Youth club gets early Christmas present with cash boost from PCC
A YOUTH club is celebrating an early Christmas present after receiving a £7,000 cash boost from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC).
The Galleywood Youth Club has been established for just under a year – although the centre where it is based has been in operation for many years – and offers a weekly place for teenagers, aged between 13 and 19, from the village to meet and take part in various activities.
The project is run by adult volunteers and is based at the Galleywood Youth Centre in Watchouse Road, Galleywood where youngsters have access to facilities including pool tables, games consoles, table football and a kitchen area. They also regularly go out on excursions and trips.
The money given to the club now means the group has guaranteed funding to enable them to recruit and train more new volunteers over the next year so they youth club can continue to provide young people with positive activities to be involved in.
The cash was given to the club after they successfully bid to the OPCC for a New Initiatives Fund, which is money made available by the Police and Crime Commissioner to community safety, voluntary and community groups to fund projects to prevent and tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
Lindsay Whitehouse, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, who went along to meet the teenagers and to see first-hand how the money will help, said: “This type of project is exactly what the New Initiatives Fund exists for.
“The Galleywood Youth Project is providing teenagers with an excellent venue to meet and socialise as well as offering them the opportunity to take part in trips and activities that will help build their confidence.”
Deputy PCC Lindsay Whitehouse with youngsters from the Galleywood Youth Project, volunteers and Galleywood parish councillors
Louise Bruder, a volunteer at the Galleywood Youth Club, said: “It is really fantastic to receive this money as it is going to make this project more sustainable and we have already recruited three volunteers.”
And Cllr David Stevenson, Chairman of Galleywood Parish Council, added: “I’m really over the moon with the money the youth project has received.
“They really are doing great things here and that money will certainly help it continue.”
Galleywood Parish Council has also provided financial support to the youth club and has purchased equipment for them including games consoles.
