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BOLTON Lads and Girls Club is providing a blueprint for youth clubs across the UK as part of Government plans to combat anti-social behaviour.
The scheme will tap into a £160 million national fund and replicate the 119-year-old club, which has purpose-built premises in Spa Road.
Its chief executive, Jeremy Glover, has been working alongside children and young people's minister Beverley Hughes on a national advisory committee to finalise regional details.
But the move is part of a much larger scheme to copy the much-admired Bolton club up and down the country, as its successful formula is seen as the way forward for youth facilities.
The Lads and Girls Club, currently used by 3,500 young people a week, will be at the hub of changes which will initially see similar centres emerging in Blackburn, Oldham and Carlisle.
They are being driven by a new charity, OnSide, which is based at the Bolton club with Mr Glover at its head.
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This is helping the applications from the three areas for cash from myplace - a three-year Government investment to offer greater facilities for young people and to help solve problems leading to anti-social behaviour. Mr Glover said: "It's a hugely exciting project and a matter of pride that Bolton is right at the heart of it. It provides a more realistic answer than ASBOs, which have proved to be too much stick and not enough carrot."
The initial aim is that within five years there will be five OnSide youth centres across the North-west, each run along the same lines as the Bolton club and bringing together the local authority, local businesses and volunteers.
Like the Lads and Girls Club, they would be open seven days a week and during school holidays, be cheap to access and offer a range of activities, including sports in purpose-built premises.
They would have a mix of full-time staff and volunteers, provide mentoring for the most vulnerable, have provision for youngsters with disabilities and give family support. There would be project-based services tackling issues like obesity, emotional health, substance misuse, bullying and teenage pregnancy. And the new centres would also undertake outreach work, going directly into local communities to work with youngsters on the streets.
The Lads and Girls Club's ongoing success has been directly attributed to its partnerships with local councils, the private sector, Primary Care Trusts, volunteers and a range of funding bodies.
Its links with private businesses, in particular, have proved fruitful and the club boasts an impressive list of supporters.
A team from the club, headed by Mr Glover and including experienced youth workers Rob Carter and Nick Cooper, has already been working with local authorities and interested groups in Blackburn, Oldham and Carlisle.
Mr Glover said: "These areas will be in the first phase of applications for fast-track funding which opened this week and closes on July 29."
Sean Harriss, chief executive of Bolton Council, said the Lads and Girls Club was "a massive asset" to Bolton.
He said: "If more areas had facilities like the Lads and Girls Club it would have a hugely beneficial impact on young people and communities there."
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