A FATHER of two is hoping to restore the community spirit of a village that has suffered from the closure of its only school.

Dave Carroll, from Rhewl, decided to set up a youth centre there upon his return last year from more than a decade away at university and full-time work.

When Mr Carroll returned as a father of two children, he felt that the village had lost its “sense of community spirit” due to a distrust of young people and the announced closure of Ysgol Rhewl, a 100-year-old school at the heart of the community that Mr Carroll attended as a child. It was upon this realisation that he decided action was needed.

Mr Carroll said: “When I returned to Rhewl last year I was shocked that there was nothing for the kids to do.

“I reconnected with old friends, but I found that there was not as strong a sense of community spirit as there used to be.

“The closure of the primary school was an upsetting decision by the county council and it has had such a detrimental effect on the village as the children are all going to separate schools.

“The youth centre will show that the decision was wrong and that we are going to keep on going.”

The youth centre, at Rhewl Pavilion, will host activities every Friday such as musical bingo, indoor Olympics, treasure hunts, ‘Rhewl’s Got Talent’ and educational sessions. The activities will be held for two age groups, seven to 11, and 11 to 16, which will meet up from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, and 7.30pm to 9pm, respectively.

Within 24 hours of sounding out for community interest in the idea, Mr Carroll received more than 200 messages, 20 volunteer applications and donations such as a pool table, table tennis set, arts and crafts, three games consoles and fizzy pop and sweets from members of the Rhewl community that were overwhelmed by the proposition.

Mr Carroll said: “The response was crazy. Not in my wildest dreams could I have expected that.”

Due to the popularity of the youth centre, initial membership will be capped at 100 people, with around 50 attending each age group that would still make the youth centre amongst the biggest in Denbighshire.

Mr Carroll said: “The centre will not be a babysitting service, but rather a place where children can come and go as they please.

“Children’s safeguarding measures have been developed and accepted by the council after months of planning and volunteers will be trained in child safeguarding.

“The youth centre will provide a safe space for children that used to go to school together, but will now be separate, to meet up.”

Mr Carroll is also intending for the youth centre to be inclusive to all, irrelevant of background. He said: “We will be charging 50p per session. It has been suggested we should charge more, but I am insistent that the cost is a minimum as several pounds every week could be too much for some families.

“This is a community centre for the children, all are welcome and in time they will get to have a say in what activities we do.”

The centre’s opening party, a disco, will take place next month.

To run its events, Rhewl Youth Centre is calling for donations and volunteers. Email Dave Carroll at davecarroll1983@icloud.com for details.