History
In the early 1930s, members of the Swansea Strand Mission, a voluntary religious organisation, regularly met with children who congregated on the streets around the centre of the city after they had finished school for the day.
These children, who were mostly boys, complained about the lack of activities available to them during their leisure time and for their age group. The Mission expressed these concerns publicly as these boys could well go down the path of anti-social behaviour, purely out of boredom.
These concerns reached the ears of the chief constable, F.J. May, who, seeing that boys who start going down the path of anti-social behaviour being one of the larger problems every police force was facing, organised a committee comprised of volunteers from both the police force and the local area in 1933.
Initially the club was held in a disused printing works but, after some time and an increase in demand, this building soon became unfit.
This led to the club starting to raise funds to build their own home. A grant of £8,000 was awarded and many donations were raised to cover the costs of the new building which can still be seen today. The works were completed at the outbreak of the Second World War which saw the building, unfortunately, being taken over for official war-time use. However, halfway through the war the building became available to use and so the programme of activities could resume and expand.
Although the club continued to flourish under the management of the committee and the police force, it still faced considerable financial problems. Although the club had some funding from the Local Education Authority, it was not enough to sustain it. Other means were used to raise these funds but after many years, in the mid 1960s, the club committee entered negotiations with Swansea Local Education Authority for them to take over the management of the club. After the change in management, it became a mixed social club and was subsequently renamed "Swansea boys and girls club".
After many years of the club running out of the building in Mayhill, it was then abandoned and boarded up around the 1990s. Since then, there have been many talks to redevelop the building into various things, such as flats, but nothing has come of these rumours. In 2020, the building was set ablaze by an arson attack which has left some very deep scars around the building.
The explore
This was the second place I visited in the same night as Pembrey and, honestly, was way easier than I thought to get in and snoop around after a bust in Llanelli earlier on. Though I went to Pembrey on my own I stopped by on my way here for some backup so I wouldn't wimp out! Initially we thought someone else might be inside but after a little scouting we were the only ones present. We started off with looking around the ground floor and the several rooms before the main hall. At first, the floor in the main hall didn't look to great and our confidence in it was low so we then headed upstairs to snoop a little further. As many others have said here, the views from this place are absolutely fantastic! Well worth it. Overall this was a great first outing and even though the hiding pigeons gave me one heck of a fright I will be getting more reports up for other places soon!
In the early 1930s, members of the Swansea Strand Mission, a voluntary religious organisation, regularly met with children who congregated on the streets around the centre of the city after they had finished school for the day.
These children, who were mostly boys, complained about the lack of activities available to them during their leisure time and for their age group. The Mission expressed these concerns publicly as these boys could well go down the path of anti-social behaviour, purely out of boredom.
These concerns reached the ears of the chief constable, F.J. May, who, seeing that boys who start going down the path of anti-social behaviour being one of the larger problems every police force was facing, organised a committee comprised of volunteers from both the police force and the local area in 1933.
Initially the club was held in a disused printing works but, after some time and an increase in demand, this building soon became unfit.
This led to the club starting to raise funds to build their own home. A grant of £8,000 was awarded and many donations were raised to cover the costs of the new building which can still be seen today. The works were completed at the outbreak of the Second World War which saw the building, unfortunately, being taken over for official war-time use. However, halfway through the war the building became available to use and so the programme of activities could resume and expand.
Although the club continued to flourish under the management of the committee and the police force, it still faced considerable financial problems. Although the club had some funding from the Local Education Authority, it was not enough to sustain it. Other means were used to raise these funds but after many years, in the mid 1960s, the club committee entered negotiations with Swansea Local Education Authority for them to take over the management of the club. After the change in management, it became a mixed social club and was subsequently renamed "Swansea boys and girls club".
After many years of the club running out of the building in Mayhill, it was then abandoned and boarded up around the 1990s. Since then, there have been many talks to redevelop the building into various things, such as flats, but nothing has come of these rumours. In 2020, the building was set ablaze by an arson attack which has left some very deep scars around the building.
The explore
This was the second place I visited in the same night as Pembrey and, honestly, was way easier than I thought to get in and snoop around after a bust in Llanelli earlier on. Though I went to Pembrey on my own I stopped by on my way here for some backup so I wouldn't wimp out! Initially we thought someone else might be inside but after a little scouting we were the only ones present. We started off with looking around the ground floor and the several rooms before the main hall. At first, the floor in the main hall didn't look to great and our confidence in it was low so we then headed upstairs to snoop a little further. As many others have said here, the views from this place are absolutely fantastic! Well worth it. Overall this was a great first outing and even though the hiding pigeons gave me one heck of a fright I will be getting more reports up for other places soon!
