collaspe of community infrastructure

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday July 03, 2002 02:00 by Aine Belfast

EU Peace II Funding falls short

The latest allocations of EU grants has crippled the ability of voluntary/community based projects all across the north to deliver their much required and demanded services and resources.

When the European community made available Peace and Reconciliation grants to the structure of services in the North, many including myself felt that we could finally begin to address the legacy of the conflict within our communities.
My fortee being primarily the youth sector, it enabled many groups both from nationalist and unionist areas to work constructively with young people and provide essential edcuational facilities to those who required them. With so many of our young people in the north being brought up in poverty with many social problems surrounding them from birth - some finally had the opportunity to live learn and grow in environments which where safe and funded appropriately to faciltate the employment of qualified individuals to aid in their empowerment and progression as young adults in todays confused society.
Exclusion and marginalisation are but two characteristics shared by many. Young people who yet again have been let down by those statutory structures that supposedly exist to meet their needs as growing developing individuals.
It therefore came in amazement to some - however not to all( especially not myself) to see the allocation of these additional funds from EU be used to cover the deficit left when the statutory youth service budget was cut. Consequently the vast majority of community based youth projects are left with no option but to cease delivering services with no funding for wages or programme running costs. Young people who are defined as at risk, those currently offending, those who experience solvent and drug abuse, those taking part in training courses, participation in these programmes can no longer be anoption of there exists no money to pay for them.
With an underspend of 360 million pounds in the assembly of the North our so called elected representatives should sit down and work out their priorities.
The community infrastructure in many areas has been shaken by this lastest blow! this situation needs to be rectified, without our young people being given the opportunities to avail of voluntary organisations,they are being yet again excluded and left in a position that they have been let down yet again.
I call on all those reading this article to speak or contact your local assembly leader- and inquire as too way they intend to resolve the loss of hundreds of jobs.