Wax on Wax off: young people from Catch22 volunteer their time to restore unique local Old Fire Station

8 young people from Catch22 Folkestone will spend 2 days restoring the architecturally unique wooden panelled Public Reading Room in The Old Fire Station, Sandgate. The panelled walls and roof within the listed building, which is set in a Conservation area, has not been polished since the 1980s. The young people will be restoring the room on the 28th and 29th of March 2013 to ensure it looks spick and span for an exhibition over the Easter weekend.

The 8 young people aged 16-19 who are participants on the Foundation Learning and Employability Courses at Catch22, will work as a team to complete the restoration and document the improvements they make while volunteering. The group will increase pride in local heritage by raising awareness of the building and the free exhibition 'Sandgate - A Walk Down Memory Lane' on the 30th and 31st of March 2013.

Information about the project will also be shared nationally on the Catch22 website www.catch-22.org.uk

Catch22 is a national charity with a local reach. They aim to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve social and economical well-being and help them progress in positive directions. www.catch-22.org.uk for more information.

The aim of the Catch22 Foundation Learning course is to provide young people in Folkestone and the surrounding areas with opportunities to make a difference to themselves and their communities by taking part in social action projects and other meaningful enterprises.

The Sandgate Society are holding an exhibition entitled "Sandgate - A Walk Down Memory Lane" on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st March from noon onwards in the Reading Room above the Old Fire Station on Sandgate High Street. The exhibition will feature photographs and documents from the Sandgate Society archive. Coffee and cakes on sale. Entrance free.