New lease of life for Colne youth centre (From Lancashire Telegraph)

New lease of life for Colne youth centre

8:00pm Tuesday 20th November 2012 in News By Tyrone Marshall, Reporter

A YOUTH club in Colne which nearly shut two years ago has reopened following a major refurbishment.

Waterside Youth Club was severely run down and became unfit to use following a flood in the winter of 2010.

With concerns over a lack of funding, it was feared that the centre could be forced to close.

But at the weekend it reopened its doors to youngsters following a £20,000 restoration.

The effort was a joint project between Asda, Colne Town Council, Pendle Borough Council, Groundwork Pennine Lancashire and Lancashire Police.

Ruth Shorrock, a youth project officer from Groundwork Pennine Lancashire, has been in charge of the project since April.

She said: “It has been great to see the transformation at Waterside Youth Club.

“We will be using every opportunity to utilise the base and serve the local community in the best possible way.

“We will be opening the youth club on at least two evenings a week for people aged between eight and 19.

“Young people will be able to come and relax, play pool or table tennis and take part in a range of activities such as DJing, cooking, gardening and art sessions. In addition to this, we are already delivering a film-making project on Tuesday afternoons.

“And we plan to work with Pendle Leisure Trust to provide football training sessions for both boys and girls.”

As well as funding from Colne Town Council and Pendle Borough Council, the Asda Foundation contributed £11,000 to the scheme.

Diane Springthorpe, from Asda in Colne, said: “This has been a real partnership between private, public and community sector organisations.

“All are all keen to make a difference to the lives of young people locally.

“Great work is already under way, but now that the new centre is up and running, we can reach more families and have an impact on more young people.”

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