YOUTH SERVICE RECEIVES FURTHER COVID FUNDING (16/11/20) Hailsham Youth Service, which provides activities, support services and opportunities for young people in the local area, has received £333 from a Waitrose grant, part of the retailer’s Community Matters package of support for local communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Every month, each Waitrose store donates a share of £1,000 between three causes. These could be for local causes like school equipment upgrades, social welfare carers, aged care or health and wellbeing charity activities.  The funding received by Waitrose will be used by the Town Council’s youth project services team, Hailsham Youth Service, to go towards the costs involved in helping local young people through various COVID-19 projects at the Square Youth Cafe. As well as running clubs and centres including the Square Youth Cafe, Hailsham Youth Service provides support services for young people, in addition to organising a range of recreational outings and activities as part of the Friday Night Project.

In recent years, the Town Council has expanded its youth service provision to include additional centres, venues and support services, the latest of which have been the Monday Youth Hub which takes place at the James West Community Centre, Safehub facility at the Service's Market Square premises and the new Hellingly Youth Club, which launched in the new community hall earlier this autumn. Andy Joyes, Youth Project Coordinator at Hailsham Town Council said, “We are delighted to receive this funding from the Waitrose Community Matters scheme and extremely grateful to them for supporting our important youth projects at the Square Youth Cafe.” “Funding for our various youth projects is always needed to keep services running and to make sure that everyone gets the chance to use them. The young people who attend our centres and take part in our activities will benefit considerably from this donation.” Hailsham Youth Service continues to maintain a presence in Hailsham during the second lockdown by way of detached work. Additionally, Hailsham Youth Service has continued to remain in contact with young people remotely since the onset of the pandemic and closures of the Square Youth Cafe and other local youth facilities, through its social media pages. Details of Hailsham Youth Service's reopening of facilities will be announced in due course. In the meantime, visit hailshamyouthservice.org for further details and to register for any services.