ALTHOUGH the Community Action Through Sports charity group has closed its doors, residents of Holsworthy need not fear, the youth club, previously run by CATS, will continue to operate.

The youth club, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary with a ‘Spring Fete’, was one of the many community initiatives that were successfully supported by the CATS charity.

Holsworthy and Rural CATS was a volunteer led community branch of the Community Action Through Sport charity.

In April 2014, the Holsworthy Youth Club was reopened, with the support of CATS

This was made possible by the lease for the youth centre building in Holsworthy being taken over from Devon County Council by the Holsworthy Community Property Trust.

Pam Johns, trustee, chair and company secretary of the Holsworthy Community Property Trust, told the Post: “People may be confused between the ‘Community Property Trust’ and the ‘Homes for Holsworthy’ group, they are one-in-the-same only the property trust are able to do a lot more than just homes.

“When Devon County Council announced, as part of their budget cut backs, that they would close the youth centre, there was an uproar from residents of Holsworthy who didn’t want to see it close.

“It is a valuable thing for Holsworthy and in light of the public response this move received, we at the Trust decided to take over the lease from Devon County Council.

“This was so it could be held on trust for the community and the CATS group said that they would hold the youth club sessions weekly whilst we, at the Property Trust, would deal with the bills, upkeep and insurance etcetera.”

Since then the youth club have been able to provide a safe space for local young people in which to socialize on a weekly basis, to interact, and engage with new activities as well as learn new life skills.

Helen Timbury, a volunteer for the Holsworthy Youth Club, said: “We have obviously proved that there is a need for this group, we get so many young people through the doors each week, with more attending the first session at the moment, but even our holiday session was well attended, which was great.

“It is important to provide a safe, secure and fun environment for the children to spend time socialising.

“At the moment they have really gotten stuck in with our ‘gardening project’ and we have been lucky enough to buy a new lawnmower recently, with thanks to a very generous donation from the vintage rally last year, and have already put up fencing and a gate, thanks to money kindly given to us by the Rotary Club.

“We are determined to keep it going and fully intend to keep working to provide a safe and fun place for the children.”

During the Holsworthy Youth Club’s first year, they engaged with a total of 76 young individuals and provided local members of the community with volunteering opportunities.

Volunteers range from age 14 to over 70, with some of the younger volunteers previously having been part of the youth club.

Mrs Johns said that some of the members of the youth club have gone on to volunteer and help the younger ones, with adult supervision, to learn new skills as they did. She said ‘it has been fantastic to see the older ones getting stuck in to help their youth group’, adding: “We, as the Property Trust and volunteers, want to continue the Youth Club in succession to the work CATS have already done.

“As the administrative body of the centre we want to be the vehicle which can help the youth club continue. We are sending out a plea to the local community to become volunteers, as without enough people to help run the sessions the youth club won’t be able to thrive as we hope it will.

“The hope is that if we have enough volunteers they won’t have to take every single session but can work on a rota basis or something similar.”

The facility is a multi-use space that is not only utilised by the youth club but also plays host to other groups such as a young carers group and the Holsworthy Army Cadet Force.

John Allen, trustee for the Property Trust said: “We at the Property Trust will take on the running of the youth club as sort of an umbrella organization but what we are really looking for is volunteers who can be proactive and spare some time to help us continue on from the great work that has already been done by people like Ads and Karen from CATS.”

For the youth club all necessary DBS checks will be carried out by the Trust. For anyone who would like to enquire about helping out the local youth club and becoming a volunteer can contact the administrator for the Holsworthy Community Property Trust, Ann Henley on [email protected] or anyone is welcome to pop in and visit the youth club on a Tuesday from 3.15 - 5.15pm for Years 6-9 or the later session from 5.30pm - 8pm for Years 10 and 11.