It is 8 years since Middlestown Youth Club was first started by Harry Hayes in St Lukes Church Hall, Overton and since that time with the help of Janet Anderton and Andrew Ingham the club has provided a safe relaxed environment every Wednesday evening for about 30 youngsters.

Harry explained, “ Before we started there was very little in the Middlestown and Overton villages for the 12 to 14 years olds, I got together with one or two others in the church and we decided to do something about it – not thinking that we would still be doing it and still enjoying 8 years on. The church has been very good and allowed us to use the church hall but this is community youth club open to all boys and girls in the age bracket.” Harry is a qualified youth worker and says that the club could not be sustained without the help of  Janet, Andrew and the support of the community as a whole.

The youth club was visited last week by Rotarian Ian Sampson on behalf of the Rotary Club of Horbury and Ossett Phoenix to make final adjustments and hand over a new pool table donated by the Rotary Club. Ian and fellow Rotarian Bob Trout had become aware that the youth club was having some difficulty replacing its old pool table which had finally fallen apart after 8 years of regular use and decided to do something about it. Funds from the Rotary Club Charity Account were approved and they set about finding and delivering a top notch pool table to the club.

“Supporting people who are doing good things in our communities is one of the reasons why I joined Rotary and what the organisation is about. You cannot put a value on the excellent work carried out by people like Harry and his colleagues at Middlestown and it is great to see young people letting off steam and enjoying themselves in a relaxed and safe environment”

Middlestown Youth Club meets every Wednesday evening (including through the school holidays) from 6.30 to 8.30pm at St Lukes Church Hall, Old Road, Overton,  and provides a wide variety of activities in addition to snooker/pool.

Jamie Dawson and Kyle Ackroyd try out the new pool table with (left to right) Andrew Ingham, Ian Sampson, Harry Hayes and Janet Anderton looking on.