Saturday, May 21, 2011

Users 'disgusted' by youth centre closures

Two youth centres will close this summer to save the county council �70,000 a year.

Leicestershire County Council said it could not afford to keep Wigston Young People's Centre and Glenfield Youth Centre running.

Bosses said the cash would be saved on staff and maintenance costs but have not yet said how many workers will lose their jobs.

Tom Foster, of Wigston, a regular user of the centre, in Holmden Avenue, in the town, said: "I felt disgusted when I found out.

"Lots of teenagers go to the centre, not because they are made to but because they want to as it keeps them off streets and helps them make friends.

"It will be a big loss to the community if it is shut."

Mike Reeve, of Wigston, said the centres would be missed.

He said: "Wigston Young People's Centre provides a safe, secure environment for those living in the area.

"It provides youth clubs, self-esteem classes and young mums classes, to name a few.

"Young people should not have to suffer because of Government cuts and we need help to stop this happening."

Wigston councillor Bill Boulter said: "People around here are very disappointed.

"This is what happens when there are cuts."

The centre in Wigston has a cafe, pool table, TV access and a sports hall, where football, rollerskating and a variety of other sports are available.

Some activities will continue at the newly-refurbished Bobbin Factory, next to South Leicestershire College, in South Wigston.

In Glenfield, the centre is a mobile building in Station Road, with rooms and outside play areas.

The county council said it was planning to work with the parish council, parents and volunteers in an attempt to keep activities going somewhere else.

A county council spokesman said: "We have had to make difficult decisions about where to make savings but our priority is to safeguard services delivered directly to young people and to save on building overheads.

"The closure of the youth centres in Wigston and Glenfield at the end of August will save approximately �70,000 a year.

"We will try to keep redundancies to a minimum."

He said some staff would be given the chance to apply for new posts.

The total youth service budget has been cut by more than 25 per cent, from �5.5 million to �4 million.

The two sites could be sold to raise additional money for the council.



Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503348/s/1502d042/l/0L0Sthisisleicestershire0O0Cnews0CUsers0Edisgusted0Eyouth0Ecentre0Eclosures0Carticle0E357660A70Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

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