WESTBURY and Warminster youth club, which meet every Thursday in Lakeside Community Hall in Warminster park, have been holding Christmas activities, following a difficult year for the joint youth club.
Beth Mullins, leader of the youth club explained, “Covid 19 has hit us hard, just like every other club and business. But we kept the club running (as and when restrictions allowed) to give the young people of Westbury somewhere safe to go, to give them the support and social opportunity to meet, that they so missed during the lockdowns.
“So, when it came to Christmas, the committee, the team and I believed that it was a time to celebrate our members. We usually do a Christmas party and this year, for the first year, we entered Westbury’s Christmas tree festival by All Saints Church.
“Our members were involved from the very start. They said they would like a tree; they then chose the theme and came up with all the ideas for the decorations. The team and I got to work planning how the members could bring this to life and sourced the materials. We spent each session for three weeks designing and making the decorations.
“Not for one moment did we think it would win, but finding out it had, brought so much joy to our members! They were truly proud that it brought joy to so many people in Westbury that enough people voted to make it this year’s winner. We would all like to thank everyone who voted for us.
“We are doing things a little different this year when it comes to our members’ Christmas party, we asked the members what they would like, and they asked for a film night. To show a film we need a licence, so the team went about asking local businesses if they would mind sponsoring us to make this happen.
“Simon Dolbear of Connect Mortgages Wiltshire kindly agreed to sponsor us. This has meant that we can hold a film night this week and he has even kindly included soft drinks and popcorn for our members on the night.
“The whole team has a passion to provide a youth club for young people, giving them somewhere to go, making the club their own. We would like to thank Simon Dolbear and the Westbury community for their support and making Christmas this year one to remember in such challenging times.”
Westbury and Warminster Youth Club is held from 4.45pm to 6.15pm every Thursday during termtime and has a range of weekly activities for 11– 19-year-olds (up to 25 with learning disabilities) to enjoy. It costs just £1 to attend and the club can be contacted on Wiltshire Together or via Facebook.
Pictured; the club’s Christmas Festival tree.
