LIPHOOK Youth Club is in serious danger of closing due to a lack of volunteers to keep it going.

The youth club has now been running for eight years and started with the support of Hampshire County Council’s Youth Service, but since the county council stopped all youth work funding it has been run entirely by a team of volunteer youth workers.

The club is supported by a grant from Bramshott and Liphook Parish Council, with contributions from a local trust and East Hampshire District Council.

The youth club has been meeting at the Liphook Millennium Centre every Monday during school term, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, with a regular attendance of about 30 young members. It is open to young people in school Years 7 to 11.

Dr John Tough, chairman of the youth club’s management committee and himself a volunteer, said: “It is a great pity that we are probably going to have to close it down as we just don’t have enough volunteers.

“It will be a great disappointment to the 27 young members who attended the other night. It would be tragic if it had to close after being so successful.

“Its large membership is evidence that it is clearly what the young people of Liphook want and need.”

The youth club depends entirely on volunteer youth workers to be able to hold youth sessions.

The team of volunteers has dwindled of late, with people leaving for unavoidable family or work reasons. This has put the youth club in danger of having to close.

On one occasion it was not able to open because of a shortage of volunteers.

Volunteers must be 18 or over, and able to offer two hours on Monday evenings during term time, but not necessarily every Monday.

Basic youth work training would be provided for new volunteers if necessary.

Kayleigh Rigby, the lead volunteer youth worker, said: “The youth club is doing really well with a good number of young people attending regularly but to make sure it continues we are in real need of more volunteers.

“This would ensure it had a future and it would allow us to provide more activities and projects for our young members and to reduce the load on individual volunteers.”

Anyone who would like to register their interest in volunteering at Liphook Youth Club should contact Dr John Tough by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 01428 724492 for further information.