THE FUTURE of Basingstoke's trailblazing SNAP disco is hanging in the balance as it searches for a new home.
The popular events for teenagers face uncertainty after Sports Centre bosses said the town centre venue is unable to continue hosting the regular anti-drug youth evenings.
SNAP, run by Crimestoppers and hosted in the Sports Centre since the first event was held in February 1997, has been a major success and has taken off around the country.
But after Sports Centre refurbishments this year, there will no longer be any room for the disco-style event there.
And with the numbers of those attending dwindling, the team involved in SNAP have decided it needs a facelift - and a new venue - if it is to survive.
Sports Centre chief executive Steve Combes told The Gazette: "We are looking at redeveloping the main hall, and it will not lend itself to attractions the same size as SNAP. The product also needs to be relaunched in a different way. The fall in numbers attending is very much down to the venue, which needs to remain fresh."
The Sports Centre team will be working with the borough council and Pc Dave Woods, who has been a driving force behind SNAP, to find another place to host SNAP nights. The council's leisure department is surveying young people as part of the decision-making process.
Pc Woods said SNAP - which stands for Say No And Phone - has been a successful event. Although numbers are sometimes down to 300, this month's disco, which starred members of popular London group So Solid Crew, attracted 749 young people.
However, the event takes a lot of effort and organisation, including voluntary work from police officers and council staff, and has already been cut from once a month to five times a year.
Pc Woods said: "Personally, I feel it would be a great shame if SNAP did finish because young people can learn a lot about how to behave in a safe clubbing environment before they become old enough to get into adult clubs, where they may be shown the wrong way to behave.
"The project itself is still valid, and with proper promotion, the numbers will still go back up, like they did this month."
The last SNAP disco at the Sports Centre will be held on December 14 and will feature Awesome - the band who played at the first event in 1997.
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