Chard could lose 70-year-old youth club as charity folds
A Somerset youth centre which has been welcoming young people for more than 70 years could have to close.The charity which runs Chard Youth Centre, said it was no longer financially sustainable.The trustees of Chard Area Youth Committee said it was a "heart-wrenching" decision to potentially close the centre which started operating for local young people in 1949.The centre will currently hold its final youth sessions in July.
The charity which is made up of seven trustees, was set up in 2019 to run the centre when Somerset County Council ended funding youth services in Chard.Tricia O'Brien, chair of the Chard Area Youth Committee, said it was a "very sad meeting" when the decision was taken to close the charity.She said it had relied on other groups hiring the building to help cover the costs - but after the Covid-19 pandemic they didn't have enough private hire bookings to help pay for the building, a situation not helped by rising utility bills."It's a beautiful old building and it's just ideal for young people, but its an issue of sustainability," Ms O'Brien said."We have tried everything in our power to avoid closing it," she said - adding the response from the community since announcing the charity's closure had been "wonderful." "They're all very sad that it's happened but very understanding because it's a sign of the times," said Ms O'Brien.
Active Learning Skills runs sessions at the centre, commissioned by Chard Area Youth Committee.Pete May, director, Active Learning and Skills said he was "hugely saddened" by the news the centre would be closing."We would like to thank the committee most sincerely for their incredibly hard work in challenging times over the years, and for their partnership in enabling our services to be used by between 300-500 young people and children per year, in recent years," said Mr May.
Possible new support
He described the club as a "super venue" with good facilities where young people could make new friends."Importantly though, what is also provided is more than just a space to have fun and a good social time, but also support in dealing with problems and crisis."{it offered] Chances to try new things, learning and help on issues affecting them, developing life skills and understanding of the world around them, plus opportunities to get involved in their community," Mr May added.As things stand, the final session for young people will be on 18 July.At a meeting on Monday night, Chard Town Council agreed to set up a steering group to try and support future youth services across the town.The discussion was held in a confidential part of the meeting, but councillors agreed in principle that it needs to have an input in youth services for Chard.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
UK wildlife numbers are falling despite increase in number of trees
Wildlife numbers in the UK are falling despite a small increase in the number of trees, a new report says. The findings, published by charity the Woodland Trust, show both the quantity and variety of wildlife is going down That's despite a rise in woodland cover, which describes how much of a particular area of land is covered by trees. The conservation charity says the UK needs to improve the condition and scale of its woodlands to tackle wildlife loss. The Woodland Trust says the decline of wildlife is down to the fall in the biodiversity woodlands have seen over time. Biodiversity is all about the variety of plants, animals and other living things found in a specific environment or place. Butterflies, woodland birds, dormice and lots of different plant species have all seen a significant fall in their numbers over the years, according to the report. Ancient and veteran trees, which are really important for wildlife because of their unique characteristics which provide food and places for animals and organisms to live, have also seen a fall in numbers. "UK woodlands lack open spaces, such as glades, which allow light to reach the forest floor and young trees to grow," said Abigail Bunker who is the director of conservation and external affairs at the Woodland Trust. "There are also fewer older trees, which, along with their soils, lock in carbon from the atmosphere. Alarmingly, many British woodlands have very few - if any - ancient and veteran trees left."While woodland cover increased from 13.2% of UK land in 2020 to 13.5% in 2024, the report says just 45% of the government's targets for increased woodland was met over those four also points to recommendations from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) to increase the number of trees in the UK as part of government plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to also tackle climate change. What else is in the report? The Woodland Trust's report also highlights the impact woodlands have on wellbeing and communities, with nine in 10 people agreeing woodland biodiversity has a positive impact through things like birdsong or the sound of rustling leaves, according to a poll. "We are calling on the government and others to invest in the management of our woodlands, so that people and wildlife can experience the benefits of these precious ecosystems..." said Ms Bunker. "It's also vital that the government start hitting their tree-planting targets, so that there is time to grow the veteran trees of the future and help shape woodlands to better withstand challenges like new diseases, or rising temperatures."The government's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said, "Trees are really important for helping the planet and for protecting animals and nature."We are spending £400 million to plant more trees and are working hard to take care of our woodlands so they can help all types of wildlife."
