The Palmerston Residents Association has been campaigning for some time trying to reverse the decision of the Belfast Education Board to close the Sydenham Youth Centre we have felt that Education Board had made a wrong decision we lobbied them to hold a audit in the area to take into account the views of our young people and our disabled and ethnic groups we have ask to have this carried out by an independent source we have requested this form our first contact with the Education Board and also at our meeting 17th October 2008
We felt at that meeting we could have come to some form of understanding with the Education Board on how it sees the youth provision in the Sydenham Area we felt that this would be the way forward,to our dismay it was not what the Education Board was there for it just did not want to try and reach any understanding at all,and railroaded over our concerns regarding youth provision in the area to our dismay.
The Residents Association is a fully constituted association and represents our community, we know the need for this centre and we feel it is vital link for our youth,we see it as a place of learning and involvement we know the youth in the area need this facility. We are aware the majority of youth want to have a neutral area to enable them to take ownership of it. We believe now more than ever the Education Board needs to look at their youth department and who heads it up and ask its self is it fit for purpose in 2008.
The association looks to other parts of the UK and see how they understand the needs of youth, millions of pounds are spent on youth by Play England and Play London we must draw into question why our young people are not worth the same. If we are trying to build a peaceful and exclusive society we have to look to our younger generation. Millions of pounds are spent on buildings making land marks yet we can not do the same to provide our young people places to meet or play. We ask the Education Board to read the insert on youth clubs published in the London Play News Oct 08.
Youth clubs help to cut antisocial behaviour, according to recent research from Clubs for Young People
(CYP): the umbrella group of 3,000 UK youth clubs. The study reveals there is a relationship between the
number of Asbos issued and availability of youth clubs: more Asbos are issued in places where fewer
youth clubs exist. It also finds there are more children per youth club in deprived areas. Clubs for Young
People is involved in the Blueprint project which aims to set out a plan for fun and effective youth centres.
Simon Antrobus, Chief Executive of Clubs for Young People, said: "Young people rightly deserve high
quality facilities in their communities which is why it's important that we lead a discussion on what turns a
community facility into a world class provision where young people can have fun, learn and grow as
individuals. (London Play News)
children regarded freedom, physical activity and areas to socialise with friends as the most important
elements of good play provision. However, barriers to play included traffic, bullying, stranger danger,
racism and negative adult attitudes such as areas with ‘No Ball Games’ signs. The single most common
barrier to play was physical distance from play areas which was a particular problem for disabled children(London Play News)
The Palmerston Residents Association ask the Education Minister to look at its (youth)Department and question themselves are they fit for purpose. Are they looking after the needs of our younger generation or pushing the youth where they do not want to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment