Tag: Foundations 4 the Future

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NEWS: Birmingham City Council announce cuts to Youth Service with job losses and youth centres up for sale

Words by Erdington Local Editorial Team

Birmingham City Council House, Victoria Square / Adobe Stock Images

Birmingham City Council (BCC) have told devastated youth workers they are axing all part time staff and potentially putting all youth centres up for sale, in a ploy to save over £100m by 2026.

Following a meeting on 26 September, BCC Youth Service staff were left dumbfounded after Director of Children’s Services, Dr Sue Harrison, outlined the plans in a presentation to city workers which would see 44 jobs lost – including 37 youth support workers.

Youth Service staff have been waiting since April for the results of a review of the three services which deal with young people across Birmingham: careers, 14-19, and the youth service.

At the meeting last week, it was announced all three services will be merged into one service and the remaining staff were told they would not be working out of geographic centres which many fear could break the link between youngsters and their youth workers.

Staff were further told every youth centre in the city would be subject to “expression of interest” meaning third parties who want to buy them will be notified.

Junior football team / Adobe Stock Images

The recent Youth Service cuts come days after the new Labour government promised to invest in youth work, as the city remains in the grip of a teenage knife crime crisis.

But Birmingham’s Youth Service has long suffered cuts, with centres across the city shut down or stripped back. Erdington saw the cherished Malcom Locker Youth Centre close in 2014 after a previous round of council cuts and despite a locally led campaign to save it, with the neighbouring Clifton Road Youth Centre near Sutton Park only open three evenings a week.

Most recently, Foundations 4 the Future CIC – which engages young people through sport and “bespoke” programmes – was forced to give up it’s youth centre at Central Square after owners of the site decided to demolish the building following two failed bids by Birmingham City Council for regeneration funding.

Following the meeting on 26 September, and the news of job losses and asset sales, a Save Birmingham Youth Service (SBYS) spokesman told: “It has been announced that new proposals for the Youth Service will see the loss of 44 jobs. 37 of these will be youth support workers that are vital in running youth clubs and activities across our city.

“The loss of these roles will have an unprecedented effect on the services that Birmingham Youth Service can offer the young people of our amazing city. Further roles will be lost in essential admin and business roles within the new proposals.”

(SBYS have an online petition to stop the proposed cuts to Birmingham Youth Service, to learn more about their campaign and sign up click here.)

Youth workers flag up children in danger of sexual exploitation, county lines criminality, and many other types of abuse. With a record number of children in the city not attending school their role has become even more important.

Birmingham has long celebrated itself as being the youngest city in Europe, with a reported 40% of its population under 25.

Council Leader Cllr John Cotton recently recognised Birmingham “a young and dynamic city” when attending the development launch of a new Enterprise Hub in Erdington, whilst further paying tribute to the “tremendous assets that we have out in our community”.

In a statement for the press given on Friday 27 September, Dr Sue Harrison said: “Consultation has commenced on a redesign of the council’s Youth Service aimed at creating a service model that is sustainable and provides a consistent approach to youth services across the city that is more aligned with other services working with young people.

“We appreciate that any meeting where staff reductions are proposed can be difficult for staff and we have signposted support from managers as well as the council’s Employee Assistance Programme, for those who wish to take it up.”

She added “Every member of staff will be invited to a one-to-one discussion as part of the consultation process.”

Birmingham City Council is cutting services due to its ongoing financial crisis, after equal pay liabilities and a defunct IT system cost the city hundreds of millions.

After borrowing £1.25bn from central government following to balance its books the council needs to save over £300m over the next two financial years by cutting services, selling off assets, and hiking up the price of Council Tax.

The Children and Families Directorate has been given a savings target of £52.2m for 2024/25 and £63.2m for 2025/26 financial year.

For more on the Save Birmingham Youth Service campaign visit www.facebook.com/savebhamyouthservice

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NEWS: Castle Vale opens ‘warm welcome spaces’ to support people across winter

Words by Ed King / Pics by Bianca Parvuceanu

As the cost-of-living crisis makes the coming cold months even harder for people, Spitfire House and Castle Vale Library have become part of the city’s official ‘warm welcome spaces’ – providing free to access heated facilities across winter.

