Cheshire East Council looks likely to sever its contract with youth lifeline Connexions, which runs an advice and career hub in town and sends trained staff out to schools. Karen Britton reports...

THE GIRLS I met to talk about the closure threat at Connexions youth centre bounded into the room chatty and full of energy.

They seemed happy to be there and at ease with youth workers Amanda Cross and Jenni Duggan who work with them every Thursday at the young women’s group.

This is a big difference, by all accounts, to how best friends Kirsty Pegg, 16, and Danielle Roberts, 15, were when they started attending the Hub on Great King Street two years ago.

Kirsty, who like Danielle is studying for GCSEs at Tytherington High School, admits she loses her temper easily and was on the verge of being excluded. But she says going to Connexions to take part in a variety of confidence-boosting activities has changed her life.

She has been passing her exams and wants to work with children herself when she finishes school.

Both girls said they will do everything they can to save the centre which is at risk as Cheshire East Council makes cuts to spending on agency staff.

CEC may not renew its Connexions contract and chief executive Steve Hoy has issued ‘at risk of redundancy’ letters to hundreds of staff.

Kirsty, of Hurdsfield Road, says she worries what will happen without the lifeline. "I’ve turned it around so much since coming here, it’s unbelievable – I’m a completely different person," she said.

"I used to get really angry and was in trouble at school all the time, but coming here helps me deal with that and now if I’m angry I just take myself away and calm down.

"You can be really open with the youth workers, they understand us and make us feel like we can achieve what we want to.

"It’s not fair they might shut the centre – without this we would be sat at home with nothing to do and I think I would really lose it again."

Connexions gives advice on a range of topics, such as sexual health, drugs and careers – and it also runs activities and trips.

Kirsty and Danielle’s group raised £100 for East Cheshire Hospice by organising a charity event in honour of a friend’s mum who died from cancer. Danielle, of Conway Crescent, said: "When I started here I was really shy, I wouldn’t talk to new people, but you get to do all sorts of things here and I’ve come out of my shell.

"Jenny and Amanda are like big sisters to me. They have helped me through really personal problems and I’ve stopped bottling things up.

"They treat us like adults and a lot of people will be angry if they close the centre.

"People complain we are all hoodies and chavs and not doing anything with our lives, but now they might close the only place we have to go."

Senior youth support worker Amanda said Connexions gives young people a chance to do things they could not normally and closing the centre would be a waste of the relationships which have taken a long time to build.

Jenni Duggan, added: "It empowers young people to make their own decisions and gets the best from them."