New Portchester youth drop-in centre opens

Neighbours in Portchester have teamed up and opened The Box, based at AFC Portchester to give young people between 11 and 16 a place to go after school.

Mum-of-two Sam Willis has been working on the project for three years after chatting to her niece about the lack of things to do in the area and, after gathering nine other volunteers, the centre is now open.

The 43-year-old said: ‘It is really great that we have been able to do this and the community has been so supportive in helping us to fundraise for whatever we needed.

‘AFC Portchester couldn’t offer up space quick enough for us to use and we have been chatting to local businesses and clubs about them coming in to chat to the young people and teach them skills that they can put back into the community like football refereeing for instance.’

The Box is open every Wednesday from 6.30pm until 8.30pm with plans to host more sessions in the future and entry is £1 per person to help with running costs and public liability insurance.

Volunteer Cath has a teenage son and wanted to get involved.

She said: ‘It is great that there is somewhere from them to come and meet friends. AFC Portchester are so involved in helping the community and it is brilliant.

‘There are only 10 of us at the moment so we are on the look out for more volunteers so we can open more.’

Portchester East councillor Gerry Kelly has helped with the fundraising over the last few years to raise money for a football table and pool table.

He said: ‘Kids are so often at home on their phones and this gives them a chance to get away from their parents and socialise with each other.

‘They will get to learn different skills and give back to their community and hopefully earn respect for their community which is so important.

‘I think also the Odyssey Hub is great but it is in Portchester Community School and I think some kids maybe don’t want to go back to school in the evenings and for children at other schools it would be like going on someone else’s turf so this is a place away from school and I think it will work really well.’

For more information and for anyone interested in volunteering, visit The Box Youth Drop In Centre on Facebook.