What is happening?
The council has approved a widespread cuts package, including massive £1.6 million cuts to youth services which already suffered £2.3 million of cuts in 2012. This will leave the service over 60% worse off in real terms than in 2011. We believe this will have a significant detrimental impact on young people in Camden as opportunities and positive activities will be slashed.
Here are the headline changes:
- £1.6 million in funding cuts
- 64% cut in universal youth service provision
- closure of two youth centres
- closure of the COOL project funding activities for low income young people
- closure of the Under 25’s Advice Centre
- 70% budget cut to Connexions careers and jobs support for young people
- further cuts to the youth offending service
- 25 to 30 full-time equivalent jobs lost
What can you do about it?
Camden UNISON has launched a campaign against the cuts: Save Camden Youth Services. Here is how you can support the campaign:
- Like our Facebook page here: Save Camden Youth Services
- Follow us on Twitter here: @savecys
- Sign our petition against the cuts here
- Print our paper petition and get people to sign it, then return it to us
- Write to your local councillor, MP and to local and national newspapers explaining your opposition to the cuts
- Download and print out our leaflet here (A4) against the cuts and give/send it to your friends, neighbours colleagues and families (A5 version here – please ignore when it says about printer margins being outside the printable area)
- Get involved! If you are a young person, parent or member of the community join our campaign – e-mail savecamdenyouthservices@gmail.com or telephone 020 7974 3972
- If you are a member of staff, join UNISON today!
- Join our demonstrations and activities against the cuts, which will be advertised on our website and on the Facebook page.
Find out more
More information is available about the campaign in the following video and links below:
- Camden New Journal article about our campaign against the cuts and about how Camden young people protesting against the cuts were censored by the council
- Video of young people talking about the impact of the cuts
- Article by Hannah Morris, a Camden young person in the Camden New Journal about the cuts
- Ham & High article about the cuts
- Children & Young People Now article about the cuts