Cuts kill off upper Teesdale youth club as cash goes to urban areas

A FARMING charity has ruled out trying to save a youth club that is due to close at the end of the month, saying it will put it at financial risk.
Funding cuts by Durham County Council has forced the closure of the popular youth group run at the offices of Utass (Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services), in Middleton-in-Teesdale. The club is seen as crucial in curbing social isolation among young people, but the withdrawal of county help by providing the youth support workers who run it has made it unviable.
The county council is reducing its youth service budget by £1million and is looking to shift its priorities to areas of deprivation such as Peterlee and places with problems like teen pregnancies and child poverty to “make every penny count”.
 However, young people in the upper dale had warned that cutting funding to their youth club could lead to depression and self-harming because of the isolated nature of the area.
County officials have acknowledged these issues and are now considering how to address them.
Announcing the closure during Utass’s annual meeting, chairman Dr Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore said: “As of April 1 we are having the funding cut to our youth support workers and it is with great sadness that we are having to have to stop the provision for the young people, that is from the ages 13 to 18.”
He added that provision for children younger than 13 would continue because that group is not funded by the county council.
Dr Nainby-Luxmoore said: “But that older group, at the moment, we are not in a position to continue providing for.
“If we continued providing that service, as a charity, that would expose us to a huge risk. Although we have worked hard with Durham County Council for it, there is just no way that we can provide that service.”
Dr Nainby-Luxmoore said surveys would be carried out during the coming year to work out the needs of young people and what could be done to meet them.
However, Durham County Council says it is looking to tackle social isolation issues among young people next year.
Carole Payne, the head of children’s services at County Hall, said: “During the 12-week public consultation, officers met with a wide variety of groups and organisations including young people accessing Utass.
“During this consultation session, the impact of possible social isolation, particularly for those young people living in rural areas, was highlighted.
“It was therefore recommended that the Strategy for Youth Support in County Durham, and subsequent targeted model for youth support, be strengthened by acknowledging that young people who are at risk of social isolation will also receive targeted youth work support through the proposed targeted model.
“These recommendations were endorsed by the cabinet in September 2016 and will come into effect on the April 1, 2017.”