer open day on Glastonbury weekend, Guilty pleasures and Common People among others, please follow our socials for something exciting coming soon!
“This is just a taster of what we’ve got planned and with the kindness and generosity of the local community we can look forward to a busy calendar of events throughout the rest of this year and into 2025!”
Danny added: “We’ll also be launching a supporters scheme in the next few weeks, this will include member benefits, exclusive events, and key updates into how we are developing The Pioneer Club programs towards young people. As a non-profit, every time you buy food or drink, see a gig or even play garden games, you’ll be contributing toward opportunities for young people.
“Our ’Pioneer Presents’ night on Friday May 17 will see the whole site open, with an open mic in the music venue, food and drink, live mural painting by Ant Steel, and (weather permitting) garden games outside. Come down and see what we’ve got going on!”
For updates on community events and youth programmes, please follow the Pioneer Club CIC on Facebook, Insta and Twitter.
