Bere Alston’s Youth 2 Youth has successfully secured funding to continue operating.

The youth club based at The Hut has been awarded £19,760 from the National Lottery Awards for All fund to cover the cost of youth worker wages for two years.

The funding represents a lifeline for the club who can now continue to operate two nights a week throughout the year.

Lead youth worker Melissa Thomas said: “Worker wages are our largest outgoing so to have secured this funding means a huge chunk of our costs have been covered and any further money we raise going forward will be used to provide meaningful and enriching activities for the young people in Bere Alston.”

The youth club is open on Monday and Thursday evenings for young people aged 11 to 19, and regularly attracts 15 to 20 young people. It has been operating in Bere Alston for more than 25 years with the focus on providing an environment which is safe and welcoming for young people.

Cookery is just one of the life skills on offer at the Youth 2 Youth sessions held at The Hut in Bere Alston. (Picture: Youth 2 Youth)
Cookery is just one of the life skills on offer at the Youth 2 Youth sessions held at The Hut in Bere Alston. Picture: Youth 2 Youth. ( )

They offer sessions with games, activities, cooking and life skills such as budgeting, careers, mental health and wellbeing, healthy relationships, as well as drugs and alcohol, and sexual health awareness.

Melissa added: “Living on the peninsula can be really isolating for a lot of young people as transport links to larger towns are infrequent. All young people should have access to good quality youth work no matter where they live.”

One young person recently commented on the club: “I like coming here because I trust Melissa and Ellie, and I can talk to them about things that are going on in my life.

Fundraisers like the "Afternoon Brew" in April helped to raise vital funds for the Youth 2 Youth club to run summer activity sessions. (Picture: Youth 2 Youth)
Fundraisers like the ‘Afternoon Brew’ in April helped to fund the summer activity sessions. Picture: Youth 2 Youth. ( )

“If the youth club wasn't open then I wouldn't have anyone to talk to about my problems because nobody else seems to care.”

Regular fundraisers such as the ‘Afternoon Brew’ held in April go towards their summer activities programme to run workshops and trips for the young people living on the peninsula. The club also seek to raise awareness of the lack of provisions available for young people in rural locations.

Fundraising events help raise money to fund summer trips and workshops for local young people who attend the Hut, home of the Youth 2 Youth club. (Picture: Youth 2 Youth)
Fundraising events help raise money to fund summer trips and workshops for the young people who attend the club. Picture: Youth 2 Youth ( )

Sir Geoffrey Cox MP has been invited to visit the club in August. Melissa Thomas explained: “We are very much looking forward to meeting with him to discuss the importance of rural youth work and youth clubs like ourselves.

“We hope that Sir Geoffrey will support us and the other small youth clubs around Torridge and Tavistock, by ensuring rural youth work doesn't get forgotten about during development the new National Youth Strategy.

“The past 12 months in particular have been difficult in terms of securing funding as more and more youth projects join the voluntary sector and less are funded by the local authority.

Children between 11 and 19 are invited to attend the sessions at the Hut which cover fun activities including summer workshops, as well as valuable life skills. (Picture: Youth 2 Youth)
Children between 11 and 19 are invited to attend the sessions. Picture: Youth 2 Youth. ( )

“We hope to show Sir Geoffrey the impact youth projects like ours are having on young people and our importance within the community.”

The government is creating a new ten-year National Youth Strategy to tackle the challenges for young people and held a month long national listening exercise for young people in the spring.