THE future of Stacksteads Youth Club was secured after county council funding was agreed for an extra worker.

The 52-year-old club faced an uncertain future when Lancashire County Council budget restrictions cut the number of youth and community workers.

But at a well-attended public meeting chaired by youth club representative Lee Greenwood, county youth and community officer John Goffee agreed more money would be put into the youth club.

Board of advisors member Coun Michael McShea, who attended the club himself as a boy, said: "They agreed to give a paid worker another session per week in the youth club to advise and get voluntary workers in training. "The paid worker will be available until Christmas and we will be meeting again as a body before Christmas to discuss how it is going and whether we need to extend the training."

He said the club had been reduced to just one paid worker supervising a team of about eight voluntary workers with a youth club of more than 100 children.

Coun McShea said: "Training has been on going but the voluntary workers did not feel they were as capable of running as fully trained professionals.

"Now we have a compromise which is in the best interests of everyone."

The club caters from children from eight years old to 21 and on a Friday evening there are normally 80 children attending sessions.

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