Plans to create a skills training hub for young people in South Kilburn received a major boost today after the project secured a £1.8 million grant from the Greater London Authority.

The South Kilburn Trust teamed up with Brent Council and the OK Club, based in Kilburn, to apply for funding to build a new community hub for jobs, business support and youth training to improve employment prospects for Kilburn residents.

The hub will form part of the £600million programme to regenerate South Kilburn.

The £1.8 million funding pot, which will be matched by the South Kilburn Trust, will be combined with proceeds from the redevelopment of the Peel Precinct Development and the sale of new homes on adjacent to land.

Cllr Roxanne Mashari, lead Member for employment and skills at Brent Council said: “The South Kilburn Trust and the OK Club provide valuable local services which improve the lives of local people and we wanted to help ensure that these services were secured for the future. We all worked together to prepare this bid and I am thrilled that we have won the funding we need.”

The Greater London Authority awarded the grant to South Kilburn after receiving hundreds of applications to its £20 million London Regeneration Fund.

Matt Parker, Chair of the OK Club said: “As we approach the OK Club’s 60th birthday in South Kilburn, we are delighted to be a part of this scheme. The three organisations already work closely together and this project will provide a firm foundation for our work over the next 60 years.

“ We see such enthusiasm, creativity, and amazing ideas among the young people we work with. Combining our youth work and the enterprise hub will really help to release this potential.”

Work will now begin to prepare a planning application to build the Enterprise Hub and surrounding residential development.

Planning permission would also need to be secured to deliver the new Enterprise Hub and adjacent residential development.