MP Sir Geoffrey Cox dropped in to see Bere Alston’s Youth 2 Youth group based at The Hut on the peninsula.

The local MP was invited to talk about the difficulties of attracting funding for youth provision which is open twice a week in the village.

The Youth 2 Youth group started more than 11 years ago in a portacabin with a hole in the floor remembers Caroline Down who runs Holsworthy Youth Club and attended the meeting with the MP.

Now the young people have a purpose-built space with a kitchen, pool table, sofa and gaming area, and offers two free youth club sessions each week for the local youngsters.

Melissa Thomas, lead youth worker at the project since February 2024 spoke to the MP about the reductions in youth funding from the Devon County Council Space project from £3,400 last year to £1,600 this year.

Despite receiving a recent grant from the from the National Lottery Awards for All fund for £19,760, that money will just cover youth worker wages for their two sessions per week at the club and two hours each week completing funding applications. The youth worker has sent off 25 applications in the last 12 months. Just two were successful.

Between 15 and 25 young people attend the two mixed age sessions but the youth worker and her co-youth worker Ellie Bennett are limited in what they are able to offer.

She said: “With extra money we can do cooking, we can do crafts.” She even talks about the ability to offer music, maybe even a guitar library, that the young people could learn to play and take home.

She said: “The kids here don’t get the same opportunities that kids for example in Tavistock get. It pulls on my heartstrings as they deserve so much more. I want these these kids to have that future. Potentially we could help so many more children.

“We aim to be the preventative side of youth work. Preventative work has been cut and it’s reactive youth work that the local authority has been pushing.”

The Government is creating a new ten-year National Youth Strategy to tackle the challenges for young people and this week (August 7) announced Cornwall as one of 12 pilot locations, the only in the South West, receiving part of £88m investment in youth services to tackle online challenges facing young people.

Councillor Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin, Devon County Council’s cabinet member for the youth service, said: “Devon County Council remains firmly committed to prioritising the needs and aspirations of young people across the county.

“While we were not selected as a pilot area in the government’s ‘Local Youth Transformation’ programme, we support the aims of the initiative and will continue to explore any future opportunities that arise.

“Our ongoing work with Devon Youth Council ensures young people’s voices are heard and reflected in our decisions.

“We remain focused on doing all we can within available resources to improve outcomes and create supportive, inclusive environments where young people can thrive.”