Saved youth club is given £2,500 by Bognor Regis Town Council

The Mayor of Bognor Regis, Cllr John Barrett was delighted to present a cheque to the Sussex Clubs for Young People last week, on behalf of Bognor Regis Town Council.

Cllr Barrett met Brian Ansell, manager of 39 Youth Club. and Chris Cook, CEO of Sussex Clubs for Young People, at the premises in Glamis Street, who were delighted to receive the contribution.

It is hoped that this money, for match funding, will go towards the continuation of youth provision and services within the town, which the town council, through the community engagement and environment committee, is keen to actively support.

The future of The 39 Club was secured recently after the Find It Out Centre, where it meets, was gifted to the community by West Sussex County Council.

The building in Church Path was deemed ‘surplus to operational requirements’ last year, after the council restructured its Early Help Service.

Another former youth club, The Phoenix Centre, on Westloats Lane, was also closed.

Since then, the county council officers decided to transfer the venue, as well as its annexe, to the volunteers and staff of The 39 Club for 25 years, rent free.

The news came months after Sussex Clubs for Young People – the charity behind The 39 Club – launched an online petition, hoping to gain control of the building.

At the time, volunteers were relegated to the club’s annexe – a barebones facility with no proper toilets or kitchen not much bigger than a studio flat.