13,000 join forces to make Warwickshire council explain plans to
axe Youth Service
31 January 2011
Over 13,000 Warwickshire residents who have signed a petition to
save the Youth Service from council cuts must not be ignored, says
Unite.
Campaigners smashed the number of signatures needed by 8,000 to
force the council to debate its decision to axe services for young
people as over 350 jobs and dozens of youth services are at
risk.
Unite, the largest union representing members in the youth and
community sector, will be joined by young people from youth clubs
threatened with closure, to present the petition to councillor
Frank McCarney, chair of Bedworth Heath & Keresley Youth
Project, outside Shire Hall, Warwickshire today (Monday).
Warwickshire county council joins a growing number of councils,
such as Suffolk and Norfolk, threatening to get rid of their youth
services altogether after announcing deep budget cuts. The proposal
to axe the service would lead to the closure of over 30 youth clubs
and projects in the area, with the loss of 359 jobs.
Throughout the UK community services supporting young people are
being targeted by councils racing to shed services and cut costs.
The union is warning that such is the scale of the cuts across the
UK, the service could effectively disappear in six months just as
the rise in tuition fees and axing of the Education Maintenance
Allowance (EMA) price the young out of education, while one in five
young people languish on the unemployment queue.
Chris Spreadbury, vice chair of Unite's Warwickshire Youth and
Community branch, said: “The council’s proposal to axe Warwickshire
Youth Service flies in the face of its pledge ‘to protect the most
vulnerable and the front-line services that support them.
“Once again, young people are being forced to bear the heaviest
burden for a crisis they did not cause. Warwickshire Youth Service
has an established track record of supporting young people,
particularly those that are hardest to reach or from disadvantaged
backgrounds, but this is now at serious risk.
“These young people are among the most vulnerable in our
society. We must not turn our backs on them. Removing these
services will be devastating for them and their communities. Young
people and the residents of Warwickshire deserve better and we will
continue to fight to protect the Youth Service.”
Warwickshire county council is to make a budget cut of £60
million – the largest in its history - over three years from April
2011. The youth clubs at risk of closure include the Saturday Club,
which caters to young people with disabilities, aged 13-18, Uptown
Rock, a group for young people with disabilities, aged 18-25 years,
and Warwick Seniors, a youth club for 13-18 year olds. Unite worked
with the young people to help them campaign to save their services
soon after the council announced its plans in November to slash
services.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Chris Spreadbury 07855
045064.
Notes to editors:
*The petition will be presented to the council through cllr
Frank McCarney, chair of Bedworth Heath & Keresley Youth
Project on the steps of Shire Hall, Market Square Warwickshire CV34
4SA on Monday 31 January 12pm, by a selection of the people
involved in creating this campaign.
A photo opportunity will be available.
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