MORE than 100 young people are now using the youth club and the team are working hard to secure the service for future generations.

Bridport youth club is offering a wide range of activities with a thriving membership youth leader Heather Marston wants the club to continue for many years to come.

Heather said: “I attended the club in the seventies. My children also attended in the late nineties. I hope their children will go, as well as future generations.

“Youth clubs are a fundamental component of the community and therefore must thrive.”

Heather took over the role as youth leader last summer and has built membership up from around 40 to 103 with the help of three part-time staff.

Dorset County Council cut funding to youth centres around three years ago and the youth and community centre is now in the hands of local trustees working voluntarily.

Thanks to funding from Magna Housing, there are plans to run a regular junior youth club on Saturday mornings, but the team would like to do more.

Heather added: “We can’t offer anything in the summer holidays yet. We just don’t have the finances.

“There is a real need for local disadvantaged kids to have a place to go all year round.”

Young people at the club are currently working on an outdoor education scheme, filling wooden planters with soil ready for vegetables and herbs.

Heather has also managed to get more equipment, such as air hockey, snooker tables, badminton equipment and an X-Box free of charge from another youth club that closed down.

The club also has regular karaoke events and parties for special times of the year, as well as indoor trampolining, inflatables and scooter events.

The youth club has also been complemented by a mental health support group for young people, run by Somerset Mind, which meets on Monday evenings at the centre in Gundry Lane.

Plans are also in the making to bring a new and improved centre to the town.

Heather said: “We’re hoping to refurbish the centre soon to make it more welcoming to adults and young people alike – a real hub for the community, which we have been serving for 50 years.”

If anyone is interested in helping or attending the youth club, contact Katrina Polanska at bridportycc@gmail.com or call 01308 422500.