|
|
 |
| |
| Priest hits out at ‘absurd’
A1 |
|
Father Jim Kennedy
Senior youth worker Steve Griffiths
|
A FURIOUS priest has condemned the amount of money being spent
on the Town Hall’s flagship scheme to brighten up the A1 corridor
from Archway to the Barbican as ‘absurd’.
Father Jim Kennedy, priest at Blessed Sacrament Church, spoke out
in support of his cash strapped Copenhagen Street Youth Project
this week.
The funding crisis at the 400-member project is so acute that 15
youth workers may have to be laid off by Christmas – and a
skeleton service installed. The project, he said, receives no council
funding, yet Islington “pours money” into a scheme to
tidy up the A1 from Archway to the Angel.
Father Kennedy, who chairs the council’s Standards and Ethics
Committee added: “We’re nowhere near the A1 and it’s
rubbish to say we benefit from the project. How does our youth work
benefit from that?”
He added: “We’ve no money for anything – and there’s
nothing for the young people to do. Islington Council does not do
youth work.”
He said the project received £80,000 from the Neighbourhood
Renewal Fund over three years and but “that’s peanuts”.
A senior youth worker at the project, Steve Griffiths, warned that
gangs of children will roam the streets as the funding runs out.
He gave his stark warning to residents from the Bemerton Estate,
off Caledonian Road, on Monday night.
Mr Griffiths said: “The peer pressure is so strong. In a group
of 10, you will only get one or two that are hardcore.
“We work on a shoestring and in this neck of the woods it is
a very, very difficult area. We are in quite a serious position
and we need to be funded to do the work. The more funding we have,
the more work we can do.
“Bodies such as housing associations should be aware that by
funding projects like ours you can have part of your answer to anti-social
behaviour.”
The project runs weekly sessions where youngsters are taught a variety
of skills, including DJing, drama, art and sport.
It also runs and outreach project where teams of youth workers concentrate
on eight estates. The only tranche of near-council money for the
project comes from the Islington Drug and Alcohol Team. The rest
is received through bidding to charities.
Bemerton residents spoke of huge gangs of marauding youths, often
on mopeds, with no respect for the law, and none for those living
on the estates.
Verbal and physical abuse is commonplace, as are prostitutes servicing
clients in rubbish shoots and then smoking crack cocaine with the
proceeds of the “transaction”.
The meeting was arranged by Islington South Labour MP Emily Thornberry,
who wants more money spent on youth facilities.
Islington’s police commander, Chief Superintendent Barry Norman,
has repeated his belief that Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos)
cannot cure the scourge of youth disorder, prostitution and drug
dealing on the borough’s estates.
Former primary school teacher Mary Ogbogoh, said gangs didn’t
hang around on the Bemerton estate when youth clubs operated in
area.
Mrs Ogbogoh was praised for the way she deals with the youngsters,
often cracking a joke with them and then striding through the crowd.
But Islington has promised to help.
Councillor James Kempton, Executive Member for children said: “The
Copenhagen Youth Project is entirely independent of the council.
I have only just learned that the Copenhagen Youth Project has not
been able to replace the funding that is about to run out.
“Of course we in the council will do all that we can to help.
This might mean looking at offering bridging funding until they
can identify a new funder as well as supporting them in their fundraising.
This year the council will spend £3.2million on youth provision
– the second highest amount in the country. We work closely
with the voluntary sector and local community to give our young
people a wider range of choices. There are five dedicated youth
projects in the immediate area and dedicated youth workers working
closely with young people in this area and across the borough.”
|
|
Iberian organic wins day
WHERE do managers of Oddbins go when they want an interesting and
reasonably priced wine?
FULL STORY
I konw! Invest in community
I CAN’T swim. In fact, I’d rather spend the night watching
a double bill of the Krankies...
FULL STORY
|
