For a few hours three times a week, hundreds of kids and teenagers in North Belfast flock to their local youth club to catch up with friends, learn some new skills, and have a bit of craic.
But there are fears that may not continue for much longer. The team at Marrowbone Youth Club on the Oldpark Road said they are currently at “breaking point” and may have to close their doors in the next financial year due to a funding shortfall.
The club is operated by two paid staff members, and they are reliant on volunteers for staffing to keep the doors open. Despite praising initial funding the Marrowbone Community Association has received over the years, including to transform an old parochial hall into their base, a senior youth worker said they can’t operate without funds for a programme.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, senior youth worker Shannen O’Connor said it has been “incredibly difficult” to keep their doors open for the young people who rely on the club. They had to close the premises for five weeks recently due to rising financial pressures, and are hoping they won’t have to close for good.
“The Education Authority’s funding is for three years. Three years ago, we were unsuccessful, and this year again we were unsuccessful,” Shannen explained.
“The Department of Education and Education Authority came out to do assessed needs, and it said there needed to be a youth club and space for young people to feel safe within the Oldpark area. Money was invested in the Marrowbone Community Association, which meant we could transform a 102 year old parochial hall which had lay derelict for years.
“But without the investment into a programme, or salary costs, or even funds to take kids out for residentials or being us being able to create targeted outcomes to meet the young people’s needs, it has been really difficult. We have to rely on volunteers to open our doors.
“We open on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings. On a Friday, we have a junior drop in from 6-8pm and our midnight club, which is for over 13s and runs from 8.30pm to midnight. That has been a massive success, we’ve seen the increase of numbers on Friday for teenagers to come in and be safe.
“They’re getting food every night, they’re getting somewhere where they’re not out in the street and not causing anti-social behaviour. The cost of living is really hitting people hard and people need to go out and work, we can’t always rely on our volunteers to be there.
“I’m really appreciative of our volunteers, but at the moment we’re at breaking point and we’re gonna need to close down come the new financial year.”
Around 250 children are registered to attend Marrowbone Youth Club, with around 70 attending each evening they are open.
Darcy has been attending the youth club at least once a week for the past year. She said: “It’s a place we come to meet our friends, it just keeps us off the street and in somewhere.”
Ellie has been coming to Marrowbone Youth Club for the past five years, coming to each session during the week. At the idea of the club having to close its doors for good, she said: “It would be really upsetting as I wouldn’t be able to see my friends as much. The club is really great craic, and you get to make loads of friends.”
If they had more funding, Shannen said they could hire more qualified youth workers, who could deliver programmes the young people want and need.
The community has been supporting the club, with Shannen saying they are “very grateful” for their help. She said: “I’m born and bred in the Oldpark community. I know what this community is like and when someone needs something, the community comes out for it.
“We had a community meeting last week which was brilliant. Parents were just as upset as I was, they don’t understand why the Oldpark area isn’t able to get the funding like everyone else. In what the point of a building for our kids is, when there isn’t funding to help sustain it.”
The youth club are arranging fundraising activities and a door-to-door petition, which they are planning to bring to Stormont. They are also calling for department heads to visit the youth club to see what sustainable funding could do to transform the palce.
Shannen said: “Right now, we’re living on small budgets which I’m very grateful for, and for the government bodies who have provided that. But a six week programme isn’t going to help us sustain this – maybe a three year or six year programme where I know the young people are being really looked after can really help. It would be massive for us right now to have some sort of sustainable funding.
“Next Thursday, we’ve arranged for a door to door petition, parents, guardians and the community are going to go door to door and bring a petition up to Stormont. One of my main requests from our local MLAs was to make sure we have the backing because I’m only a voice for our young people – they’re our voice in the government, and they have been great advocates for us.
“I want a round table with the department heads so they can come out and see what the investment has done for this area. The investment in the building has been amazing, but what more a sustainable building could do for the Oldpark area.”
The Education Authority has confirmed it has met with the organisation to discuss their application, which will help support them with any future submissions.
A spokesperson for the Education Authority added: “An established and transparent process is in place for voluntary sector organisations to apply for funding to deliver youth services based on assessed need. Organisations are assessed against published assessment criteria and funding is awarded to successful applicants accordingly.
“The EA can confirm that all awards released in North Belfast have applicants who have progressed to the next stage of the process.
“Any youth organisation that did not progress to the next stage of the application process has been offered a meeting with their local Funding and Assurance Officer to review their application and support future submissions.”
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