Youth group's delight at taking over community centre

Bosses at a Blackpool youth charity said they are delighted to be taking over a vandal-plagued community centre.
Horsebridge Community CentreHorsebridge Community Centre
Horsebridge Community Centre

The Boathouse Youth group is to work with Blackpool Coastal Housing to bring new life to Horsebridge Community Centre from next year.

The centre has been closed after a series of vandal attacks last summer left windows repeatedly broken and doors damaged.

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It has meant that a regular breakfast club for isolated pensioners had to be cancelled.

The Boathouse Youth group offers cycling,sports and trips out as well as youth club servicesThe Boathouse Youth group offers cycling,sports and trips out as well as youth club services
The Boathouse Youth group offers cycling,sports and trips out as well as youth club services

There is an alternative group at the Argosy Centre but some of the frail older people have not been able to travel the extra distance to get to it.

Now the centre is get get a revamp ready for it to be the new base for the youth group. Boathouse Youth offers a whole range of clubs and services for young people.

It offers youth club evenings, residential experiences, homework clubs, youth work sessions and school holiday activities.

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Boathouse Youth’s chief executive Laurance Hancock said: We're delighted to be working with Blackpool Coastal Housing on this project.

Laurance HancockLaurance Hancock
Laurance Hancock

"We have been running a successful Youth Club on Grange Park for the past two years from Boundary Primary School with almost 250 admissions each week of children aged between five and 16.

"These children have also benefited from our day-trip and residential experiences including canal boating, camping and cycling. The move to Horsebridge will affirm our place as a community group at Grange Park in addition to enabling an increase from three nights to five-nights provision.

"Young People on the estate will have a place they can call their own. They will have a say in its design and decor, help to maintain the small garden and enjoy a variety of different projects from the Duke of Edinburgh's Award to First Aid Courses."