ePetition details

Closure of Youth Provision for Young People Aged 11-19 Years at The Sulgrave Youth Club

We the undersigned petition the council to Immediately restore it's funding for young people aged 11-19 years at the Sulgrave Youth Club. The generation of young people accessing our services have now experienced a disruption to their lives due to Covid which has seen a dramatic impact on their mental health and wellbeing. Right now many of the young people Sulgrave works with every week are from families struggling with the cost of living. For this reason we think the continuity our youth service plays will be vital to developing their social skills and well being. In addition our canteen provision enables young people to eat a nutritious meal in the company of their friends. The club attracts some 125 young people every week which is important for their welfare and enjoyment and also provides holiday activities that are so vital for working parents. This petition seeks to ensure that our young people will be supported by Council funding as have generations before them.

The Sulgrave Youth Club was founded in 1926, so will celebrate it's centenary in just 3 years time. An unexpected loss of Council support risks the waste of a well respected and attended youth club, that has been a vital resource within Shepherds Bush for generations. The 11-19 year olds that attend Sulgrave each week, lack the resources and opportunities to find places to hang out with their friends. Their alternatives are limited and often risky.

The Sulgrave team is fortunate to include those with expertise and experience of supporting youngsters through their adolescence. Their care is particularly important in playing a role in providing positive role models and mature guidance to the young members of Sulgrave. This petition seeks to enable our community to thrive and grow into responsible adults. We are particularly proud of former club members who are now part of our staff team.

The Sulgrave Club is very aware that the current financial climate has made fundraising for our activities extremely challenging. Many charitable trusts specifically exclude applications for funding previously provided by local authorities.

This ePetition ran from 29/03/2023 to 18/04/2023 and has now finished.

173 people signed this ePetition.

Council response

This petition was closed for the reasons detailed below. It will not receive a formal response.

It would not be appropriate to consider the petition as Sulgrave are a sub-contractor of a third party and the Council does not directly commission them for the services set out in the petition.

Further the petition concerns an issue in which an existing right to challenge via another procedure applies and already has been ventilated. The third party unsuccessfully bid as part of a consortium and were unsuccessful in an open procurement process, tendered under OJEU legislation. The consortium issued a legal claim, challenging that decision but the that claim has been withdrawn.