THE MANAGEMENT committee of Liphook Youth Club has decided to re-open the club.

The club will re-open on Monday, February 22, from 6.30-8.30pm at Liphook Millennium Centre.

For the time being the club will continue twice a month during school term.

Liphook Youth Club had been running successfully since 2009. Initially youth workers were provided by Hampshire County Council’s Youth Service until 2013 when Community First took over. The county council partly funded this work until funding of youth work was stopped at the end of March last year.

The management committee agreed at that time it could not commit to the cost of employing Community First youth workers.

The youth club had only two volunteer youth workers and had to suspend its operations.

A campaign to recruit volunteers and management committee members was carried out last summer when leaflets appealing for help were delivered to homes throughout Liphook.

This was successful and the youth club now has nine volunteers who are being trained for youth work by 4 Youth, the organisation which represents youth clubs in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

The volunteers have been meeting regularly to organise training and plan the future of the youth club and the activities they would provide.

They have agreed to start youth club sessions on Monday, February 22, and continue with them on the first and third Mondays of each month during school term until the end of the summer term. They then hope to run weekly sessions from the start of the autumn term.

Liphook Youth Club management committee chairman Dr John Tough said: “It’s wonderful to be opening again, and we’ve got a team of wonderful youth volunteers.

“We’re looking forward to seeing our members again, and any new members will be very welcome.

“We were a bit nervous about having weekly sessions to start with, but we’ll hopefully have weekly sessions after the summer holidays when our workers have gained extra confidence.”

The management committee have agreed that Dr John Tough should continue as chairman and that Barbara Cuerdon should be secretary. It was also agreed the lead youth worker should be Kayleigh Rigby, and the child protection officer Karina Gifford.

The youth workers have been planning activities and how the work of the club should resume. In addition to indoor and outdoor sports and games, such as football, badminton, basketball, table tennis and pool there will be many activities including craft, music, cooking and occasional trips out. The youth club has found it needs to increase its subscriptions to £1.50 each time they attend but this will include a hot toasty and a drink on arrival.