By Sarah Robinson

Published at 11:11, Thursday, 17 May 2012

A NEW youth club has been set up for Egremont youngsters.

The club takes place very Saturday in the town’s Methodist Church hall and is open to young people between the ages of eight and 19.

It was set up by the Egremont Youth Partnership, a group of 10 volunteers, including Coun Carole Woodman, of Egremont South ward. They wanted to provide a facility for young people to use, following the closure of Egremont YouthWorks.

The committee has been working with Young Cumbria, Inspira (formerly Connexions), the Howgill Centre, Phoenix Youth Centre and Whitehaven Harbour Youth Project. The venture is also being supported by Cumbria Youth Alliance.

Coun Woodman said: “We’ve got different games, table tennis, football games craft sessions. We want to be a chilled-out place for young people to meet. The idea is that we want to improve it and expand.”

She said a number of issues important to young people are set to be looked at. “We want to look at issues like drinking and keeping safe,” she said. “We hope to have a scheme where young people can work in the community and be rewarded for working in the community by going on trips or taking part in different activities.”

The idea to provide a youth facility followed the closure of Egremont YouthWorks, a long-established drop-in centre for young people, which occupied two former council houses on the Orgill estate.

Coun Woodman said: “I’m a new councillor and I have an interest in young people. I know that the youth centre was closed down and there wasn’t much going on. We have over 800 young people in Egremont, we had a meeting with the parish council, Cumbria County Council and all the youth providers.”

The Saturday club runs between 4.30pm and 6.30pm for children between the ages of eight and 12. A group for teenagers takes place from 6.45pm until 8.45pm.

Coun Woodman said: “We want this to be a community thing, we are looking for volunteers who have an interest in young people and have any skills they can pass on. There was a need for something like this in Egremont.”

It is hoped that if more people come forward to help, the facilities can be opened on Tuesday afternoon and evenings.

Coun Woodman said the long-term plan is to buy the Egremont Methodist Church Hall and turn the space into a youth cafe and permanent youth club facility.

“The youth need somewhere to go. They need the opportunity to say what they want in Egremont.”

For more information, or to get involved, contact: Carole Woodman on 07770867883 or email her at: carole.woodman@copeland.gov.uk

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk