THE FUTURE OF Bourne Youth Centre is under review by Lincolnshire County Council as part of the latest round of public spending cuts and we should not forget the struggle the town faced in past years to establish this amenity for young people. 

The clubs we know today stem from the Standing Conference of National Voluntary Youth Organisations which was held in 1936, a landmark in the strengthening of the voluntary principle of youth work in Britain.  

The programme was interrupted by the Second World War of 1939-45 but in the years that followed, its influence on local authorities played a major role in the setting up of youth clubs across the country. The training of youth leaders was seen to be of paramount importance and the number of young people who flocked to join the new clubs was evidence of the need that existed for a formal and organised way of spending their leisure time. 

This resulted in the formation of the Bourne Victory Youth Club which met at the Victoria Hall in Spalding Road, now demolished, but surprisingly it foundered after a few years through lack of support. There was a resurgence of interest, mainly from the local political organisations, with both the Conservative and Labour parties starting youth clubs, but youngsters wanting something to do rather than a political ideology often joined both to take advantage of the leisure facilities they offered.  

Yet another attempt was made in 1961 with the opening of the Under 21 Club and although it initially attracted 60 members, interest flagged and that too closed down within a year. Poor organisation and a lack of support from outside bodies were blamed for these closures but the need for a youth club in the town remained and the following year, Bourne Urban District Council, under the chairmanship of Councillor Dr John Galletly (1899-1993), decided that a new club should be launched with the official support of both the urban and county authorities. 

A public meeting was therefore called at the Vestry Hall in North Street on Thursday 1st February 1962 to discuss the project and the large attendance was evidence of the support it would receive. Dr Galletly, who took the chair, told the meeting: “We feel there is a tremendous scope for a youth club in Bourne which will attract those young people who are not willing to join uniformed or sectarian clubs that are already doing fine work.” 

Figures presented to the meeting showed that there were 586 people in Bourne aged from 14 to 20 and assuming that only one in three used the new club there was a potential membership of 200. A total of 23 volunteers who attended the meeting offered their services and as a result, Kesteven County Council began recruiting officers to run the club on a part-time basis and provided special training courses consisting of a series of weekend and evening sessions on management, leisure and sporting activities and administration. 

The idea took some time to come to fruition but the Hereward Youth Club finally opened in November 1965. Meetings for young people aged between 14 and 20 were held every Tuesday evening and there were soon 56 members on the roll and an average attendance of 40 members at each session. Activities included games, talks, a car maintenance class and judo but outdoor pursuits such as camping, canoeing and rock climbing outings were organised in conjunction with the Kesteven Youth Service together with weekend get-togethers with young people from other parts of the county. 

The club later moved to the Congregational [now the United Reformed] Church hall in Eastgate and in 1977 it was granted a lease of the Vestry Hall in North Street, then owned by Bourne United Charities, although it was in a dilapidated condition. The average nightly attendance at this time was 40 and members faced an uphill financial struggle to bring the premises up to standard in order that public events could be held there but fund raising and donations eventually raised the £20,000 required to upgrade the fire precautions and other improvements including new toilets, so ending the practice of members using those in the bus station across the road. 

The club stayed there until 1986 when it moved to a row of old prefabricated huts that had been used as temporary classrooms in the grounds of the former secondary school (now the Robert Manning College) where it remained for the next eighteen years, changing its name to Bourne Youth Centre.

In 2003, Lincolnshire County Council decided to replace the huts with a brand new youth centre close by and the plans included a main hall for activities, coffee bar and lounge, a quiet room, information technology suite, offices, stores and toilets, at a total cost of £432,000. Local councillors welcomed the development as a benefit to the community and work began early the following year although the club continued to operate from its present premises in the meantime. 

There were delays but the project was eventually completed by the summer and the centre opened its doors on Monday 13th September 2004 with an official opening the following March when a plaque was unveiled by Councillor Ian Croft, the member for Bourne Castle on Lincolnshire County Council. "It is a very smart new base for the youngsters", he said. "They are already caring for it and there has been an increased attendance since it opened. It is long overdue and the former building can only be described as a shed and certainly not built for use as a youth centre."

If a new centre was necessary seven years ago then the same demand must be evident today but the economic climate has changed dramatically in the intervening years and provision is regulated by what the budget can afford. The youth club, and many other popular community amenities, may therefore become victims of the public spending cuts now being imposed with far reaching effects on the benefits the town once enjoyed.