A VILLAGE youth club is coming back to life – three years after it shut.

Uffington Youth Club was relaunched last September and is now looking for more members.

The club now has an army of 20 volunteers but only 30 youngsters have signed up as members, with less than half usually turning up to fortnightly sessions.

Lead volunteer Sue Jennings, 64, a former midwife, said: “The main challenge is that young people in the village aren’t used to going to a youth club, so it’s about getting them feeling they want to do something here in the village.

“We encourage young people to come from the surrounding villages, not just Uffington.”

She said youngsters in the village were organising events to attract more members.

On Thursday there was a street dancing workshop, and the teenagers have also planned self-defence and massage classes. The old youth club closed after the lead volunteer had to step down.

Ms Jennings said a thriving youth club was important, and added: “It’s vital to value young people and make them feel they are part of a community.”

The club, for those aged 10 to 16, meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month from 7-9pm at the Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall.

Other activities include crafts, pool, table tennis and Wii games. There is also a tuck shop.

The club’s opening was boosted by £2,500 Big Society grant cash, £500 from Uffington Parish Council and £600 from the White Horse Show Trust.

And Graham Banks, chairman of Uffington Parish Council, said it was good to see the club open again. He said: “We are five miles from anywhere else so before they get their own transport they need things to do in the village or they are dependent on the taxi of mum and dad.”

Kennington Youth Club shut in 2009 because of falling numbers of members and volunteers.

But it reopened in autumn last year after a refurbishment and a new youth leader was recruited. It now has some 70 members.

Kennington and Radley county councillor Arash Fatemian said it was important the club was run with help from the youngsters and their parents. He said: “It has gone from strength to strength.”