> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Inside 4YP's new Waterfront hub for young people - URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/inside-4yps-new-waterfront-hub-for-young-people/ - Published: 2026-10-02T10:08:06.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-02T10:08:06.000Z - Description: Private counselling rooms, a café, an arcade machine and a cosy snug are among the features of 4YP's new home at Regatta Quay, which supports children and young people aged seven to 25. - Author: Nicola Sebastian - Tags: News, 4YP, Town Centre & Waterfront, Youth, Community Impact, Ipswich Towns Fund **Why it matters:** After more than 25 years on Lower Brook Street, the charity can now bring its counselling, youth work and group sessions under one roof in a fresh new space designed around what young people said they needed. **The details:** 4YP, which supports children and young people aged seven to 25, completed its move into Unit 6, Regatta Quay, on Monday, 28 September. The unit, previously home to Anytime Fitness, had stood empty since the Oasis Lounge restaurant closed in January 2023. The building has been designed to move from calm to lively as you walk through it. - At the front, a quiet counselling suite holds four private counselling rooms and a dedicated waiting area. - Further in, a communal area including a café and a self-service drinks bar. - At the back, a large, flexible activity space is ready for film screenings, games and group sessions, with an air hockey and pool table. - There is also a new kitchen, a craft room, a cosy snug, inclusive toilets and a shower, while the extended mezzanine upstairs is home to staff offices and meeting rooms. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/10/IMG_2676-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/10/IMG_2668-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/10/IMG_2667-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/10/IMG_2674.jpeg) Inside the new 4YP hub (Photo: Nicola Sebastian/Ipswich.co.uk) **What they're saying:** The hub has already won over Suffolk New College students, who visited this week. "It's a really nice space to just come in and just hang out with mates, get counselling. It's an amazing space," said Lucy. Tommy said: "It looks really good. If I did have a problem I would genuinely come here." Tyler, who is keen to spread the word among fellow students, said: "It's good they can have an external thing literally down the road. They can go to at lunch times and have a safe space to talk to people." For Lucy, the location is part of the appeal: "Right on the waterfront and the waterfront itself is a calming space. It's secluded, yes it's hidden away but there's so many banners down the front saying where it is." Oli, a 4YP youth worker, said: "I'm excited to have young people in and using this space. It's such a big upgrade from what we had before and just seeing the first people come in today and other groups, it's just really exciting." Oli added that the hub is about "giving young people a space to come and be themselves and enjoy themselves." **How it came together:** The journey began in September 2022, when Make Architects, the practice founded by Ken Shuttleworth, whose career includes London's "Gherkin", chose 4YP as its corporate social responsibility project and offered its services free of charge. The following month, the architects travelled to Ipswich with one question for a group of young people: if they could create their own safe and welcoming place to go, what would it look and feel like? Young people aged from eight to their twenties then visited Make's London studio, where they tried out virtual reality technology and began turning their own ideas and experiences into design concepts. - In May 2025, Ipswich Borough Council awarded 4YP a £1.14m grant from the government's Local Regeneration Fund, formerly known as the Towns Fund, and the charity bought Unit 6 that July. - Building work began on Monday, 4 May 2026, with Bury St Edmunds-based Seamans Building as main contractor and Gill Associates providing project management. Rebekah Warnock, 4YP chief executive, said: "Really excited to get to this point. I came into 4YP 14-15 months ago and at that point there'd been already a lot of work done. It's been a long process but it's so worth it." **What's next:** The extra space means room for bigger groups, and two new ones for older young people start in the first week of November: the 16–18s Space, a welcoming revision space on Mondays, 15:00-17:00, and The Connect Project, a life-skills and social group for 18 to 25-year-olds on Wednesdays, 18:30-20:30. Warnock said older young people had told the charity "they want somewhere to go that's not a pub. They need to come and have some level of support so we're able to have that in this space." The hub's official grand opening will take place on Thursday, 22 October 2026. **For context:** Founded in 2000, 4YP supports the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people through counselling, youth work and community services. Its counselling service supports more than 1,100 young people each year, and it delivers services in 10 schools across Suffolk. **The bottom line:** Four years in the making, 4YP's new Waterfront home gives the charity the space to grow its groups and, from November, welcome older teenagers and young adults too, showing what can happen when young people help shape the spaces made for them. --- **Don't forget:** If you enjoy our content, please [add Ipswich.co.uk as a "preferred source" on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=ipswich.co.uk&ref=ipswich.co.uk) so you can easily find more of the content you value. [Add as a preferred source on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=ipswich.co.uk&ref=ipswich.co.uk) --- ### This article cost us \~£80 to produce It's free for you to read thanks to the generous support of our two community impact partners: local contractor [Barnes Construction](https://barnesconstruction.co.uk/?ref=ipswich.co.uk), and flat roof waterproofing and design firm [Axter](https://axter.co.uk/?ref=ipswich.co.uk). Please support us by supporting them.