New youth club set to open in Flackwell Heath

A new youth club for those aged 11 to 16 is set to open in the hall of the Flackwell Heath Methodist Church, Flackwell Heath on Monday 12th January 2015.

A cash injection of £5,500 from Buckinghamshire County Council has helped pave the way for the Flackwell Heath Youth Group to be run between 7.30pm to 9.30pm on Monday evenings.

For just £1 an evening the youngsters will be able to enjoy a range of games and activities or simply socialise with their friends.

‘Young people in this age group are so heavily engaged with their homework these days that they need, in their own words, ‘to chill out sometimes with their friends‘, explained Simon Fowke, a former Wooburn & Bourne End Parish and district councillor. Simon has worked closely with two Flackwell Heath councillors, David Johncock and Jeff Herschel who, with the support of Action 4 Youth, have spearheaded the initial setting-up of the club.

‘There hasn’t been a youth club in Flackwell Heath for several years, and this has been a fantastic success in terms of enthusiastic volunteers from the local community coming forward to run the youth group but a few more male volunteers coming forward would be the icing on the cake‘ he added.

The new group will complement clubs at Wooburn Green and Bourne End. The start-up costs came from the County Council’s Chepping Wye Valley Local Community Partnership (LCP).

The LCP chairman Katrina Wood said: ‘The LCP identified the need for increased activities and facilities for young people as part of its priority to look after the community’s health and well-being.  Progress has already been made in this area with the creation of volunteer-run youth clubs in Wooburn Green and Bourne End with funding support from the parish council and LCP.

However, the LCP was also aware that there was no club in Flackwell Heath and therefore agreed to contribute £5,500 for the start-up costs. It is wonderful to see this long wanted youth club getting going and with such good local support from volunteers to help run it. The LCP is pleased to have been able to help fund such a worthwhile project.‘

Mr Fowke described the LCP’s contribution as ‘fantastic’. ‘We needed that sum of money to kick-start the club, to pay for things such as insurance and equipment, so the LCP’s funding helped us get this off the ground.‘