A NEW youth club, a relaunched Scout group and a community centre revamp are on the cards for two Selby villages after they secured a £20,000 funding boost.

Plans to transform facilities and activities for children and young people in Monk Fryston and Hillam can move ahead after the district’s Western Area Community Engagement Forum agreed to provide the cash.

The forum will work with the Monk Fryston and Hillam Community Association on a project which has already seen plans submitted to expand the area’s existing community centre, run by volunteers. Questionnaires have been sent to homes in the area and meetings have been held with Scouting organisations to see what has to be done to set up local Scout groups.

Volunteers have also shown their interest in running a youth club, following the launch of the project last summer when Hillam parish councillor Duncan Lorriman called on the community association to work on improved activities for youngsters. The forum will share its planning and fundraising knowledge, with the community association taking charge of finding the people to ensure the schemes move forward.

Ray Newton, the chairman of the community association, said: “We approached the CEF with a need, a simple plan and a hope we could provide activities for young people, and the CEF is helping us turn our hopes into reality.”

Andy Pound, who chairs the CEF, said it wanted to get local people involved in “making a difference to the area they live in” and described the link-up with the Monk Fryston and Hillam communities as “a prime example” of how this can happen. He said: “I hope this is the first of many such projects the CEF can assist with.”

Local police inspector Richard Abbott, a CEF board member, said the project would “bring the community together” and help reduce crime and antisocial behaviour, while Monk Fryston district councillor John Mackman said: “I am delighted the community association rose to the challenge and grasped the nettle with an exciting plan.”