Survey to improve youth facilities in the Lambourn Valley

Reproduced from an article by Brian Quinn from Penny Post, your source of local news and information.

With poor public transport and few facilities, there are limited options for young people in the Lambourn Valley. Now, a new community group, working in partnership with local councillors, volunteers and existing groups, is aiming to find a solution to this issue with the help of an online survey. It’s very important that as many people as possible respond to this as, without this evidence of need, there’s a risk that funding won’t be secured.

The Lambourn Junction Community Interest Company (CIC) was recently established to support local groups. It  invited Berkshire Youth and West Berkshire Community Engagement team to come to the Lambourn Marketplace on 19 November to hear the views of local residents about youth provision. The CIC wants to know what young people would like, how it might be offered and who would like to volunteer.

Those who attended were invited to take part in a brief survey. The organisers described the take up as “very good” but they urgently need more young people and families to get involved and make their views known. You can visit the survey online here. Note that you can also participate even if you don’t live in Lambourn – its open to anyone who lives in any part of the Valley, right down to Newbury. The team is very keen to hear from people throughout this area. You have until 31 December 2021 to respond. Using the data the organisers hope to capture from this consultation, they will then be able to plan what happens next – and make it meaningful.

West Berkshire Councillor Howard Woollaston, who represents the Lambourn ward, has recently been looking at the provision of facilities for teenagers in Lambourn, which he describes as “woefully inadequate.” He also stressed the importance of people making their views known.  “I would encourage as many people as possible to take part in the survey,” he told Penny Post. “The more responses there are the better the chance there is of funding being secured. The comments will also help inform what needs to be done, and where. And remember, you don’t have to live in Lambourn to take part.”

For more information, contact Anna Field (who many will remember from the Lambourn Café a few years ago) on the Lambourn CIC facebook page or leave a message on the Lambourn Junction website for her attention.