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Local Youth Centre gets helping hand from police

Press Releases

Published: 28/01/2011

Police from Portsmouth dug deep into their pockets recently to help out a local youth centre that helps teenagers do more with their lives.

Officers from Cosham’s Paulsgrove Safer Neighbourhoods team managed to obtain a donation of £300 for Hillside Youth Centre, which will help them set up more events and workshops for younger members of the community.

PCSO Rob Manns from the team said: “We often visit Hillside as part of our patrols to speak to the teenagers about how they are doing and what’s going on in the community.

“Establishing relationships with people in this age group and helping them out in this way will help improve their lives, having a positive effect on the community as a whole.”

The youth centre, in Cheltenham Road, Paulsgrove, runs a number of educational projects and leisure activities for teenagers and older children.

Maria Monaghan, who runs the youth centre, said: “The work we do at Hillside helps provide positive activities for people aged between 13 and 19. We get around 40 visitors here each week and by coming here they can get support, take on accredited courses that can be used in their CVs, and have the opportunity to get involved in a number of projects and activities.

“When the officers found out there was an opportunity for them to support us, they came down and spoke to the youths about what they would do to better the centre if they had the money. “Soon after that they came back with a cheque for us. It’s great news for the youths and for the centre, and I’m really grateful to them for their donation.”

Sergeant Simon Roberts from the Paulsgrove Safer Neighbourhoods team said: “I think this is a really positive gesture that will help people in the Paulsgrove area. It will help to give young people more to do, and will help make the community they live in a better place.”

If you would like to find out more about your local officers, you can call 101 and ask for your Safer Neighbourhoods team. Alternatively you can log on to www.hampshire.police.uk and click on ‘Your local policing team.’

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