Sitting and observing in the pedestrianised part of Boothferry Road in Goole confirmed impressions walking through, that the Boxing Club, the Grill restaurant/takeaway and now the games centre create a buzz and bustle in the town centre of an evening.

The Boxing Club operates under the umbrella of the Moorlands charity (see: https://www.gooleboxingclub.org/about/ which does a lot of valuable work in the town, although there seems to be an aspiration to create an independent charity around it in the future.

Chatting to twenty and thirtysomethings, top priorities for them include playgrounds (Riverside Park being a favoured site), and more affordable childcare places so that parents can work.

Could a way forward be not for profit childcare, set up and provided by members of the Goole community? Close friends of mine, one of whom was a teacher, were part of an initiative because 9 teachers in the same school were all due to give birth around the same time (I wasn’t so indelicate as to ask whether there was some sort of staff bring your spouse drinks party as catalyst), so there was an effort to fund and provide a creche enabling the new mum teachers to return to work. I’ve found an example of an umbrella organisation – no doubt there are others: https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/parent-led-childcare

Perhaps some of the vacant buildings in the town centre could be used for not for profit childcare, helping to bring life, and footfall.

There do seem to be opportunities presented by the pedestrianised part of Boothferry Road as the community faces the challenges for town centres posed by changes to shopping habits. Street theatre and mini-concerts, activities such as the Beach Days that used to be run, pop up markets – no doubt Goole citizens could think of many more ideas for activities that would draw people into the town centre using the pedestrianised part of town as a venue. This would help strengthen the sense of community, as well as bringing customers for the shops and food outlets.

A so far missed opportunity would be to ask the citizens of this town what their priorities are for making the town centre better, and asking for ideas that could be put into practice.