bridgeworks

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We're excited to share our ambitious plans to transform a former community building into a new employment, skills and community hub, creating opportunities for neurodivergent people, people with a learning disability and the wider community.

The building has been closed for over a year, and after months of discussions and consultation with communities we work with, we're delighted to be bringing it back into use as Bridgeworks.

Located directly opposite our existing centre, The COSE, Bridgeworks will give us much-needed space to expand our work, develop new enterprises, create more employment opportunities and build something of lasting value for the local community.

Bridgeworks will be an incubator for talent, developing a new pipeline of skilled neurodivergent people and people with a learning disability across a diverse range of industries.

We want Bridgeworks to be a place where people develop skills by doing real work, gaining practical experience, qualifications and meaningful routes into paid employment.

Under one roof, we'll bring together opportunities in catering and hospitality, creative production, events, logistics and warehousing, facilities management and maintenance, digital and game design, animal care and more.

And importantly, we're not just thinking about entry-level jobs. We want people to discover their talents, develop specialist skills and access careers and opportunities they might never have considered possible.

We also aim to work with young people from age 14, providing early experiences of work, helping them explore career possibilities and building the skills, confidence and connections needed to make successful transitions from education into employment.

Through Bridge Academy, we'll develop accessible vocational qualifications and supported apprenticeships alongside practical training and work experience.

Where enterprise creates opportunity

One of the most exciting possibilities for Bridgeworks is bringing enterprise and employment together in a new way.

We want to work with socially-minded businesses, giving growing enterprises access to affordable space, facilities and practical services that help them succeed.

As these businesses grow, they'll help create new training, work experience and employment opportunities for the people we support.

We'll also be expanding our existing creative design and build workshop into a much larger space, giving our Creative Placements team the ability to take on bigger commissions, develop new products and installations, and create more opportunities in creative production for events, festivals and cultural projects.

Bringing community back into the building

Bridgeworks isn't just about employment. We want it to become a thriving, welcoming space for the whole community.

One of our biggest ambitions is to develop a commercial training kitchen and community café, building on our existing community activities.

This will give people the opportunity to develop real catering and hospitality skills while preparing food and serving customers, alongside creating a welcoming space for local people to meet, connect and enjoy affordable food.

We also want to open up the building and its facilities to local groups, community activities and initiatives that bring people together.

Working together to create pathways into employment

We're keen for Bridgeworks to become a place where employers, colleges, community organisations and employment support services work together to create better opportunities.

We'll build on our relationships with local schools and colleges, supporting young people with additional learning and support needs to gain practical experience before leaving education.

We also see exciting opportunities for Bridgeworks to support programmes including Connect to Work, Youth Trailblazer, Jobs Guarantee and Future Employment Support.

By bringing vocational training, real work, employer engagement and ongoing support together, we want to create more joined-up pathways into sustainable employment.

Bringing our vision to life

The concept images we're sharing offer a first glimpse of what Bridgeworks could become.

The good news is that the building is already in a usable condition, meaning we can begin moving into the space whilst improvements are made.

In early 2027 we’ll work with Trades4Care CIC to paint and decorate the building, supporting young adults we work with to learn a trade and refurbish the space.

We'll develop the building in stages, making improvements and bringing new spaces into use throughout 2027 and aim to hold an open day event in the near future.

This is just the beginning!

Bridgeworks represents an exciting new chapter for us, but more importantly, it's about what we can achieve together.

We want to challenge expectations about what neurodivergent people and people with a learning disability can achieve, create new pathways into employment, support local businesses and bring a valued community building back to life.

There's a lot to do, and we can't do it alone!

We're keen to hear from employers, businesses, colleges, funders, community groups and organisations who want to be part of making Bridgeworks a success.

Whether you're interested in developing employment opportunities, accessing enterprise space, or supporting the refurbishment, we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch at hello@bridgecreative.org - we’d love to hear from you!