As far back as December 2009 we were warned that Oxfordshire County Council were seriously considering withdrawing funding for young people in Carterton, particularly funding to keep the Allandale Youth Centre open. The chairman of Carterton Youth Council spoke with other youth council members at the Carterton Town Council meeting and said that “A lot of the members of the youth council and their friends attend the youth centre and they all decided that they would try to keep it from closing down.” She went on to say that the centre also provided a place of stability for young people at Brize Norton RAF base. Chief Inspector Malhi from Thames Valley Police in West Oxfordshire said: “Young people are more likely to get into some mischief than not without the youth centres, and that will have an impact”.
Read more about the situation in 2009 here and here
Thankfully this threat of closure was avoided by lobbying County Councillors and putting forward the case to keep Carterton Youth Centre open. However, in October 2010 it became apparent that due to severe cuts in County Council budgets it was highly likely that this matter would resurface and that it might be considerably more difficult to persuade the County Council to keep the centre open. I took the decision to form what came to be known as the Carterton Youth Provision Action Group (CYPAG). The group consists of school teachers, youth workers (past and present) the local rector, town and district councillors and other individuals who interact directly with young people in Carterton.
Letters to Cllr Louise Chapman (OCC cabinet member for children, young people & families) resulted in Louise agreeing to support us. Letters to our own County Councillors also prompted them to speak up for Carterton and try to save our youth centre. We even had a 30 minute meeting with Mr Cameron when he discussed this matter with a group of Youth Councillors in the Mayor’s Parlour.
We decided to suggest to Carterton Town Council that, should OCC decide to close the youth centre; it should consider 1) purchasing the Allandale building and 2) providing youth workers. This was agreed by Carterton Town Council and a bid was put together to purchase the building for community use and indeed apply for a grant via the County Council’s Big Society fund.
I am delighted to be able to confirm that the bid to purchase the Allandale was successful and subject to some exchanging of funds and signing of documents; the Allandale is now in the ownership of Carterton Town Council. Additionally, the bid for grant funding to install new facilities and to refurbish and redecorate the building was also successful and so it is likely that this work will be carried out in the autumn of this year. It is not yet clear whether or not the centre will need to close it’s doors for a short time in order to carry out the necessary work, but if it does prove to be necessary; please be assured that this closure is temporary and the Allandale Youth Centre will not close down!
Obviously this is fantastic news and a great opportunity to establish what opportunities, facilities and activities young people in Carterton would like to see so that what is provided for young people at the Allandale and across the town is tailor made for our young people and not dictated from County Hall!
If you would like to get involved with redecorating, rebranding or researching as part of this piece of work then please contact me by using the contact form or emailing me directly at adriancoomber@googlemail.com.
