It’s a shame so many local youth organisations are putting their energy and hopes into a trade-union-organised campaign to protest against government spending decisions (Letters, 26 May). The reductions to council budgets are happening, and councils will naturally cut playgrounds and youth centres before children’s homes and care for the elderly. No protest from Unite is going to change that. The challenge for the youth sector is to change or die. Change is harder, more complex and ideologically challenging than dying in the last ditch for the pre-2008 funding settlement; but it might just ensure our children have the playgrounds and youth centres everyone agrees they need.
The signatories to Unite’s letter should form alliances, not of protest but of common interest, and prove their value. They should devise imaginative strategies to help schools and the NHS meet their objectives, and tap into those budgets. And they should raise private money to supplement council grants – through community share issues, social investment, local lotteries, corporate sponsorship, even charging for some services. If these facilities are needed locally, prove it locally. George Osborne isn’t the answer; the community is.
Danny Kruger
Chief executive, West London Zone for Children and Young People
.png?w=600)
