Centre aims to beat the boredom (From Hillingdon Times)

Centre aims to beat the boredom

8:48am Tuesday 12th April 2005 in News By Rachel Sharp

A FEAST of activities are in store for youngsters with time on their hands.

Kids got a taste of what is to come at new youth centres acround the borough thanks to a re-vamp of youth services.

Youngsters turned out at the re-launch of the West Drayton Young Persons Centre (YPC) in Harmondsworth Road on Tuesday, and started to get the hang of a new climbing wall.

Cllr Solveig Stone, cabinet member for education, youth and leisure, joined the young people for the relaunch events at West Drayton, where the opening was marked with a balloon release.

The open day was one of a series of days organised across Hillingdon by the youth services, following a major makeover of the facilities available to young people.

More than £800,000 has been spent by Hillingdon Council, refurbishing the centres at West Drayton, Ruislip and Uxbridge, and a newly opened Harlington centre has been built at a cost of £1.2 million.

In January this year, the youth service's £138,000 mobile youth centre, The Point, took to the road. The council and the Metropolitan Police contributed £73,000 and a local company, General Mills UK, the remainder of the cost.

Cllr Solveig Stone said: “I see the relaunch as the first step in a major new drive to promote youth activities throughout the borough to 11 to 19 year olds."