WHEN the world view is looking so bleak, isn’t it reassuring that local people are so committed to supporting good causes?

Yet again, the good folk of Emery Gate shopping centre in Chippenham have come to the help of the community.

Last Saturday they held a fantastic fundraising event which, thanks to the generosity of the good people of Chippenham, raised thousands of pounds for a local family whose young daughter has leukaemia.

Nicola Milne and her band of wonderful supporters have raised much-needed cash for a variety of worthy causes for years now and they deserve our praise and recognition, as do all volunteers and community representatives across the county.

We have recently had the opportunity to meet members of the Calne community and councillors to discuss plans to develop projects and opportunities for the town’s young people. The welcome we received from Trudy and her colleagues at the very impressive Bank House was so heart-warming and they are a credit to the town.

Following the near total dismantling of Wiltshire’s Youth Service, the provision for young people has mainly been left to the goodwill of the established organisations such as the Scouts, Guides, church groups etc, and of course, volunteers which, although dedicated, cannot meet the needs of all young people.

The meeting was called by the very amiable Howard Marshall, who chaired the meeting admirably. In attendance were representatives from the schools, police, church and other voluntary groups. The attendees discussed how more provision could be delivered, by who and where.

Kandu was invited along to discuss the possibility of introducing our “Choices for Change” young people-centred community project that has been delivered successfully in London, Salford, Swindon and Devon.

We are currently working with young people from Calne who have experienced challenges in their education and are in need of specialist support.

These young people do not attend any extracurricular groups and some have been involved in anti-social behaviour, which not only impacts on their own reputations and futures, but also negatively on their families and the wider community.

Surely the money spent on catching and punishing such acts would be better spent providing positive opportunities for such individuals in order that they feel a part of their community and value it and themselves.

The targeted programmes that Kandu runs involve a whole cross-section of the community with a strong emphasis on intergenerational collaboration that develops a wider and more inclusive template and foundation for lasting success.

Along with the intergenerational aspect we will work alongside community volunteers and organisations to ensure the continued support for the young people at the end of the initial stages of the project.

However, finding a venue to host such a project seems to be be harder then you might expect. We were informed that the former, purpose-built youth centre could only be used by groups that didn’t involve young people!

On further investigation the meeting was told that the Youth Service can no longer deliver centre-based projects and services but also that the purpose-built former Youth Centre had been “internally decommissioned” ie, rendered unusable for young people!

It is such a shame that there is no determination to take meaningful responsibility for young people and that the near non-existent youth service is merely able to offer lip service to much needed youth provision. The former youth centres will no doubt eventually be sold to the highest bidder in order that budget holes can be filled.

All these short-term fixes will be prove to be false economies when balanced against the cost of repairs to property, people’s lives and the legal fees that will ensue as a result of anti-social behaviour.

That said, with such motivated people such as Howard Marshall and the goodwill and dedication of the Calne community, good things can and will surely grow.