LUDLOW Town Council has agreed to provide the financial support to keep Ludlow Junior Youth Club running in 2021 after Shropshire Council decided to withdraw funding to the youth club.

This provides some security for youth services in the town after a prolonged series of uncertainty.

Support for young people has been cut back since the coalition government started to reduce the expenditure available to local authorities following the general election in 2010.

“I am proud that Ludlow Town Council has stepped in to fund the running of the youth club for the next year,” said Tim Gill, Mayor of Ludlow.

“The Town Council has suffered significant financial losses due to the pandemic, but my fellow councillors and I believe that supporting Ludlow’s young people is one of the most important things that we can do.’

Shropshire Council has centralised youth support services and will in future be running a team of youth outreach workers from Shirehall. It is not supporting youth clubs which must now be independently funded from charitable groups or local councils.

Richard Parkes, CEO of Shropshire Youth Association welcomed the move by the town council.

“This is fantastic news at a time when youth clubs are needed more than ever to support local children and young people,” he said.

“Ludlow Town Council have given the club a new lease of life. We are still meeting with the young people both virtually and out and about, as is allowed by Covid rules as youth work is an essential service. We very much look forward to getting back into the building to deliver an exciting programme again.”

From April 2021, Ludlow Town Council will be providing over £9,000 for Shropshire Youth Association to run Ludlow’s weekly Junior Youth Club.

There is increasing concern about the welfare of young people because the virus has closed schools for much of the past 12 months and left many isolated.