Open between 9am to 9pm on weekdays, and 10am to 4pm on Saturdays, the indoor ‘warm banks’ not only offer a heated place for families to come to, but also work stations, computer access, hot drinks, baby changing areas, and ‘children’s play equipment’.

One of 26 current official outlets across Birmingham, the citywide initiative has commandeered libraries, community hubs, and sports centres, to provide a warm support network over winter – spearheaded by Cllr John Cotton, Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Community Safety and Equalities.

As energy prices reach record highs, and people across the country are forced to decide between basic essentials – often represented by the choice between ‘food or heat’ – the Council led support programme has committed to providing ‘places you can use and visit during the winter period and beyond.’

Spitfire House and Castle Vale Library are run by Spitfire Advice and Support Service (SASS), whose Chief Officer, Ray Goodwin, is also the elected Labour Party Councillor for Castle Vale.

SASS have always had publicly accessible ‘warm spaces’ at both Spitfire House and Castle Vale Library, alongside their other community support programmes – such as food distribution and financial advice services.

Now part of the citywide initiative, Cllr Goodwin hopes to reach more people across the Vale and offer a more robust support service – whist ensuring the growing post-Covid problems and those caused by the cost of living crisis are not ‘normalised’.

Cllr Goodwin told Erdington Local: “The ‘welcome warm spaces’ initiative is probably one of the most important initiatives in this city.

“It’s not only going to provide a space for people to stay warm, and make sure they can meet their friends and socially interact – and combat social isolation, but quite frankly it’s going to stop people dying.

“For us this is a really important step to help during the cost of living crisis, which will protect both people and communities.”

Spearheaded by Cllr John Cotton (Glebe Farm and Tile Cross, Labour), Birmingham’s ‘warm welcome spaces’ initiative is a Council led answer to the nationwide dangers many will face during the cold months.

In a recent article in the Guardian, announcing the introduction of the scheme and published the day after Liz Truss took over as Prime Minister, Cllr Cotton was quick to put the onus of responsibility squarely on the steps of No10.

In the final paragraph, Cllr Cotton warns the erstwhile PM: “unless you tackle this crisis with the same urgency and focus that we approached the pandemic, you will see people dying in their own homes this winter. The choice, Prime Minister, is yours. For all our sakes, make the right one.”

Now Rishi Sunak is Prime Minister, Cllr Cotton has an equally unflinching message for the country’s new Conservative Leader and top politician.

He told Erdington Local: “Mr Sunak and his party have been in power for 12 years.  The fact that we are now having to build a network of ‘warm welcome spaces’ to keep Brummies warm and safe this winter is a damning indictment of their decade of economic failure and mismanagement.

“People in our city need help now with meeting the rocketing costs of heating their homes, putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their head.  What they don’t need are more cuts to public services, or a refusal to ensure their pensions and benefits keep up with spiralling inflation.

“Birmingham’s Labour Council will do everything in its power to keep people warm and safe this winter.  But the Government needs to act – and act fast – to avoid their cost of living crisis turning into a disaster for many people in our city.”

At the time of writing, Birmingham has 26 ‘warm welcome spaces’ recognised by the Council, growing from an initial eight when launched – with more businesses and organisations being invited to join the scheme.

St Mark’s Community Hub, Brandywood Crescent, Kingstanding, is also part of the Council’s official ‘warm welcome spaces’ – although it is only open to over 50’s on Thursdays between 1:30pm to 4pm.

St Martin’s Social Care Project at St Martin’s Church are also part of the initiative, but again only open to over 50’s on Tuesdays between 10am to 1pm.

The new community hub from Foundations 4 the Future, opening in Central Square later this month, has also pledged to offer a warm open space for local families, alongside the outreach work they do to support young people and challenge youth violence.

For more on the ‘warm welcome space’ at Spitfire House and Castle Vale Library visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/directory_record/418843/spitfire_advice_and_support_service

For more on Spitfire Advice and Support Services visit www.spitfireservices.org.uk