YOUTH clubs across North Belfast say they will be forced to reduce staff and youth provision hours due to devastating cuts by the Education Authority (EA).

As the new financial year begins on April 1, youth clubs have been left in limbo over their allocated budget for 2023-24.

Due to the uncertainty, local youth clubs say they will have to make drastic changes to cope with the financial squeeze.

At John Paul II Youth Club in Ardoyne, Senior Youth Leader Jacqui Maguire has been forced to reduce services and operating hours.

"It is with regret that we must notify the staff, young people and parents of the changes to the youth services delivered by the John Paul Youth Club," she said.

"From April 1, the youth club will be closing some of its services and programmes will be severely limited and restricted due to the Education Authority’s acute cuts to youth work." 

She said they will only open four nights a week 

"The resulting cuts will also mean less staff members which would allow us to only work with a maximum of thirty-five children and young people per session to ensure that we retain safe ratios of staff to young people.

"This will operate on a first come first served basis. If bringing your child to the centre please stay with them until their access has been approved. We will no longer be operating residential opportunities, there will also be no summer scheme or outreach. 

"As youth worker in charge, It has been the greatest honour to work with all the children and young people over the last 40 years and I am really upset that it has come to this, given our many successes over the past 51 years.

"It’s so sad that the EA has thought it reasonable to cut services to children and young people in our area and only hope that the Board and Managers can fix this quickly to ensure our children and young people are not damaged by their decisions.

"This is a daunting prospect as the John Paul II Youth Club has being a model of stability over the past 51 years offering children and young people a calm reassuring environment giving them the opportunity to be well- balanced reasonable sensible citizens.

"It is a shame this component or lifestyle on offer to our members is threatened by these severe cuts."

Over at New Lodge Youth Centre, the club have received a letter, stating that funding is only guaranteed until the end of April.

"We received a letter today from Education Authority of which should have been at least a confirmation of 12 months funding, which is already not good enough for our young people and staff," they said in a statement to parents.

"Instead we received a letter stating that our funding is only guaranteed until the end of April 2023. 

"So after months of talks and promises the end result is even more stress for young people not knowing if our centre will open beyond April and staff who have lives, bills and homes to run.

"Youth work plays a massive role in supporting our young people and the work across the sector is essential in our communities. Enough is enough our sector deserves to be valued."

Local Sinn Féin councillor Nichola Bradley said the work of local youth clubs is "vital" and needs to be protected.

"Marrowbone YC, Ardoyne YC, John Paul and Deanby YC have seen unacceptable cuts to their funding putting them in the ridiculous position of having to turn kids away.

"This is not what our youth providers signed up for. The work carried out through these youth services is absolutely vital and provides a secure environment for some of this city’s most vulnerable young people.

"We will continue to work with the Marrowbone Youth Club and other youth clubs in North Belfast to find other funding streams. 

"This is why we need ministers in place to ensure decisions are being made and services are being protected."

A spokesperson for the Education Authority (EA) said: “We very much recognise the very valuable work the voluntary youth work sector carries out and the important impact they make on the lives of our children and young people.   

“Like other departments, the Department of Education is yet to receive its confirmed budget allocation. Therefore the EA has not yet received a budget from the Department for the 2023/24 year and we are unable to confirm funding offers for voluntary youth organisations for this 12-month period.

“However, in the absence of a budget and recognising the significant challenges the sector is facing, we have agreed to allocate the respective voluntary organisations one-twelfth of the anticipated annual funding, for the month of April, to enable them to proceed with immediate delivery of services, and payment of staff, as required.

“We understand the significant concern the unprecedented financial uncertainty is causing for children and young people, parents and carers and youth workers. We are firmly committed to continuing to seek urgent clarification on the budget position for 2023/24 and to updating the wider youth sector as soon as possible.”