A PARISH youth club has been suspended due to low numbers.

The youth club of the parish of Wyke Regis, All Saints’ with St Edmund usually breaks for the summer in July, but the decision has been made to stop it a month earlier.

Churchwarden Gary Hepburn said: “The youth club is being suspended due to nothing more than low numbers. It’s a combination of coming into exam time for some youngsters combined with having confirmation classes running from now until the beginning of October, that some of the other youngsters want to attend which are on the same evening (Mondays). We normally stop from July to September anyway, but we have just brought it forward a bit and plan to start again in September/October time.”

Mr Hepburn added that the parish will be looking at the way it works with youngsters and young families when the new rector- Revd Alasdair Kay - arrives in the Autumn.

He said: “When a new incumbent takes over a parish they will of course look at everything we do and then after six months or a year they will sit down with the Parochial Church Council and together come up with a new mission plan, which looks at new ideas for services, outreach work, schools work etc.

“There is no point having a new minister in place if you are not going to take advantage of their ideas and skills and are going to carry on doing things the same as you have the last 10 or 20 years. Just like having a new boss in a business. It’s not about changing the regular services or anything but how we work with the youngsters, young families and those we don’t currently reach.”