A YOUTH group in Springfield celebrated its official opening this month and was presented with a cheque for £7,750 from the Big Lottery Fund by local musician Erin LeCourt.

Springfield Youth Group is a non-profit group for youngsters aged 11 to 17 years old and was set up in January 2017 after the founder noticed an alarming amount of posts on social media about antisocial behaviour in the village.

Chairperson and founder Shirley Hume said: “I was seeing posts regarding antisocial behaviour on social media that were becoming more frequent, and more disturbing.

“I put up a post saying the young people were bored and a youth group would be a great idea, and asked if anyone would volunteer to help get this idea up and running - the community came together and I ended up with lots of volunteers. We are going from strength to strength.

"Sprinfield is a great community to live in - the young people need our help and direction, not our negativity. There is good in everyone, sometimes it just needs bringing to the surface."

Altough the group was set up January 2017, they only had their official opening on September 1.