Youth work roundup
Laura McCardle
Monday, October 21, 2013
Councillor insists consultation will influence decision over service cuts in Essex; youth club pilot launches in response to complaints about antisocial behaviour; and youth club wins funding for professional youth worker, all in the news this week.
Essex County Council will not make any decisions about proposed cuts to youth services until all feedback from the ongoing public consultation has been considered, a senior councillor has insisted. Ray Gooding, the county councillor for education, told the Clacton and Frinton Gazette that he is disappointed about suggestions that the authority has already made its decision. The consultation ends on 20 November.
A youth club pilot scheme has been launched in Bury St Edmunds in response to complaints about antisocial behaviour and calls for extra provision for teenagers in the town. According to the Bury Free Press, trained youth workers will host a night for young people aged 13- to 18-years-old on a weekly basis until Christmas. The pilot is being funded with locality grants of £500 each by Suffolk Council councillors Sarah Stamp and Trevor Beckwith.
A new youth club in Sutton Bridge has been awarded more than £6,000 to fund a trained youth worker. The Spalding Guardian reports that the money, awarded by The People’s Health Trust, will pay for a youth worker to be at the club for four hours a week over the next two years. The youth club has also been awarded £1,000 towards activity equipment for its younger members.
Saffron Walden’s youth services could be run from a new "multi-service" centre from next September. According to the Saffron Walden Weekly News, Essex County Council is considering proposals for a new centre, which would deliver a range of services. Local residents are campaigning for youth services to remain at Fairycroft House and have launched the Save the Croft Facebook page.
Pulborough Youth Centre has employed a professional youth worker after the local community raised money to support the role. The West Sussex County Times reports that Ben Stoggles, a youth worker at Horsham Matters, will run an afternoon session for young people aged between 13 and 17. David Jolliffe, chair of the youth centre, thanked the community for its support and said the centre feels “more lively and professional” since the appointment.