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Damp forced us to live in bedroom for four years'
A woman has said she and her husband were forced to live upstairs in their home in Leeds for four years after the council failed to solve an issue with Town said the damp, from a flood under her council-owned home, caused appliances to break down, destroyed furniture and led to further health concerns for her husband, who was recovering from a serious Town said: "It destroys you, knowing the council knew the condition we were living in and that we lost everything downstairs, and did nothing to address it."A council spokesperson apologised for not fully resolving the issue, but said multiple repairs had been carried out and the house had remained "habitable". Mrs Town said the repairs to the property in Thorpe on the Hill, where she had lived for 12 years before moving to East Yorkshire at the end of last year, had included replastering the living room five times after it kept becoming damp."We lived in the bedroom for four years. The mental health [impact] from doing that in your late 40s and 50s – it's no good at all," Mrs Town said."I'm not upset, I'm angry. They wouldn't live like that, so why did they expect me to?" Mrs Town said it had become a "running joke" with builders, plasterers and plumbers when they repeatedly visited the property to fix the same issues."The council was sending plasterer after plasterer to rip off the walls and re-do them, without getting to the root cause of the damp and the mould," she explained that the damp had caused the oven and fridge-freezer to break down and work surfaces to come away from the wall in the the carpet had begun to smell and it eventually had to be removed, leaving bare floorboards, she Town said she and her husband had to take their clothes to the laundrette and they had lived on takeaways and air fryer food - even having Christmas dinner in their bedroom."It's enough to take a toll on anybody," she said. Mrs Town said that despite being in the top priority band for council housing and bidding for a new property every week, trying to downsize from their three-bedroom home, they were never able to secure said they had taken things into their own hands in December and had moved to Hornsea in East Yorkshire, which she said was "not ideal" and had been an "upheaval"."I was suffering with chest infection after chest infection, and I just said I couldn't do it anymore. Anchor Homes offered us this one, so I took it," Mrs Town said."We have lovely neighbours, but it is quiet, and I feel out of place at times."Without a car here, you are cut off. Both our families [are in Leeds], and my friends are there." 'Really angry' Mrs Town said the move had also meant the couple had to pay for further travel and accommodation when Mr Town had hospital appointments in Sheffield which he still needed to attend following a bleed on the brain eight years said Leeds City Council had been aware of Mr Town's health issues, which included a small stroke, loss of hearing and chest infections since the brain haemorrhage."Any council should not get away with making people live like that. I am really angry with them. I want them to acknowledge what they've done," she a spokesperson for Leeds City Council said repairs were carried out on several occasions in an attempt to resolve the issue at Mr and Mrs Town's home."Unfortunately, the root cause was not addressed, and the issue returned when there was heavy rainfall," they said."The property remained habitable during the tenancy, although Leeds City Council apologise for not being able to resolve the matter fully." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Safe route past man-made Essex weir created for eels
A project to allow eels and other fish to safely bypass a man-made weir has been concrete weir, created by Essex and Suffolk Water in the River Blackwater, near Maldon, Essex, was preventing fish from completing their natural migration route is particularly important for eels, which travel from the Sargasso Sea in the North mature from glass eels to elvers to yellow eels in the River Blackwater and other places in the UK before heading back to the North Atlantic to lay eggs. Project manager Kerri Russell, of Essex & Suffolk Water, said: "We take a great deal of care to make sure the work we do isn't to the detriment of the local environment."It's a bespoke design, with peg tiles for the eels to weave through and baffle tiles for the fish, to slow the flow of water and allow them to rest if they need to."We've had a lot of interest from local groups, so recently our teams carried out visits to the site, which is on private land, to explain the work that has taken place and why it is important."The Environment Agency has set up a camera to monitor the fish that pass through the new structure. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
