Our future is secured

On 13th November 2023 we completed the lease for 25 years on a peppercorn rent with West Sussex County Council for the whole site formerly known as the Findit Out Centre, Bognor Regis.

It has been a long journey since 2010 when a service redesign by the county council meant that for a few years we could not operate a youth club. In 2016 we secured a 10-year lease on the annexe to the main building and with the support of Sussex Clubs for Young People we were able to deliver youth clubs with volunteers and paid workers.

The pandemic in 2020 and the withdrawal of services from the Findit Out Centre in December 2021 has meant we have faced a number of challenges to keep clubs open.

At the start of 2022 we started preparing to take over the lease for the whole site. We had to setup a new charity “39 Youth Club” as a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) to hold the lease and employ staff. In April 2023 we were able to complete the process – but sadly on 26th June 2023 Sussex Clubs for Young People ceased trading and all staff were redundant – our clubs had to close temporarily.

On 10th July we had directly employed staff who had been made redundant and we reopened the next week. We secured the support of funds from Bognor Regis Town Council, Awards for All, Postcode Society, Sussex Community Foundation and Chalk Cliffe Trust which allowed us to continue providing activities for young people.

In November we were able to finally sign the lease and commence the hard work of refurbishing, redecorating and repairing the building for use by young people. We have moved into the main building and now the challenge is to engage the community in helping us to make this a youth centre for and with young people.

Please email us at info@39youthclub.org.uk if you can help, would like to volunteer, or send us a donation.