Youth centre cuts plan 'put young people at risk'

More than 100 youth workers and young people held a protest at the EA's headquarters in Belfast

Planned cuts to funding for youth centres will put young people at risk, the Education Authority (EA) has been told.

More than 100 youth workers and young people held a protest at the EA's headquarters in Belfast on Thursday.

They handed in a letter to the EA's chief executive Sara Long, highlighting consequences if funding was reduced.

The EA has said it "fully understands the vital role youth services play in all communities".

It said it listened to the concerns youth leaders and young people had about funding their services.

"We will continue to work to minimise the risk to these really important services against the backdrop of very significant financial challenges," said the authority in a statement.

Hitting safe havens?

Youth leaders have previously said that "the wider community would suffer" if the funding cuts to youth centres went ahead.

Some LGBTQ organisations have also said a number of their youth groups face closure.

The protesters handed a letter in to Sara Long, the Education Authority's chief executive

Youth centres across Northern Ireland are applying for funding from the EA for 2023-24.

But many have been told that the amount of money available next year will be significantly less than they are currently receiving.

Youth worker Conor Largey from Holy Trinity Youth Centre in Turf Lodge in Belfast was one of those at the protest.

He told BBC News NI that the centre opened six nights a week but faced cutting that down to four nights a week.

"There will be no after-schools provision, no street-based youth work, no summer programme, no additional services that are essential to the young people who live in the community," he said.

"We have 300 young people in our membership and regularly we have 110 young people accessing the service per week easily.

West Belfast youth worker Conor Largey says youth centres like his are key for education

"Our youth centre is a safe haven for young people to come to.

"There will be a mental and emotional impact on young people in having access to staff who can support them through difficult situations.

"Everything we do is about education - we're a key element of the education family."

'Closing our opportunities'

Holy Trinity Youth Centre members Taylor and Dan were among the young people who handed in a letter of protest to the EA.

"I go there to be with my mates, just to have a bit of craic, be with the youth workers, play football," Dan said.

Holy Trinity Youth Centre member Taylor said the centre helps "with everything that's going on in our lives"

"They're cutting our club and if they cut it we can't go to it.

"It's going to close our opportunities for residentials, groups - and then we're going to be left out on the streets.

"We go there to get off the streets."

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Taylor said the centre helped "with everything that's going on in our lives".

"We can have mental health groups and play all sorts of games - it keeps us up to stuff," he said.

"The club is helping us out with education, mental health too.

"It keeps us off the streets and [keeps] stuff on our mind too."

'Ignoring young people's voices'

The letter handed in to the EA by protestors said that cuts to funding would mean cuts to the amount of time centres opened and the work they could do.

That included "cross-community contact opportunities and shared education".

"This will bring an end to detached/street-based youth work," the letter continued.

"This will reduce services for our most vulnerable young people and will impact on our interventions for young people struggling with poor mental health, preventing young people from engaging in interface violence, interpersonal and group violence and other self-harming behaviours."

The letter also said the EA had ignored young people's voices.

The EA has previously said it will have to make around £100m in savings following the recent Stormont budget.