Ryedale | Archive | 2006 | January | 26
From the archive, first published Thursday 26th Jan 2006.
RYEDALE'S leading youth service provider could be back from the brink of closure - if funding from Ryedale District Council is approved.
Only four months ago, the Ryedale Child and Youth Projects (RCYP) was facing collapse after a £20,000 funding bid to the council's Community Investment Fund failed, leaving a major gap in its budget.
Now, after crisis talks with council officers and a major reduction in service, it has re-structured and is set to open an arts centre in Pickering.
But its long-term future is dependent on whether members of Ryedale District Council's community services and licensing committee decide at a meeting tomorrow night to grant £10,000 for a consultant to help the project with its development and funding applications.
Acting cultural services manager Sarah Ward was part of the team helping the project. She said: "There is a significant amount of work to be undertaken if RCYP is to reach a situation where it is financially viable," and concluded hiring a consultant was "the best spend of council funds as it aims to provide a long-term solution to RCYP's difficulties".
Andy Brown, RCYP's manager, said: "We're not out of the woods yet, but if we get this consultant we are confident about putting in funding bids to help secure our future.
"We've worked with the council to produce a blueprint for the organisation and we're going to go forward and make it sustainable."
He added: "We did say we needed £15,000 to cover our shortfall but the consultant is seen as a better way forward. Things are still tight but hopefully this way will be better in the long run."
The arts building is the first of ten projects Andy hopes to develop, and another, an after-school club in Norton, will launch soon. A new part-time youth worker, Jane Margett, will be helping to run the Hole in the Wall arts building in Burgate, which is nearly complete. Andy is appealing to any plumbers, electricians or carpenters out there willing to donate an hour or two of their time to help to finish it.
Once open, it can be used for a hip-hop club and drama group, among other things.
Andy added: "We're not giving up and I think we're over the worst of it."
Updated: 14:30 Wednesday, January 25, 2006
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