10/02/12…Concern for Thame’s ‘vunerable’ youth

FOLLOWING a request from a councillor that Thame Town Council seeks ways of funding a youth worker to replace the one lost during the county council’s money saving cuts last year, the Mayor of Thame, David Bretherton, has said that the town council cannot do anything as it is ‘confused’ about what OCC is planning to do about youth provision.

Cllr Mary Stiles had raised the issue at an earlier meeting of the Culture, Leisure and Recreation committee, where she said she was concerned that there seemed to be more vulnerable young people out on the street since the closure of the youth club.

After CLR members had been told by the Clerk that she had been looking into various options, Cllr Adam Buckland said: “It must be a priority to reinstate the council’s Youth Working Group, because councillors don’t know what’s going on.”

Answering questions at Tuesday’s town council meeting, County Cllr David Wilmshurst said that Chinnor is running its own youth club two nights a week with funding from The Chill Out Fund.

“You need to identify what you need and then we can get an officer out to support you,” he said.

The Clerk said that TTC’s officer responsible for setting up a meeting of the Youth Working Group was away until Monday but hoped a suitable date could soon be arranged.

Currently, Thame is part of a ‘Youth Hub’ administered from Didcot.

IMAGE: Courtesy of www.karmacurrency.com.au