A TWICE-WEEKLY Penarth youth club used by more than 60 teenagers is set to close due to dwindling funding.

The Penarth Youth Project, a Big Lottery Foundation-funded initiative based at the Info Shop on Stanwell Road, will move at the end of June after 12 years in the town centre.

The scheme will reopen at West House Cottages in Penarth on July 1, but with reduced services.

One of the key schemes to be dropped is the popular Monday and Friday evening youth club.

Project manager, Tracey Downes, said: "I’m sure young people in Penarth would prefer us to stay where we are, but we simply can’t get the core funding needed to remain in the current location.

"Over 60 teenagers use the facilities each week on Monday and Friday evenings, but unfortunately it is difficult to find organisations willing to pay for a youth club these days.

"The funding just isn’t out there."

Dave Taylor, Chair of the Penarth Youth Project Management Committee, said: "We have had 12 successful years at our present location in the centre of Penarth.

"However our work profile has changed significantly over the past few years to the point that we no longer need such a large building.

"Consequently we have decided to relocate to West House Cottages where we will be better able to manage our resources and current activities.

"There will also be a major saving in our running costs.

"Penarth Youth Project will continue to provide a dedicated and professional service to our young people, hopefully for many years to come," he added.

"We would like to thank all our partners who have worked closely with us over the past 12 years and look forward to continuing our partnership work in to the future. "A special thank you to all the young people who have passed through the doors of 1a Stanwell Road," he said.

"It has been a pleasure."

Stanwell Ward councillor, Cllr Sophie Williams, who sits on the board of the scheme's management committee, said she hoped a new town centre venue could be found soon.

"It is hugely disappointing that the project is moving from the town centre, and that the popular youth club will not continue," she said.

"It has been a vital resource in recent years and has ensured teenagers have had somewhere to go, rather than hanging around on the streets.

"The Penarth Youth Project is not closing though, and I will continue to have discussions to find a new town centre base in the hope the youth club can start up again in the future."