IT’S 7pm on a winter’s night and the streets of Great Wakering are ghostly quiet. The large groups of youths often occupying street corners elsewhere in south Essex are nowhere to be seen.

And anyone walking into the village’s youth club would understand why. The Teen Cafe, as it is known, at Great Wakering Primary School, regularly attracts more than 100 youngsters.

It spans five rooms, an outdoor play area and a mini football pitch. Youngsters can get involved in a wide variety of activities, from table tennis and basketball to cooking and crafts.

Outside, those at the club can play football while others paint giant graffiti characters on one of the play area’s walls. Learning a musical instrument and baking pizza are also popular pastimes.

The club was set up nine months ago by Julie Gooding, extended schools co-ordinator for Rochford District Council.

Julie, 46, said: “We allow the kids to choose what activities they want to put on and you’ll be surprised to find a lot of them want to do really creative things like drama and painting.

“But we are not about telling kids they have to do this or that. Some just want to come and hang out with their friends and that’s fine.”

Julie is modest about her own involvement in the club, instead emphasising the importance of working with others to achieve common aims.

She said: “When we started off last summer, we just had a couple of rooms. But we had 40 kids on the first night, then 60, then 80 – there was no way we had the room.

“The school has very kindly let us use their dining room and the playground and you can see the results.”

The Teen Cafe has been particularly successful at recruiting a number of young, enthusiastic volunteers to supervise the children.

James Liston, 15, of High Street, Great Wakering, is teaching the guitar and drums.

He said: “I started playing drums when I was about seven or eight and I want other kids to start young as well. I’m just teaching them the basics at the moment, but if they stick with it we’ll move on to some up-tempo stuff.”

James and Julie are even planning a musical extravaganza next summer, featuring an orchestra, songs and dancing.

And, Julie’s ambitions are not just limited to Teen Cafe.

She said: “We’ve had lots of people interested in what we’re doing here, from Rochford, Hockley, you name it.

“There will be more places like this springing up soon!”