Youth clubs face funding crisis
YOUTH clubs in Shetland are battling to stave off a “looming crisis” as council funding cuts threaten their future.
Paid youth workers’ hours are being cut from April, prompting fears that youth clubs in communities including Sandwick, Scalloway and Whalsay will open less often.
Sandwick Youth and Community Centre (SYCC) are holding an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis, following a similar meeting at Lerwick’s Isleburgh Community Centre last week where a new committee was elected.
The 75 year old Sandwick club’s long serving treasurer Neville Martin and chairwoman Mairi Jamieson are to step down, amid worries about the impact reduced funding.
The loss of S3 and S4 pupils at Sandwick junior high school, or its possible closure, could make the situation worse, locals fear.
Shetland South councillor George Smith, who will chair Tuesday’s meeting, said the immediate priority would be to find fresh committee volunteers.
But he fears for youth clubs throughout the isles as the days of plentiful public monies grind to a halt.
“Whoever takes committee duties on will be faced with a situation from 1 April where youth work hours are being cut, so the number of nights they have paid staff will be reduced,” he said.
“That means a likelihood of being open less, with a knock on of less income generated from tuck shop and other activities.”
The Sandwick centre, an amalgamation of the former Sandwick Club and Central Hall, has a main hall, social area, pool, snooker, kitchen and tuck shop, along with changing rooms for the adjacent football pitch, a dedicated room for under fives and a meeting room.
It also owns the Sandsayre boatshed and store, which have turned Sandwick into a centre for youth sailing, and has recently taken on the public toilets used by tourists visiting Mousa.
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Insurance alone costs £8,000 a year, and the committee feels funding from Shetland Islands Council’s development department is “crucial”.
However development has been hit harder than other council departments during the current wave of cost cutting, and there is little cash to spare.
Development committee chairman Alastair Cooper agreed it was difficult to see where funding can come from “unless we do it at the expense of something else”. He hopes enough volunteers will come forward to ensure youth clubs can keep their doors open.
“I was born in a different era, and I’m not wanting to go back to it,” he said.
“We’re asking folk to go in and provide and maintain a facility for young folk in their community with voluntary effort.”
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