Garage’s youth project will ‘make a difference’

A LOCAL car garage has received partial funding from Westbury Area Board to continue their Youth Project, aimed at helping young people in the motor industry.

The project is currently  helping 10 young people work with KP Garage & Bodyshop at weekend workshops, to design and build a one-off BMW 330Ci M car,  with a view to displaying the vehicle at a local motoring event at Castle Combe. After the show, the car will be auctioned, with proceeds split equally between funding the next project and UK Youth.

The team at KP Garage applied for a £5.000 Local Youth Network grant, awarded by Westbury Area Board. With the application scoring the highest possible number in the application phase, the council has decided to fund the project.

However, due to it being a new financial year for grants, the budget had not yet been set before the area board meeting on Thursday 12th April therefore, the board agreed to award an initial sum of £2,000 to keep the project going and have deferred the rest of the money until budgets are clear.

The meeting saw Leasa Keay and Marie Pinnell represent the garage, presenting information about the scheme and their need for a grant.

Leasa Keay said, “The aim of our project is to get the youth off the streets and give them something to do. We have purchased the car ourselves, we use our own garage space and our own tools and they come in every weekend, and they work. We have 10 very different kids, from very different backgrounds and they are an absolute pleasure to work with.

“We are currently half- way through, but we need funds to get it off the ground and get it MOT- tested and make it road- legal. Hopefully next year we can run the project again, but by selling this car at a charity auction, it will fund itself and do it for years to come and hopefully open our own training centre.

“We want to be known as the garage who are giving something back, we are not here for ourselves, we want to make a difference.”

In response to the grant, Leasa Keay said, “To be honest I was overwhelmed at the response at the area board meeting and I still can’t quite believe it. I was in shock for a few days given the current situation of the unknown budget.

“The comments from the councillors were so good to hear, the support was really emotional and the realisation of what we are doing for today’s youth and the community really started to sink in. We honestly never realised how much impact it would have.”

The team is hosting an open afternoon on Saturday 28th April where people are invited to take a look at what the youth project is all about and to see the progress they are making with the show car.

The event will be held  at KP Garage, unit 1, Westbury Industrial Estate, Station Road, from 1.30pm- 4pm.