YOUNGSTERS in Carterton now have a place to go in the evenings after the town’s threatened youth centre reopened.

The Allandale Centre, in Burford Road, was set to close last year after Oxfordshire County Council cut its ongoing funding.

But Carterton Town Council bought the centre for £64,000 from County Hall, revamped its facilities and reopened last Friday.

Community leaders said the new centre now has a “real buzz” about it and it has already seen an increase in users, up from about 30 to 50.

A full-time and two part-time youth workers have been employed at the centre for the next two years, paid for through a £63,000 grant from the RAF Benevolent Fund The refurb was paid for with a one-off £65,900 grant from Oxfordshire County Council and £25,000 from South East England Development Agency.

The cash paid for a new disabled toilet and wash room extension, a new entrance, new kitchen facilities and a complete redecoration.

The revamped youth centre will now also be home to Inclusive Care and Education (ICE), a company which helps disabled people learn independent living skills.

Youth centre user Joe Milgate, 15, of Carterton, said: “Knowing the place could have closed down was hard, but we fought and saved it.”

Sam Baldwin, 14, of Carterton, said: “It is brilliant to be back. It is nice to have somewhere to go.”

Youth worker Mark ‘Wiggy’ Wainman said: “It is like coming home.

“It is now a facility that offers an opportunity to young people in Carterton from all walks of life, civilian and forces, disabled or not, to achieve their full potential.”

The youth centre will run three nights a week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays – and youth workers will go out into Carterton on Fridays.

Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt Rev Colin Fletcher, who opened the building, said: “This is a fantastic example of what can happen when a community really pulls together.

“Young people are very much part of any community and therefore making proper provision for them is really important.”

Carterton Mayor Norman MacRae said: “I am so elated. There is an absolutely fantastic buzz about the place now.”

“The last months have been a concern and the last thing we wanted was young folks on the streets with nothing to do.”

Managing director of ICE Jill Bull said: “It is fabulous to be in the heart of the town.”

ICE, which is a social enterprise, helps eight people with disabilities become more independent and used to run from a space in Monahan Way.