Greenham Common Trust Helps Fund Youth Programmes

A welcome grant has breathed new life into a centre which offers essential opportunities for restless youngsters over the summer.

Greenham Common Trust leases Greenham Community Centre from West Berkshire Council. Previously it pledged £150,000 to improve the building which had fallen into a state of disrepair.

It now has given a further £3,052 to go towards summer activities at the centre for young people from the Bishops Green and Nightingale estates.

The funds will pay for diverse summer activities to give children a chance to direct their energies in a more positive way. The grant will enable youth leaders to deliver activities for five days a week over five weeks, as well as residential trips.

Youngsters can try out a climbing wall, a mountain bike track, laser clay pigeon shooting and kayaking. There will be trips for ice skating and bowling, and adventure breaks in the New Forest and Avon Tyrrell.

Ian Green, youth worker and project manager at the Community Youth Project, said: “Delivering activities for children and young people from the housing estates at Bishops Green and the Nightingale estate makes a huge difference to these communities.

“Taking large groups of young people off the streets and engaging them in positive activities means that young people experience risk and adventure in a positive way and residents benefit from a community free from juvenile crime and nuisance.”

A grant for £3,015 has also been made available to the Vision Youth Club, in Thatcham.

The club provides a safe and fun environment for eight to 12 year olds to socialise and learn new skills, including music, arts and crafts, baking and more. There is also a young leader programme which helps develop leadership skills.

Dan Carter, Youth Club Manager, said: “The grant means so much as we will be able to continue providing our youth club. Without this grant we wouldn’t have been able to run the club for the rest of the year.

“The club is able to benefit young people and families in the community by offering them a safe and fun place to go, with 150 young people on our books and a weekly term time average of 52 young people attending.”

Hungerford Youth and Community Centre received a grant for £11,830.
The money will support current and future projects, and help the youth club protect itself against urgent maintenance issues. It will also mean the management committee can build up their reserves, and ultimately reduce the need for grants and donations in the future.

Charlotte Barr, from Hungerford Youth and Community Centre, said: “It is fair to say that if it weren't for GCT’s generosity, our centre would not be here today. Not only is this grant vital financially, but the support and encouragement GCT provides means a lot as well.”

Chris Boulton, Chief Executive of Greenham Common Trust, said: “All these community youth groups have done a fantastic job in supporting and nurturing local young people. They provide a safe and different environment for children to learn new skills and improve their talent.

"We wish them all the best in their current goals, and making their centres even more successful in the future.”