Nowhere to go

Walsall council has planned to shut nearly every youth centre leaving thousands of the town’s young people with nowhere to go. Unite, Britain’s biggest union, is fighting for the young people of Walsall and has warned the council to re-think it’s decision.

Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe Unite national officer for youth, community and play workers states, “Unite is urging the council to think again. These cuts will rip the heart out of services that thousands of young people depend on. Now is not the time to sacrifice Walsall’s youth service, on the contrary we need to invest in young people.”

Unite, who represent the council’s youth workers, has written to the leader of the council, Sean Coughlan urging him and the other council members to re-think plans to slash the youth budget in two, by axing more than £1m over two years.

Walsall is planning a 48 per cent cut to the council’s youth service budget. This will mean that the youth clubs will be closed, dozens of youth workers sacked and will mark the end of the youth services that should be open and accessible to all Walsall’s young people.

Unite is desperately trying to safeguard the future of Walsall’s youth service by securing a commitment to ring-fence funding and the protection of qualified youth workers.

Colenzo also said, “Over 3,000 young people responded to the council’s recent consultation with 74 per cent calling for no youth service budget cuts. But rather than listen the council is ploughing ahead with its destructive cuts agenda.”

Unite is doing its utmost to save the Walsall youth centres but without the help of their surrounding neighbours the young people of Walsall might end up with nowhere to go.