A charity that supports vulnerable young people in Nottingham faces a “catastrophic” drop in its funding from Nottingham City Council.
Base 51, which provides a range of services for young people including mental health and crisis support, has been told the financial backing it receives from the authority will cease at the end of this financial year, leaving it £360,000 short of the funding agreed over the next two years.
That agreement is for a total of £570,000 in support from the council over the three-year period, of which, by the end of this year, Base 51 will have received £210,000.
The cut, not yet made official, would leave Base 51 in a precarious position, and in all likelihood being forced to vacate its city centre premises, a universal multi-service hub on Castle Gate, bosses have said.
The City Council says no final decision has been made on the future funding for the charity, and that the matter will be discussed at next month's meeting of the executive board.
Base 51 chief executive Joanne Jepson said the decision to cut the charity’s funds would jeopardise its whole operations and likely cost the city more in the long run.
She said: “It’s a critical decision to Base 51’s future. It puts at risk all of the services that we run.
“The services we run here go beyond projects. If we had to move out of this building we wouldn’t be able to deliver that. It’s critical for our future and for young people.
“We’d lose staff, we’d lose youth workers. We’ve just invested in training our youth workers to a national standard. We’d lose staffing and some of those crisis services.
“It’s not economically viable. We know that young people will end up losing out. If we have to pick up what’s left of our charity and get back on our feet we’ll be in a much worse position.”
Base 51 is an overarching organisation responsible for a number of services and projects aimed at young people, led by a network of youth workers, support workers, counsellors and the senior management team.
These services include one-to-one counselling and mental health care, trauma therapy, sexual health advice, leadership and mentoring programmes, and targeted support for girls and young women.
In a letter drafted to the council detailing the implications of the proposed funding cut, Mrs Jepson says the loss would be “catastrophic to all services delivered by Base 51”.
In it Mrs Jepson stresses ceasing of the support from the council would lead to a “total loss of the universal youth provision” Base 51 offers, including practical crisis services such as youth worker support, the building’s foodbank, showers, and laundry facilities, and the “safe space” the centre offers to vulnerable young people.
The building that Base 51 operates on Castle Gate, NGY My Place, offers a range of facilities for young people to use including a laundry, showers, a gym, and a dance studio.
The charity manages the building through a contract agreement with the council, which owns the freehold. As part of this Base 51 sets aside costs each year to go towards the upkeep of the building.
Base 51’s funding comes from various sources, including local NHS services, Nottinghamshire County Council, and Notts YMCA.
Mrs Jepson said the organisation feared being forced to leave the Castle Gate building could harm its ability to attract funding in future.
Nottingham City Council Leader, Councillor David Mellen, said: “Like many councils across the country, there are huge pressures on our budgets, overwhelmingly due to a combination of increasing demand on key services like caring for vulnerable children and older people and vastly reduced Government funding.
"There are therefore some very difficult decisions we are having to make to balance our budget for next year.
“We are currently discussing a wide range of proposals, but we are not yet at a stage where formal decisions have been taken. It therefore wouldn’t be appropriate to comment at this stage.
"A final set of proposals will be taken to our Executive Board meeting in just under a month for discussion and once they are agreed, they will be subject as always to public consultation.”
To sign up for the Nottinghamshire Live newsletter click here
.jpg?w=600)
