New Youth Centre for Barrow

Young people living in the Ormsgill and Parkside areas of Barrow could soon be a step nearer to having their own youth project thanks to a grant from Barrow Local Committee. 

The Local Committee decided at its meeting today to give £20,000 a year over the next three years towards setting up a youth project in the area, subject to match funding. 

Councillor Alan Nicholson, Chairman of the Local Committee, said:   

"I am pleased we have been able to approve funding for this worthy cause. There is no youth provision in the area at the moment and I am confident that a youth project will benefit local people tremendously. The local young people must also be praised for all the work they have done to date towards this idea. It is down to them that we have got this far and I hope this scheme gets up and running as soon as possible." 

The idea of providing such a youth project came after local residents said they were concerned about the lack of provision for young people in the area. County Council staff and councillors took to the streets to ask young people what they would actually want. From this, and from questionnaires being sent out to local schools, as special neighbourhood forum meeting was set up, which was very well attended by young people. They said they wanted somewhere to go and the idea of a youth project was agreed. 

Councillor Nicholson added:   

"We hope that our grant will act as a catalyst to draw down other funding. An informal steering group has been set up to progress the idea. If all the necessary funding is found, a suitable premises will need to be found and the young people will need to get together to progress the proposals and decide exactly what they want." 

Other youth organisations to benefit from grants approved by the Local Committee today were the Girl Guiding Barrow Division, Dalton District Guide Association and Emmanuel Community Church, which each received £500, and Barrow Island Community Centre, which was awarded £3000. 

The Girl Guiding Barrow Division aims to show girls aged five and up the skills and crafts to enable them to develop into well rounded and responsible members of society. The grant will enable guiders to direct their time to support girls rather than prioritising fund raising. 

Dalton District Guide Association aims to provide an appropriate meeting place for guide and rainbow units, training rooms for guiders and young leaders and Dalton Town Band. The grant will make a significant contribution to the cost of the room rent and services. 

The grant to the Emmanuel Community Church will go towards a residential weekend at a specialist centre catering for able-bodied young people and young people with disabilities. 

Barrow Island Community Centre provides youth work activities and is planning to extend its opening hours to five evenings a week, due to popular demand. They are also lowering their age limit to eight. The grant will be used for staff costs.