Funding fears over future of Wem youth club
Concerns over future funding and workers at a youth club in north Shropshire have been voiced by a town council.
Wem Town Council have responded to Shropshire Council's consultation on youth provisions, saying the new proposals are "very worrying" and contain little detail about how the changes will affect the running of the town's club.
At a meeting, the council agreed to send off a response that outlined their considerations on the new model of youth work which said it will incorporate universal, open access groups and targeted support through outreach or detached youth work.
Wem Town Council said they are concerned about future funding as the youth club currently receives £6,500 per year from Shropshire Council which enables it to employ one youth worker to open one night a week and work with older children, and the town council provides financial support so the club can open another night to work with younger children.
The response said: "Wem Youth Club currently provides the most vulnerable in the community from the age of nine with a safe place to visit and a trained impartial youth worker to talk to.
"If Shropshire Council stops providing funding to the youth club to fund the proposed new model, then it is the town council's opinion this would most probably cause Wem youth club to close.
Concerns
"It is anticipated that there will also be an increased burden placed on the local police team and the town council if young people have no safe space to access in the town they will be more likely to engage in anti-social behaviour."
The proposals suggest that a team of six youth workers will be employed to cover an area of Shropshire.
In response, the town council said: "We have serious concerns about this proposal and are dismayed that Shropshire Council has not been transparent in this process by providing information on exactly how they plan to fund the appointment of these new youth workers.
"Wem already has a youth worker who understands the issues affecting young people living in Wem and over the last three years has gained the trust of some of the most difficult young people in the town and gained the respect of the wider community.
"The town council does not consider there is any need to replace this worker with a generic youth worker who will not be able to provide anywhere near the quality of provision currently provided due to the wide geographical area that they will be covering."
