A CHARITY which helps disadvantaged young people stay out of trouble is due to move into Abingdon’s old police station.

The Abingdon Bridge charity is hoping to be in the Grade II-listed Bridge Street building by December.

The move was announced in February 2011, as part of developer Cranbourne’s multi-million pound redevelopment of the Old Gaol.

But the Bridge has now been waiting for more than two years for the revamp to start.

The charity cannot move into the police station until it has been renovated by Cranbourne, which cannot start renovating the charity’s current home in Bridge street until it has moved out.

In the meantime, the charity has welcomed a new head.

Former headteacher of St Birinus School in Didcot, Chris Bryan, took over as the new Chair of Trustees from Derek Pooley.

Mr Bryan said: “We are really excited about the prospect now. I think it will be internally very derelict but that is going to be completely renovated.

“People think it is a bit odd – moving into a place that used to be a police station – for a charity which works with kids at risk of getting into trouble with the police but we think of it as being a safe and secure place for young people who may be feeling a bit vulnerable.

“We hope young people will still feel confident about dropping in to see us – that’s one of the advantages of it being in the centre of town.”

The charity is moving out of its current base in Bridge Street next door to its new home, which will become part of the development.

Mr Bryan said that last time he had spoken to Cranbourne the renovation had not begun, but it was due to be complete by the end of the year. The rest of the development will be a mixture of flats and commercial space.

Managing director Shaun Dominic said: “We are delighted they will be moving across.”

The new base was a police station for more than 160 years before the police moved to Colwell Drive about ten years ago.

But because the base is smaller than their old home the charity is making a move to grow their outreach project rather than running various workshops.

Mr Bryan added: “We will be taking a step towards doing more outreach work rather than young people coming into the centre.

“Because it is smaller we are regarding it as an opportunity to do most of our work in youth clubs and schools.”

They go to the Preston Road Community Centre every Friday and run workshops in schools including Larkmead School in Abingdon.

Young people aged from 13 to 25 drop into the centre every week for advice on drugs and alcohol, sexual health, housing, jobs and education. The charity employs five part-time staff – one manager, two youth workers, and two councillors.