Cash crisis puts youth lifeline at risk of axe

A PROJECT which helps the children of drink or drug addicts and has a two-year waiting list is facing closure amid a funding crisis.

The Broomhouse Youth Befriending Project needs to find £10,000 in the next eight weeks to keep running, amid warnings its loss would be a “catastrophe”.

It currently provides one-to-one support for vulnerable youngsters – of whom about 80 per cent have parents with addictions.

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Project manager Alana Taylor said: “If we do not get any funding by June we’re going to close. We’ve got just three months to turn everything around.

“It’s been going for 20 years and it’s seen Broomhouse through a lot of changes. It’s a fantastic little project.

“Without services like these, there’s a chance the youngsters could get involved in substance abuse themselves because you’re so much more likely to repeat the cycle if your parents have problems.

“The fact we have a two-year waiting list says it all about how badly needed this project is.”

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The project’s 12 volunteers provide assistance to youngsters aged five to 18 years old in the Broomhouse, Stenhouse, Sighthill and Saughton areas.

About 20 children a year benefit from the service, through self-referrals or by being put in touch through agencies such as the police.

Two years ago, the project was forced to go from full-time to part-time because of its funding troubles. Two months ago it was forced to cut its hours further.

It needs to secure £10,000 to avoid closing its doors in the summer and needs £28,000 to continue operating for another year.

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Ms Taylor added: “We apply for funding from the private, public and third sectors but getting funding has just become so much more difficult.

“Befriending just seems to be seen as a bit old fashioned now.”

Labour Sighthill councillor Donald Wilson, a member of the Broomhouse Centre board, said: “It would be a catastrophe if it folded. It’s an incredible service and there’s a lack of this sort of thing in the area.”

Cllr Wilson, who said council funding for the project had been reduced in the last budget, added: “I vehemently disagree with reducing the money available to this project.

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“We’ve just had statistics which show youth poverty is at a record high in Broomhouse and the surrounding areas, so I would think there has never been a greater need for the befriending service.

“These services are pretty unique and it would be very difficult for the council to replicate them.

“Broomhouse has had a hard time in recent years and it needs this service badly.”

No-one from the council was available to comment.