Last week it was revealed that over the last 2 years some 350 youth community centres and youth clubs in Britain have been closed down through lack of funding. If this is true then it is surely a misguided and foolish policy by both central and local government.

Evidently one club in a rundown area of Manchester, the Hideaway Youth Project, Moss Side (which opens 5 days a week and has 900 members) is in danger of closing down if it doesn’t raise £50,000 by March of next year, the year it should be celebrating its 50th birthday.

How sad that so many youngsters from broken families in deprived areas, with little to do and little chance of finding jobs are going to lose one of the few areas of stability in their lives. These clubs mean so much to them and as one member said, when interviewed, they represent an escape and a refuge, a place that youngsters can call their own. Another said that the club keeps him and many others off the streets and out of trouble. It makes sense as any policeman, social worker or criminal lawyer will vouch.

Surely, it can’t be beyond the powers of government to raise the money to not only prevent the closure of the clubs but even to set up new ones? In the short term it can only benefit the youngsters and in the long term help to make them valuable members of society rather than just another statistic of social deprivation and decay.