Jamie Bakhsh, 14, spoke to the Reporter and sister station Your Radio, to spread word of the event Let’s Save Tullochan’s Afterschool Club, held on June 13 at Christie Park.

Jamie said he was trying to raise awareness of the value of the club to local youngsters.

He said: “Everyone was devastated. The club has stopped now. I decided to open my own campaign to see where I can go with this because I want to council to realise how many people this had touched.

“Kids don’t want to do same thing every week they had new plans and trips each and it was new every week.” Jamie added: “My message to the decision makers would be: What do you want us kids to do? You see kids all roaming about the streets not having a fun time. But every Wednesday, one day a week, we had something fun to look forward to and we don’t want to stop going.” Jamie’s Facebook campaign has gained the support of more than 800 people, and his online petition has secured more than 100 signatures.

Previously, Vale mum Claire Chilcott told the Reporter her 12-year-old daughter Sophie Ayr was ‘gutted’ at the closure of the youth club.

The club – run by Dumbarton-based charity Tullochan for S1 and S2 pupils – is the last of five youth clubs run by the organisation to close, following one in Dumbarton, two in Clydebank, and another in Alexandria.

The closure comes after West Dunbartonshire Council decided to axe several youth clubs across the region by the end of next month, a move branded ‘heartbreaking’ by youth workers.

Ms Chilcott said: “There’s nothing I’m aware of for kids of their age to do, so they either sit in somebody’s house or they walk the streets. I just feel that there’s not ever a reason to any of the cuts to these things.” The youngsters were given a letter at the youth club blaming the closure on a lack of cash.

The letter stated: “This was a very difficult decision for the organisation to take but due to funding constraints we have no alternative.” June McDonald, Tullochan chief executive, claimed the council – not Tullochan – has a legal obligation to provide youngsters in the area with after-school activities.

Ms McDonald said: “Our funding is to work with referred young people in schools and to provide the same young people with after school activities.

“West Dunbartonshire Youth Alliance was aware since January this year that we were going to withdraw our youth clubs and we’ve done so over five months.

“We’ve had to withdraw them because we need to report to our funders and we don’t have enough resources unfortunately. Our turnover is almost £800,000 a year to work with referred young people and out of that £19,000 is from West Dunbartonshire Council.

“It’s a shame the clubs had to go. They’ve been running for 10 years. The staff are gutted and the young people are gutted, we’ve had a lot of tears and a lot of parents and a lot of parents wanting to raise money.

“The staff and Tullochan as an organisation are devastated that young people have lost services in West Dunbartonshire.” She added that with 20 staff over five clubs the money required would be substantial.

In April, the council announced several youth clubs would close by the end of June as part of an overhaul of youth services which included consultation with youth groups across the area.

A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council said the decision on the clubs affected had been made due to falling attendances, which have dropped by more than half in the past year. She said the council was not involved in the youth club operated by Tullochan.

The spokeswoman added: “We are committed to delivering an extensive programme of youth services which fully meets the needs of our young people.

“We have arranged a packed programme of events and activities for young people this summer in conjunction with our partners in the Youth Alliance.

“We will be taking the opportunity to speak with young people and from those discussions will develop a new programme of services to launch in August which responds to their priorities.” Jamie’s petition has been launched on www.change.org for more funding to be allocated for afterschool clubs.