Rhys Jones: Campaign to build a £1.2m centre for Rhys

Sep 19 2007 David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

A NEW community centre in Croxteth Park will be “the best tribute to our son we could possibly think of,” the parents of murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones said last night.

Melanie and Stephen Jones spoke as a memorial fund was launched to help find the £1.2m- plus needed to build the “The Rhys Jones Community Centre” near his home.

Today, four weeks on from the 11- year-old’s death, his parents will face the cameras again to make a fresh appeal for his killer to be caught.

The murder of Rhys is also expected to feature on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme next Wednesday.

Last night, Mr and Mrs Jones urged people everywhere to support the project.

Football, the favourite sport of the young Everton fan, will feature prominently with all-weather pitches also forming an integral part of the plan, which aims to bring people of all ages in the community together for sporting and social activities.

Rhys died on August 22 after he was shot in the neck as he walked home from playing football.

Dave Saville, chairman of the Croxteth Country Park Residents Association, which is behind the plan, said: “We want to create something tangible that can serve as a memorial, so that something good can come out of something tragic.”

Politicians last night vowed to do all they could to ensure the community centre became a reality.

Cllr Colin Eldridge, Liverpool’s executive member for community safety and leisure, said: “A community centre will serve a real need in the area; it will help engage youngsters in a positive and constructive way and, hopefully, will ensure something positive comes out of this terrible, tragic event.

“I am sure the appeal will be supported throughout Liverpool, and the city council will work with the community and appeal organisers to assist in every way we can, including helping identify grant and funding opportunities that may be available.”

Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of the Labour group, added: “It will be a fitting and great way of remembering the young lad.

“It is something as a council we should support financially. The centre would serve as a spiritual home for the community.”

Croxteth Park is the second-largest private estate in Europe, with about 3,500 homes and more than 7,000 residents, but it has very few community facilities.

Mr Saville said: “We have wanted to build a community centre for sometime, as the nearest facilities are some distance away. The big problem on the estate is that it is about a mile’s walk to Oak Lane at the top of the estate, and the nearest facilities are in Croxteth which is two buses away.”

Apart from a couple of shops, a pub, and St Cuthbert’s Church, there are few community facilities.

He said it was vital a community centre was built or the estate would face “isolation and possible implosion”.

He said lots of people had wanted to donate money for a memorial for the youngster but it was not thought right to start collecting money with no aims in mind.

Donations will be collected by the Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services until a charitable trust is set up.

Mr Saville said the association wanted to make sure a transparent organisation took the funds while the trust was created.

“There’s no target deadline for raising the money. We are looking at the design of the plans at the moment,” he added.

A multi-use games area had been planned for behind St Cuthbert’s Church, Langley Close, but Mr Saville said it was now hoped that this could be incorporated on the same site.

Yesterday, the Daily Post reported how Rhys’s parents opened a new play area dedicated to his memory at his former school Broad Square Primary School, Norris Green.

A public meeting to discuss the plans for the community centre will be held on Saturday at Emmaus Primary School, off Fir Tree Drive, at 2pm.

Cheques to the fund should be made payable to LCVS Rhys Jones Memorial Fund at: Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services, 14 Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 0NJ. Donations can also be given over the internet through www.lcvs.org.uk or over the phone by calling 0151 243 1076.