YOUNG people in Bere Alston have spearheaded a fundraising campaign to erect a youth shelter in the village.

Members of the Youth 2 Youth group, which hosts weekly youth club sessions at ‘The Hut’ in Bere Alston, want to improve the club’s outside space, known as ‘the courts’ — a hardstanding behind the parish hall, which has a basketball hoop and a small patch of grass. With youth sessions running two evenings a week and new sessions starting on a Saturday, the young people are currently fundraising and applying for funding to purchase a youth shelter for the area as somewhere to go when the club is closed, to provide cover in all weathers at all times of the year.

Youth worker Vicki Lloyd-Walsh said: ‘The young people in the village spend a lot of time hanging out at the courts and a group of them have decided they want to make the run down, graffitied area a bit nicer. There’s not really anywhere for young people to go in Bere Alston except the youth club two nights a week.

‘We’ve got a sheltered part in the youth hut doorway where dozens of young people gather if they are out and it is raining — it would be nice to have a proper shelter for them.’

Spearheading the initiative are two sixth form students Phoenix Rinkowski and Lauren Morris, who are members of the Youth 2 Youth steering group.

They wrote a letter to Bere Ferrers Parish Council explaining why they wanted a youth shelter and presented the letter to councillors at a meeting.

In the letter, Phoenix said that growing up in the village there were age appropriate activities facilities but as a teenager it has ‘become clear that there are insufficient amenities to suit our needs as teenagers’.

‘We can meet at The Hut which keeps us occupied twice a week but the rest of the time, we are left to hang out in the area known to us as “The Courts”, which is run down, vandalised and has no facilities except a neglected basketball hoop.

‘Our friendship group as well as other young people from our village meet daily in all weather conditions; we like to be outdoors, and this has been the same for many years with the previous generation

‘As a collective we feel that the construction of a shelter situated in The Courts, a civilised area in which we meet, somewhere sheltered and safe would not only benefit us, but the entire village community. We will work with Youth 2 Youth as a team to help raise the necessary funds to purchase and construct a youth shelter which will be strong, sturdy and vandal proof.

‘It has been proven that shelters reduce vandalism in the local area. We hope that this will benefit us, but also the future generations of our community.’

The council agreed to allow the group to improve the area and build a shelter on the hardstanding, providing they could raise the funds to purchase the shelter. An appropriate shelter — similar to the one in Tavistock next to the skate ramp — has been quoted as nearly £10,000.

Vicki added: ‘The parish council and open spaces committee have been very supportive to help the young people in Bere Alston achieve their ambition for a better outdoor youth space. Youth 2 Youth is very grateful for this opportunity and looks forward to achieving more improvements for the younger community in Bere Alston.

‘Fundraising, community involvement and working together is key to make this happen and we look forward to a productive summer.’

The youth group has been busy applying for grants and doing its own fundraising, having hosted a bacon baps, coffee and cake morning with live acoustic music on Saturday at Bere Alston Parish Hall.

The youth club hosts a session for people in school Years 7, 8 and 9 on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm where they can take part in cooking games and other activities of their choice and a session for young adults in Year 10 and over, which provides advice on careers, money and opportunities available as well as other things.