BLEND Youth Collective is looking for a new base in Bude, after news that its usual premises will be used permanently.

Blend Youth Collective allows young people in Bude to come together an evening a week to take part in and plan activities within the community, and socialise amongst each other. For over two years, the group’s biggest supporter has been the Oceans Community Centre, allowing the group to use their space and kitchen for two hours every Tuesday evening to give a vast range of opportunities to the young ‘Blenders’.

The Oceans building is due to be leased out, meaning the room used by Blend will be permanently put to good use. The group’s previous application for use of the venue building has been turned down, leaving the young people and the team behind the collective weeks to find another temporary home.

A spokesperson for Blend Youth Collective said: “The power and hope that children bring is addictive — they work with what they are given, they know they are not in a position to get what they need, so they happily accept whatever they can get. Hours of fun can be taken with a rope and a little imagination. This is what we need to retain — imagination. Society needs it to be lost; it is not a lucrative commodity. Without it, they can be pigeon-holed and set to task; with it, they can think outside the box, bringing change in ways that we cannot even think of.

“We have a vision for the youth of Bude that puts the ethos into practice. We have been working tirelessly for over two years now, giving the youth of Bude a place they can go to every Tuesday night; a place not sport orientated, nor competitively driven — just somewhere they will not be judged or moved along.”

The collective’s ideas are vast and exciting, not only shaping the future of the youth of Bude for years to come, but building a model for youth support work, which, through funding cuts, is now lacking across the country.

The Blend spokesperson continued: “There are many important issues that are felt by others to be top priority — preserving the historic, affordable housing or being greener — but you have to ask yourself, who are we preserving Bude’s history for? Who are we building housing for? Who will benefit from all our efforts to keep the beaches clean? Who will continue to keep Bude green when we are too old to do so?

“For too long have the youth of Bude been left to drift, stopping briefly, to only then be moved along. So bored, they turn to frowned upon stimuli to keep themselves entertained. It is up to us, our council and our prominent figures to safeguard the future of the town’s youth.

“We fall far behind all national standards in areas of youth support. The school’s doing a sterling job of keeping their heads above water, but why is youth provision not deemed as important as plastics? Why can people not see that hope will not keep young people here and that the lack of amenities for them is the reason behind the escalating substance abuse issues?”

With an ever-expanding housing market around Cornwall, it is thought that more and more young people will lose out. They added: “We cannot leave it until it’s too late, we cannot sweep it under the carpet because we do not see it as necessary, or worse, lucrative. We need to focus our efforts firmly on the future, not ours — theirs. For as the clique says, and as we strongly believe, children are the future — give them what they need and let them lead the way. So, this is a plea — a call out in a time of need, a critical point we cannot turn the page on.”

Blend Youth Collective needs a room to use every week. For those who think they may be able to help, or know of someone that can, get in touch by visiting blendand.com or the Facebook page, BLEND Bude Youth Collective.