A POPULAR youth project which was facing imminent closure has today been given a last minute reprieve.

A POPULAR youth project which was facing imminent closure has today been given a last minute reprieve.

The directors and trustees of the Level Two Youth Project in Felixstowe have announced that the community resource will not now shut at the end of March, as previously feared.

The reprieve has come thanks to “very significant support” from Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council, businesses and private donations.

However, bosses said that while the news gives Level Two breathing space in the short term, a further �50,000 will be needed before the end of the year to safeguard the project's future.

The project works with young people of high school age, providing a range of after school sessions and holiday programmes, and also supporting pregnant teenagers, young parents, young people at risk of exclusion from school, young unemployed, and those with housing problems.

David Rowe, Level Two chairman, said: “The directors and trustees of Level Two would like to say a very big thank you to those benefactors that have provided hope for the future of the project.

“We have received many messages of encouragement, donations, pledges and offers of support in kind, in response to our plea for help.

“This has raised the level of optimism within the management board that we will be able to continue providing support to young people in the foreseeable future.”

As one of the Mayor's chosen charities for this year, Level Two will receive a share of the donations made to the Mayor's Fund during his year of office.

Other support includes a donation from the BASIC charity, and one from the regulars of the Half Moon public house in Walton.

The Port of Felixstowe recently donated a minibus to the project to support Level Two's off-site work.

Twelve-year-old Joseph Fisher-Baxter, a pupil at Deben High, and his friends have recently raised funds for the project.

He said: “We just want to make people aware of what is happening.

“Lots of youngsters use the centre for all sorts of activities and reasons and it would awful if it closed - a real shame.

“We just want to help it survive - and we are hoping people in the town will support us in any way they can.”

Have you benefited from the services at Level Two? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk