Youth project seeks a home

VOLUNTEERS who run a free youth project for hundreds of Appleton youngsters are hunting for a permanent base for the scheme.
More than 130 youngsters aged between 11 and 17 attend the Broomfields Youth Project every Friday night to play football, take dance classes or hop aboard the “Youth Bus” which offers games consoles, a place to hang out and free advice.
The project was set up last October after police and youth workers were asked to stop youths gathering in Alexandra Park.
Originally the service was simply a “youth bus”, funded by Bridgewater Churches Together to offer young people in Appleton somewhere safe to go and something to do.
But by February the scheme was growing and when feedback from youngsters suggested football would go down well, Broomfields Leisure Centre offered the use of four of its pitches on a Friday night.
Since then the scheme has expanded and is now run as a partnership between Cheshire Police, the borough council, Youth for Christ and Bridgewater Churches Together.
Now the Broomfields Youth Project wants to secure its future by asking local organisations for cash – and ideas – about where it could set up a permanent home – or “hub”.
Youth worker John Harper, one of 10 volunteers at the project on a Friday night said: “We believe this project is something the area doesn’t have at the moment and it’s something we need.
“We’re looking for a building which is specifically for young people. It’s a big ask, as property is hard to find and expensive and getting ownership will be difficult.”
Fellow volunteer JP (John Paul) Smith told Appleton Parish Council how the project aims to engage young people in activities, about its success so far and its plans for the next 12 months.
They said identifying and securing a permanent “hub” to host the project would allow it to extend beyond Friday nights.
Inspector Gary McIntyre, from Cheshire Police said: “We work with lots of organisations in the area to make youth provision better here. Anti-social behaviour in the area hit a peak at 290 reported incidents in one month and was averaging above 200 per month until late last year.
“Now we’re seeing an average of around 150 reported incidents and the main impact on this figure has been schemes like this.”
The scheme is looking into opportunities for matched funding from a large corporate organisation but this would require significant contributions from local organisations.
New parish council chairman Brian Axcell said a £5,000 fund was available to support youth schemes in the borough and asked the project organisers to put together a formal request.
The parish council has also now established a youth committee to keep in contact with the scheme.