YOUNG people in Wotton-under-Edge celebrated the launch of their new youth centre.

The much-anticipated facility opened on Saturday when Cllr June Cordwell, Stroud district councillor for Wotton, cut the ribbon to officially open the premises, which is in the town’s former police station in the Chipping.

Over 40 people, including members of the Youth Forum, attended and toured the refurbished building.

The Youth Forum have been instrumental in the planning stages of both the refurbishment and the centre's youth services.

The Wotton Youth Liaison Group (YLG) is currently finalising plans for these services, but plans initially to offer three core services; one weekly open session in the centre, one weekly outreach session promoting the new service and one fortnightly Youth Forum meeting.

As well as opening the centre on more days, the YLG hopes to add additional services including after school study sessions, outdoor and team activities and training courses to improve employability, such as first aid and health and safety.

Young people in Wotton highlighted these as the kinds of services they would like in research carried out by the Youth Forum at the start of the year.

Stroud District Council will be providing five hours of support a week to the centre and the youth centre currently has £13,500 in the bank from fundraising but will need to continue to gain funding to maintain a fulfilling programme of youth activities.

Mark Lovell, chairman of the Wotton Youth Liaison Group (YLG), said the opening had been a resounding success.

"The feedback about the new youth centre was overwhelmingly positive and people were particularly impressed by the quality of the build and fit out," he said.

"I was especially pleased to see how many young people came to check out the new centre."

The YLG said it would like to thank Cllr June Cordwell, Sue Hunt, George Carter, the Wotton town crier, everyone who helped with the launch and all the centre's supporters.