Youth clubs are vital ...they shelter kids from violence and addiction at home
YOUTH clubs facing the axe could be offered a lifeline.
Last month Gwynedd Council’s cabinet approved plans to scrap all of the county’s 39 youth club.
The move sparked a backlash, with 3,600 signing an online petition opposing the plans and Welsh language pressure group Cymdeithas yr Iaith urging the authority to rethink.
Now some town and community councils have stepped in to see if they can save their local clubs
Bethesda Community Council has decided to fund the costs of its club to stay open for two nights a week at a cost of £9,000 a year.
Blaenau Ffestiniog will pay £10,000 a year for the next three years towards the cost of running its clubs in the town and in nearby Llan Ffestiniog.
Caernarfon, Porthmadog and Llanrug are also in talks to secure the future of their clubs.
Caernarfon Town Council Plaid Cymru councillor Cemlyn Williams has campaigned against the proposed closure on the grounds that they provide a vital service.
He said: “There are two wards in Caernarfon which are disadvantaged and that many of the young people who come to the youth club need somewhere safe to shelter from violence in the home, drugs and alcohol. We are very hopeful that the town council can play a significant part in securing the club’s future.”
He added: “The youth club is open four nights a week at present.
“The aim is that the town council would pay to keep it open for two or three nights.”
At present, it costs around £4,000 a year to open the youth club for 30 nights between the end of April and the beginning of September.
Caernarfon has 300 members and 500 register every week.
A council spokesman said its plan was to provide “a countywide club” that would deliver a “wide programme of activities” all-year round but that it would support any group prepared to run their own club.
He added: “As a council, we have committed ourselves to supporting any community council or local group that wishes to deliver a more traditional local youth club.
“Positive discussions have taken place and we have made it clear that Gwynedd Council will be able to support local initiatives by facilitating local youth clubs funded by community councils or other local groups or by providing specialist support and training for local volunteers to run their own local club.”