A RESCUE package has been agreed to provide a new youth centre for Wallingford.

Last month, Oxfordshire County Council cuts led to the closure of the town’s youth centre in Clapcot Way.

But earlier this year, plans were drawn up for the town council and children’s charity Pact (Parents and Children Together) to buy the abandoned evangelical church in Wigod Way and create their own youth centre, children’s centre and foodbank.

Now funding has been identified for the scheme to go ahead.

Lynda Atkins, independent county councillor for Wallingford, said a £175,000 package had been drawn up to create the new centre.

She said: “We have bid for £20,000 of Big Society funding from the county council and will find out on October 18 if this is successful.

“We are also hoping to use developer funding of up to £70,000, which is being held by the county council, and the balance of the funding for the project will come from the town council.

“That means the town council could be left with a bill of about £85,000, but we have the money to cover that."

“Young people do need to have a permanent base in Wallingford.”

A spokesman for the Assemblies of God church said its property trust was dealing with the issue.

Ms Atkins said she hoped work would start in the new year to begin transforming the disused church and estimated the renovation would take a year to complete.

She added: “We have managed to salvage some gym equipment and a snooker table from the old youth club, which will give us a start.”

In August, town council leaders agreed to help fund two part-time youth workers after the county council cut youth services. The council is paying £15,000 towards the youth work coordinator’s salary for a year, while Pact is contributing £10,000 and the youth workers are being recruited this month.

Ms Atkins, also a town councillor, said the Phoenix Youth Club in Cholsey, which reopens tomorrow after 18 months, was also bidding for Big Society funding.

The Cholsey club, which meets in the scout hut in Wallingford Road, was closed due to a lack of volunteers but now has new volunteers and a management committee.

Club management committee chairman Angela Rowlands said: “We welcome young people aged 11 to 19 and we have room for about 60 every Thursday night at 7pm.”

Oxfordshire County Council has ended funding to 26 youth centres and replaced them seven new hubs – in East Oxford, Littlemore, Banbury, Bicester, Didcot, Abingdon, and Witney – along with six satellite centres.

It is confident the 13 remaining youth centres will continue to be run by volunteers.