A New year windfall from the J Paul Getty Jnr charitable trust means that the immediate future of Newent's Chill Out Zone youth caf looks secure.

Newent mayor Fred Passant says the trust has agreed to fund the caf to the tune of £10,000 a year for the next three years.

The first instalment brings the caf's existing funds up to £45,000, well in excess of the £33,000 needed to keep the Broad Street facility going for 12 months.

In November, after a £75,000 lottery bid for funding failed, the caf was in danger of running out of funds by March.

Since then, Coun Passant, who is chairman of the caf's management committee, has spearheaded a fundraising drive to attract other grants into the project and the funding levels are already on the up and up.

He said of the Getty donation: "It's a Christmas present and a good start to the new year. We are still hoping for grants from other applications. There are a whole load of charities and trusts which I plan to apply to in the next two or three weeks."

Coun Passant said that applications had already been made to grant-making bodies including the Lloyds TSB Foundation, Forest of Dean District Council and Gloucestershire County Council.

The youth caf was opened in August 2001 and its regular sessions attract up to 25 youngsters at a time.

A millionaire philanthropist, J Paul Getty Jnr died in 2003, but the charitable trust which he founded continues in his memory.