Youth club hails bid for CCTV a success

And volunteers at the Preesall Youthy have thanked the community around Knott End and Preesall for the magnificent support.

Back in November, The Gazette reported the club needed at least £1,000 to install the security equipment but at that stage there was just £325 in the fund.

Since then, that small amount has swelled to an impressive £1,850, leaving just £250 to find.

Thanks to this the club, based at the Preesall and Knott End Youth and Community Centre on Sandy Lane next to Preesall Park, is hopeful of getting the cameras before the end of the month.

The campaign was even helped by The Gazette story itself, which directly added an extra £300 to the sum.

The urgency followed a frightening incident in the autumn when a vicious fight in Preesall Park, right behind the youth club, caused a real security scare and even fears about the club’s future.

Nicola Pattrick, lead volunteer youth worker at Preesall Youthy, said: “We have done better than expected with the campaign, thanks to the brilliant support locally.

“We were worried over the future of the club but now we will be able to install the cameras in just a few weeks, it’s been brilliant.”

The money came from various sources – £491 from the campaign’s Justgiving page; £300 from the Madge Parkinson charity, following The Gazette article; £148 from local Furness Building Society fundraising; £200 from a tombola outside the Knott End Co-op store; £200 from The Knott End lights switch on – the youth their chosen community cause; and £433 from Co-op at Knott End from the sale of their Christmas raffle ticket sales.