A youth club leader in Co Tyrone says young people will lose out and jobs are at risk as a result of proposed funding cuts to youth services.
Shane McDonald from the Ogras Centre in Coalisland, which sees 500 young people using the club a week, will have to shut for two nights a week as a result of proposed Education Authority cuts.
Funding for youth services across Northern Ireland runs on a three year cycle, with groups being asked to apply for new funding this year, but the EA has indicated to groups they may receive less funding than in previous years.
In Ogras’ case, Shane says the youth group’s funding could be cut by around a quarter, meaning they will only be able to open four nights a week instead of six.
“Our budget is going to be reduced by £30,000 a year, around a quarter of our budget for the year,” Shane said.
“It would be reducing what we are able to do, closing down some nights during the week and that means young people losing out.
“There will be no provision there for a summer scheme, the one we run has 300 young people a day coming to it.
“They have said they are not funding any summer programmes so we wouldn’t have the ability to staff it.
“We will potentially have to go down from six nights a week to four nights a week so young people will be missing out and inevitably you are going to have to lose staff as well.
“We would have as many as 500 people a week using our club, it’s busy and potentially around 100 young people might be affected by this.
“They’re not taking into consideration the needs of the young people, we’ve had no explanation of why these cuts are necessary.”
A spokesperson for the Education Authority said it is aware of the concerns being raised in relation to the funding changes, and says no final decision has been made as the overall education budget has not been finalised.
“The Education Authority very much recognises the vital role youth services play in all communities and the impact they have on the lives of our children and young people," the spokesperson said.
“Over the last number of weeks, we have been listening very carefully to the voices of children and young people, youth leaders and wider stakeholders, and are very aware of the concerns raised in relation to the application process for the Youth Service Funding Scheme for 2023-24.
“The overall education budget for 2023/24 has not yet been set, and, as such, no decisions have been made to date in relation to youth funding for the next financial year.
“However, in response to the feedback received and to provide further direction and reassurance to the youth sector, we have committed to extending the deadline for the application process for core provision, to allow anyone who has not applied so far to do so, and we have also committed to providing further information in relation to the application process for targeted and enhanced opportunities in mid January.
“Any decision on future funding will still have to be confirmed and will be dependent on the overall 2023/24 education budget.”
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