A youth club in Hazlemere is going from “strength to strength” following a major refurbishment project to transform it into a thriving community hub.

Andy Rose, chairman of the management committee at the Hazlemere Youth Centre on Rose Avenue, said the club is “doing really well” since undergoing work to give it a new lease of life.

Speaking to the Bucks Free Press in November, Mr Rose, who runs the youth club with his wife Holly and has the help of around 20 volunteers, said the centre “looked like a prison” with a leaky roof and barred windows and hoped that a lick of paint, new roof, windows and doors and a new security system would encourage residents to use the centre.

Now after spending more than £20,000 since July to bring the building up to scratch, Mr Rose says the youth club, which holds youth nights every Monday and Friday, is ‘fantastic’ and now has a games room and a computer room.

He said: “The youth centre is going really well. Youth club nights have a really strong attendance, we have 90 kids up here on a Friday, which is brilliant.

“The new roof is completed and the scaffolding has come down, new windows and doors have been installed, we have a new fence at the back and a new garden at the front thanks the help from the Chiltern Rangers. The kids will be able to grow and maintain their own vegetables, so there is a lot going on.

“The club is now safe and secure with a new security system. The club is going from strength to strength.”

Mr Rose said he is now “massively proud” of the centre, whose youth club nights started with just one child.

He said: “Now we have 50 or 60 per night, it is great for them to have somewhere they can come and let their hair down away from parents but in a safe, secure environment.

“Bizarrely it has become a passion to keep this going. I love it and I love seeing what the place can do and what we can do for the community. It’s nice to be part of such a great community.”

One of the finishing touches to the centre would be a new floor in the main hall, which Mr Rose is determined to continue raising money for.

He said: “The floor in there is the original concrete. It’s not the best floor for young kids so we are looking at getting a sprung floor. We are trying everything to raise money for that now.”

Visit www.make-a-donation.org/charity/hazlemere-youth-centre to make a donation.

  • The youth centre, along with Marlow Marquees, is hosting a Valentines Day black tie ball with DJ and finger buffet on February 13, for adults only. The ball will run from 7.30pm until midnight. Call 01494 813 353 or visit www.marlowmarquees.co.uk/events to buy tickets.