Brett Supports New Activities For Chartham Youth Club

Members of the Chartham Youth Club are enjoying new air hockey and pool tables, thanks to the support of the Brett Group.

Members of the Chartham Youth Club are enjoying new air hockey and pool tables, thanks to the support of the Brett Group. The club, which meets every Wednesday at Chartham Village Hall, welcomes youngsters between the ages of nine and 18, offering a range of activities and a safe environment in which to socialise with friends. With only a few clubs for this age group in the area, Chartham Youth Club is popular with youngsters from the parish and other nearby villages.

While the club makes a minimal charge of £1 per child for attendance, fund-raising is needed to cover the cost of venue hire, activities and equipment.  Donna Lankford, one of the enthusiastic team of volunteers who run the club, approached Brett Group who responded with a donation towards the club’s wish list.

“Our club is situated very close to Brett Group’s head office and it is fantastic to have their support in the local community,” says Donna. “We are all absolutely delighted with the company’s generous donation and have already purchased an air hockey table and a new pool table which converts to a dart board with the money we received. We still have some funds left so we will be discussing what else to buy with our members.”

Chartham Youth Club has been running for 12 years and many of the leadership team have been involved for most of that time.  Donna, who works as a Community Worker at Canterbury City Council, joined the team some ten years ago and Youth Club Leader, Chris Simms has nine years’ service under his belt.

“We are all volunteers with day jobs but each of us feels we get a great deal back from our commitment to the club,” continues Donna. “We have had a number of Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteers over the years.  One of our team, Philip Wood, came as such a volunteer eight years ago and is still with us today.

“We offer a safe place for young people to meet up and enjoy time with friends. During the winter months we offer a range of indoor activities such as table tennis, pool and a craft corner but when the lighter evenings come, we make good use of the village field for sports and games as well as arranging outings and events. Our annual trip to Chessington World of Adventure is a particular favourite among club members. We find younger siblings and friends of members are chomping at the bit to join the club as soon as they have their ninth birthday.”

The new equipment funded by Brett Group has proved very popular with club members.