Xtrax impresses Minister for Children

A Government Minister lavished praise upon a youth project in Hastings during a visit this week.

Parmjit Dhanda, Minister for Children and Families, popped into the Xtrax building in Havelock Road to experience first hand the work being done with young people in the town.

After a quick tour of the drop-in centre the MP was introduced to some of the youngsters benefiting from the facilities.

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Mr Dhanda had nothing but praise for the staff and the volunteers who help hundreds of youngsters every year.

He said: "What I have seen today is inspirational. There are a lot of really exciting things going on here and one of the best aspects of the centre is that the youngsters themselves take an active role in deciding what provisions are in place and what funding is spent on.

"It was great to meet young people and volunteers with such a passion and enthusiasm and to get feedback from them about what we can do to help improve things even further.

"I am aware Hastings has a high level of child poverty and I believe the areas of the country with most deprivation and most need are the ones which should receive the most funding."

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Xtrax has benefited from Youth Opportunity Funding on three occasions. Firstly they were awarded two grants totalling more than 8,000 to pay for carpets and fittings in the centre and they were later given 7,500 to pay for trips and events.

This paid for a trip to a show in London, a successful prom and a forthcoming South Downs walk.

The grants are written entirely by the young people who will benefit from the money, so young people can decide for themselves what they want improving.

The centre provides a number of key services, including sexual health advice, job hunting help, confidential support and advice on drugs, smoking and alcohol.

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Andrew Batsford, project manager, said: "Visits like this are great because it shows the work we are doing and the things we are achieving are getting noticed.

"The Minister seemed genuinely interested in the project and we stressed to him the need for more consistent core funding.

"It costs more than 140,000 a year to run Xtrax and at the moment we have to find the bulk of that money ourselves."

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