Gwynedd’s youth clubs could still close despite a 6,000 name petition that was presented to Gwynedd Councillors on Thursday.
The 39 youth club’s were due to close after Easter, to be replaced with a county-wide “hub” for 11-19-year-olds in September. Under the proposed plan every Gwynedd secondary school would be allocated with a dedicated youth worker.
Protest
A protest took place outside the Gwynedd Council Chambers in Caernarfon prior to the full council meeting and the group “Achubwch Glybiau Ieuienctid Gwynedd” (Save Gwynedd Youth Clubs) who arranged the protest, presented the 6,000 name petition to the council hoping that it would save the youth clubs from closure.
Campaigners said: “Closing these clubs would be fatal for the Welsh language by reducing the opportunities for young people to use the language.
“It will also affect the whole community, as young people will have nowhere but the streets to socialise with each other in the evenings.
“Finally, it will have a terrible impact on the young people themselves as they lose a safe place to receive support from independent adults they can trust.”
Amendment
Despite the petition, councillors failed to vote for the recommendation put forward by Llais Gwynedd Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd that the cabinet re-consider their decision to close the youth clubs and instead voted 39-30 in favour of an amendment put forward by Plaid Cymru Councillor Menna Baines.
The cabinet will now look at some areas of the new model and work with community and local councils on the youth club provisions especially looking at disadvantaged areas and the impact on the Welsh language. This would require local councils to help fund the youth clubs meaning that many could still close due to lack of funding.
Mary Gwen Griffiths-Clarke, the Arfon Labour Parliamentary Candidate, said: “Not investing in young people is not investing in the future. This is blinkered thinking by the council who lacked transparency at the consultation phase where no closures were mentioned.
“The public and young people were hoodwinked. The council wish to see youth services run in rotation from schools, when youth services need to be independent from formal education and give kids a break. Young people need to be central to the design and delivery of youth services and not an after-thought.”
Llanllyfni councillor, Craig ab Iago, Plaid Cymru cabinet member responsible for housing leisure and culture said: “One of the arguments I have heard against this is if it isn’t broken then don’t fix it.
“Well it is broken, only 14 % of our young people use our youth clubs which means about 86% of young people that we have been talking to want something different.”
