IT’S a chance for dozens of teenagers to relax and be themselves.

Nearly fifty young people mill around the church hall of St. Thomas the Apostle in Gosport, flitting between the playstations and the table football, chatting to their friends as they lounge around on sofas or competing ferociously around the table tennis table.

This is ‘Friday’s’, a youth group that aims to build relationships with youngsters from the Elson area by opening the church’s doors for two hours every Friday night. Internet access, playstations, table football and table tennis tables are all provided – as well as the chance to meet their friends and volunteer Christian leaders.

It’s part of the Gosport deanery Kairos plan, an initiative created by the local parish in an area where there is little else provided for this age group. The idea is to provide somewhere safe for local teenagers to meet so they don’t have to hang around the streets, to offer them advice and support and to develop their spiritual awareness. The project began as an act of faith and commitment to the local community, and has since forged links with other youth work services, including Hampshire Youth Service and Connexions.

The priest-in-charge, the Rev Simon Rundell, said: “Much of the time at the club appears chaotic and unstructured, with young people flitting from activity to activity, consuming huge amounts of tuck, or simply sitting on the sofas chatting with their friends, or interacting with leaders who are taking an active Christian interest in them.

“After a week of structure and order in school it is useful for them to have a place to relax, to be themselves and ultimately to grow into being themselves in the presence of God.

“It is less unstructured than might be imagined at first. Each week we close the session with some group time – a chance to focus on the week past, on God, and on our response to Him. This is growing into a key part of the club – developing a sense of the sacred and a growth in the spiritual.”

"Kairos gave us te vision to take an initiative in this much-needed area, and the commitment of the Parish to young people has been the driving force behind it all."

The group, which was only launched in February, has already been asked by one headteacher to work with certain vulnerable teenagers. The response to the initiative within the community has been outstanding, so the project has now been given £1,000 from the Kairos pump-priming fund to help extend its outreach and facilities.