THE EFFECTS of the latest Education Authority (EA) funding cuts to youth services are continuing to be felt by youth providers across the city.

Corpus Christi Youth Centre in Ballymurphy – which provides youth services to hundreds of young people six nights a week – is preparing itself for tough times ahead in 2023 as a result of budget cuts which will leave many young people missing out on vital services.

John Muir, a Youth Support Worker at Corpus Christi, said services would have to be reduced and job losses could not be ruled out. 

“These cuts are all across the board for youth centres," he said. "We’re going to be losing a part of our budget. We’re open six nights a week and that will now be reduced to four. There’ll be two nights now that young people won’t be able to avail of our services.

“Given these funding cuts we may have to reduce our staff, which means we won’t have a safe staff-to-young person ratio. For example, with three staff on, we’ll only be able to take in 35 young people — and that means turning young people away at the door.

“Last year the EA set us a target to have a four week summer scheme, but now that’s been removed, so now there is no summer scheme for kids. We were open all eight weeks of July and August last year, and we will try to do that again this year, but we haven’t got any funding coming for the scheme next year.”

Community leaders in the area say the centre provides vital outreach to young people, and has worked wonders over recent years in helping to reduce anti-social behaviour and keeping young people safe in the neighbouring Falls Park and City Cemetery.

John said: “Over all the nights of Féile, our staff were out helping young people. Some were helping to man the first aid stations and just generally making sure youth were safe. Now that outreach has been pulled, we won’t be able to be there three or four nights a week in Falls Park or the City Cemetery."

Similar outreach when peace line tensions rise will also have to be reassessed. “Last year when there was trouble at Lanark Way, the EA gave us funding to be able to get down there and help diffuse the trouble.

“It was very important last year for us to get down their to sort those issues out, but now the EA don’t seem to think it’s an issue. That's until something happens again and they’ll try to throw pots of money at us to get people down to situations like Lanark Way to sort things out. If the funding to help for situations like that isn’t included from the beginning then I don’t know what it will take. Do they want someone to be injured or killed before they say they need us workers back on the street?"