CALLS are being made for people to help set up a charity to run Bridport’s threatened youth centre.

Bridport residents are being urged to come forward to secure the future of the youth centre facing closure.

Dorset County Council is proposing to withdraw all funding for Bridport Youth Centre and all youth centres across the county to save around £1m from its budget.

Cllr Kelvin Clayton, Green party town councillor and member responsible for the youth centre, is appealing for volunteers to join a new charity as a trustee, chairman or secretary.

He said: “We are trying to put a draft business plan together at the moment, but we need some trustees to come forward.

“The first step is to secure the premises and then look at who is going to deliver services.”
 
“A lot of community groups use the building. The last thing we want to do is for those groups to think they won’t be able to use the facility. We want to enhance and improve the services the building provides.”

In Beaminster, town councillors and residents discussed steps that could be taken to safeguard Beaminster Youth Centre.

Dorset County Council is proposing to reduce the £2.2m youth services budget by £1m, by closing all youth centres across Dorset and a reduced staffing budget.

The remaining budget would be used for youth work staff, primarily based in schools – while £200,000 a year would be allocated to support community groups to provide youth services.

But Cllr Clayton has labelled the plans as ‘totally insufficient’.

“We are concerned that giving support to young people in schools is totally insufficient,” he said. 

“Sometimes young people need a place outside of school where they can be given support - in the community, outside of school hours, where vulnerable young people can drop in.

“Our absolute priority is to try and safeguard the premises.”

Cllr Clayton has joined forces with town council leader Cllr Sarah Williams, Cllr Ros Kayes, who also represents the town on Dorset County Council and town clerk Bob Gillis in setting up a trust to manage the youth centre building.

The group would also like to hear from young people on what they would like to see happen at Bridport Youth Centre.

“The sooner volunteers can come forward, the better,” added Cllr Clayton.

“We are not going to have a full business plan in place for the county council when the consultation closes next week. We want to find a chairman, a treasurer and a secretary as soon as we can.

“It is a community response to something we would rather not have to take on.”

Members of the public have until Wednesday, December 16 to give their views on the county council’s proposals at dorsetforyou.com/youth-services-consultation and via paper copies available in libraries.

Anyone interested in getting involved should contact Bridport Town Council on 01308 456722 or by emailing enquiries@bridport-tc.gov.uk