A YOUTH club has been saved from closure thanks to a £950 grant from Stroud District Youth Council.

Maypole Youth Club, which was formerly based in Paganhill, held a family fun day in August last year in a bid to save the centre from closing.

Youth leader Craig Johnson is now delighted to announce that the club will once again be opening after securing the vital funding.

“We held the fun day to raise funds in a bid to save the youth club and now it has finally been saved thanks to the grant from the youth council,” said Craig.

“We had around 30 young folk on the books before we had to close our doors but we are moving to new premises at Stroud Youth Centre and will have a much larger catchment area, so hopefully we will have more youngsters coming along to the youth club.”

A special re-launch party will be held tomorrow, Friday, from 6pm to 9pm at the new venue - Stroud Youth Centre in Ryeleaze Road.

The centre has internet access, is sound-proofed and is geared towards young people.

“The re-launch party is free for those coming along and will provide young folk with plenty of information. It is also open to parents as well or anyone wishing to volunteer,” said Craig.

“We will also be looking for ideas for future activities and what the kids want to do and we will conduct a survey which will hopefully give us an idea of how we want to take the club forward.”

The new club will meet on Monday, March 31 and Friday, April 4 from 6pm to 7.30pm. It will then be held each week on Mondays and Fridays during the same times.

“While the re-launch is free, we welcome any donations. The new youth group will have an admission charge of £1.50 per session, and hopefully we will welcome plenty of new faces through the doors,” added Craig.