A CHARITY established in Bude 11 years ago in answer to anti-social behaviour has announced ‘with sadness’ its decision to close.

Community Action Through Sport (CATS) charity was established in Bude in 2005, in response to a dispersal area being imposed on the young people of Bude.

Karen Hemmings, CATS project development manager told the Post that before the charity had started: “We felt a bit aggrieved, we thought all the positive things young people were doing were going unrecognised.”

CATS has offered young people the opportunity to get involved, in a positive way, with their community.

At its peak, CATS had a total of 14 volunteer-led community branches across Devon and Cornwall, including branches at Bude and Holsworthy.

Denise May, co-founder of CATS and chairperson of the board of trustees, said the decision ‘has not been taken lightly’, adding: “But after continued efforts, we have been unable to secure future funding to support the continuation of CATS and the work we do across Cornwall and Devon.”

Ms Hemmings said in 2011 the charity had been lucky enough to receive funding from the Big Lottery until the end of April 2014. They identified an underspend and agreed a contract extension, and Ms Hemmings also noted the help of grants from the Tudor Trust and Garfield Weston Foundation, allowing them to continue their work until this point.

The charity has tried to secure other grants and funding, but Ms Hemmings added: “We have been unsuccessful so have had to make a difficult decision.

“It’s very sad. The charity has been going for 11 years and has achieved a massive amount. It has supported thousands of young people directly.

“It’s very very sad we can’t continue but we are trying to focus on the great things we have achieved.”

The decision was made by the CATS trustees at their annual general meeting on April 21, but the charity held off making the announcement public to enable the Bude CATS awards evening to take place at the end of May as an evening of celebration, rather than one tinged with sadness.

Ms Hemmings added: “We didn’t want to take away from what that evening was. The awards evening is supposed to be a celebration of all the fantastic things the young people did — a celebration of their positive work.”

Unfortunately, the closure of the charity will mean the awards evening will no longer take place. At Bude’s recent and final awards evening 85 people were recognised. Earlier this year, 178 people were recognised for their achievements in Callington, and last year 188 in Torridge, 111 in Holsworthy.

In Bude, it is hoped the Friday Night Splash swim sessions can continue. The sessions stemmed from a community programme developed by two 15-year-old girls in 2010, supported by CATS. In 2015/16, Friday Night Splash engaged with a total of 197 young people and provided volunteering opportunities for a small, dedicated team of young people.

Ms Hemmings said the sessions always take a break in the summer term, and it is hoped they will continue in the autumn term.

The reopening of Holsworthy Youth Club last year was another highlight for CATS charity — the youth club was supported by CATS in its reopening, in partnership with Holsworthy Community Property Trust.

Ms Hemmings said: “The volunteers are still very passionate about ensuring the youth project continues in the area.”

She said the charity does not imagine there will be ‘much of a change’ with the youth project in Holsworthy, but that it would now be the property trust and volunteers ‘moving it forward’.