Youth workers in Oxfordshire have warned of the 'disastrous' long-term effects of government cuts to youth services, with concerns raised over the impact on future generations of young people. The warning comes after the YMCA issued a plea to the government to 'safeguard the future of youth services'.
Nafeesa Hussain, a youth worker in east Oxford, said it had 'never been more difficult' to get funding. She described the situation as 'disastrous' and said that over the past four or five years, it had become '10 times worse'. Last year, she applied for £20,000 of funding but was offered only £700. 'Because of the cuts in funding, quite often youth organisations aren't even visible anymore. Lots of young people don't even know that we exist,' she added.
Tim Parkhouse, founder of community interest company Get Fed and a youth worker in Banbury since 1999, said: 'These are some of the most vulnerable kids in the community. The youth clubs close, but those kids don't just disappear. It does feel like we've made a short-term cut in funding and stored up a lot of long-term costs for us. And that's not just monetary costs, that's social costs. That's real people's lives.'
A report by the YMCA in 2020 showed a 71% cut to youth service funding between 2010 and 2019 in the south east of England. Ryan Goodenough, who has worked with young people across Oxfordshire for two years, said these cuts meant children were 'losing hope'. He explained: 'The impact that's having on children directly is they're not thinking there's any light at the end of the tunnel. We're seeing an increase in self-harm. We've seen an increase in hospital referrals, we're seeing a sharp rise in undiagnosed special educational needs.'
Denise Hatton, chief executive of YMCA England & Wales, said: 'Youth services are not a luxury, but the bedrock of a prosperous future. It's not just an investment in youth services, it's an investment in the heart and soul of our nation's young people.'
A government spokesperson said local authorities have a 'statutory duty to ensure young people can access youth services' and noted that the government is delivering an above-inflation increase in funding for councils to over £64bn for 2024/25. They added: 'We are also investing over £500 million to deliver the National Youth Guarantee, so that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer.'
