YOUNG people in the North Tyne will have plenty to keep them busy following the return of Bellingham Youth Club.

The youth club closed over a year ago after struggling because of funding cuts, leaving parents and young people in the village disappointed.

But thanks to generous grant donations from Bellingham Parish Council and the North Tyne Redesdale Community Partnership, the club is now back up and running.

Over 20 young people gathered for the first session on Thursday, June 8 at the Reed Hall, which is also helping out by providing the hall free of charge for the weekly sessions.

Qualified youth worker Gemma Nixon has been brought in by the Rede, Tyne, Coquet Centre (RTC) to run the sessions, thanks to grants from EDF Energy Green Rigg, the Wellesley Trust Fund and Northumberland Youth Services.

Gemma said: “It was a really good turn-out for the first session.

“We did a variety of activities from badminton to playing pool, playing their own games and designing a logo for the youth club.

“It’s just about talking to the young people and putting something together to suit their interests; it’s all about them at the end of the day.”

Gemma, who also runs sessions for youth clubs in Otterburn and Kirkwhelpington, is joined in Bellingham by several volunteers who have come forward to help run the activities.

Sam Kellie, a trustee at RTC and youth group lead, said: “It was troubling me how there was nothing in Bellingham but the youth club was going strong in Otterburn – yet Bellingham is much bigger than Otterburn.

“Rural youth services are being hit hard.

“There are extra curricular activities in schools, but for those from rural areas, unless parents can come and pick them up, they can’t get back.

“We have kids who live on outlying farms who are really quite isolated.

“Gemma is great with planning activities and that sort of thing. The young people also seem to enjoy sitting and socialising and not having their time managed, like at school.

“Now my aim is to keep it going and try to make it sustainable.

“There are lots of volunteers who do as much as they can and are absolutely brilliant, but volunteers can also have other commitments and we need funding to make this sustainable in the long term.”

The youth club is open to children aged from nine to 18 and sessions take place at the Reed Hall on Thursdays from 6.30pm until 8.30pm.