Shropshire Council cuts put rural youth activities in jeopardy
Holiday and youth activities for children in rural Shropshire areas could end under council cuts.
Shropshire Council is planning to cut the budget that it gives to local joint committees for youth activities from £234,959 to £135,000 and the number of committees benefitting from 18 to just six - Shrewsbury getting £45,000 and Oswestry, Market Drayton, Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Whitchurch £18,000.
But rural joint committees will receive nothing under the proposals.
Those affected include youth groups in the Gobowen, St Martins and Weston Rhyn area, Wem and Shawbury, and Longden and Ford.
The changes follow the council move to introduce a revised and simplified funding formula based on two measures, the number of 10-19 year olds in an area and the number in receipt of free school meals. It will take out mention of rurality in the formula.
Holiday activities for families in Gobowen, St Martins, Weston Rhyn are run by the TNS Foundation, with funding support by Shropshire Council and others.
The foundation, the community arm of The New Saints Football Club, has appealed to people to take part in consultation over the planned cutbacks stressing that consultation ends on Friday.
Gill Jones from the foundation said: "We have received fantastic feedback for our provision, which was attended by almost 400 children and young people last year.
"We want to convince the council of the importance of a relatively small amount of funding in providing much-needed activities for children and young people growing up in rural areas who aren’t necessarily able to get in to the market towns to access what they have to offer."
This week the foundation held indoor activity days in Gobowen, St Martins and Weston Rhyn, while in good weather holiday activities take place on sports grounds in the villages.
People can take part in the consultation through the Shropshire Council website, http://shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/changes-to-provision-of-youth-activities
The consultation document says: "We will continue to fund Shropshire Youth Association to provide proactive support to youth clubs across Shropshire. We recognise that this is crucial to the long-term sustainability of an active and dynamic voluntary community sector."
