It’s looking like hard year next year for Camden’s youth centres after another round of cuts by the Tory and Lib Dem administration.
We have heard about Queen’s Crescent, The Haven, Highgate New Town in this year’s funding commissioning process – now hear about the Samuel Lithgow on the Regent’s Park Estate.
Samuel Lithgow Youth Centre (SLYC) funding from Camden Youth & Connexions Service has been slashed from £45,000 in 2007/2008 to £29,792 in 2008/2009 - over 34% of funding slashed overnight.
What’s worse is that this decision to cut funding flies in the face of the hard work local volunteers have done towards raising £1,000,000 to fully refurbish Samuel Lithgow building (which belongs to LB Camden).
When SLYC is shut for refurbishment/extension in December, for a year, it will need an extra £15,000 to rent local venues to deliver our services and to hire an office space. It will also lose income from the fact that groups who normally rent the space will go elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the council seems to have no plan for what replacement services there will be to cover the shortfall.
As everyone on the Regent’s Park estate knows – youth issues are on the rise, so cutting Samuel Lithgow makes no sense at all.
This is just another set of cuts in a long line of post-2006 council funding decisions.
Monday, June 16, 2008
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2 comments:
There should be no competition between the merits of all the youth schemes. The summer holiday programme of WAC based at the Hampstead Town Hall but benefiting young people widely in the borough has not been funded. More young people at a loss for what to do in the school holidays. A constructive programme closed.
This year the funding process was far too late - partly because the council was very busy getting ready for an audit (which it passed with flying colours) on, er, children's services. This meant that when some groups did not get funding they had no time to appeal or pursue other funds in order to keep staff.
The Lib Dems give a very bureaucratic answer when questioned - it is the fault of organiosations not applying for funding from other sources / bad bids - implying these excellent schemes are incompetent.
Voluntary Action Camden, now a major service partner with the council, has been strangely silent on all of this too.
We need to get back to a timely, properly supported process which gives money to the groups who needs it most, first.
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