This year the Penarth Youth Project was forced to close down its centre on Stanwell Road, in the centre of the town of Penarth, because of a lack of funding.
The town centre of Penarth, looking down Stanwell Road
Its Information Centre, as it was called, was frequented by young people from all backgrounds and despite facing tough times, the Youth Project has kept going as much as it possible can.
As it enters 2011, however, the Penarth Youth Project finds itself facing the prospect of closing down for good.
The manager of the Penarth Youth Project, Tracey Downes, explains here what the Penarth Youth Project is and what it does:
Tracey Downes explains what the Penarth Youth Project is and what it does
The core costs of running the Centre in the town came to around £750,000, which cam from the Welsh Assembly and the Big Lottery Fund amongst others.
When funding dried up last year, the Youth Project was forced to move out.
This meant that they had to find a new home and unfortunately cut down the amount of youth clubs run for the children.
Now, the Centre is empty and the Youth Project is run from a small office in a box-like white building behind the rather more elaborate headquarters of the Penarth Town Council.
The Information Centre of the Penarth Youth Project looks forlorn and abandoned. Its shutters have been down for some time now, but there is hope that the New Year could bring life back to this dejected-looking building.
Councillor Sophie Williams represents the ward of St Augustine’s in the Penarth Town Council and sits on the board of the Penarth Youth Project: “We are disappointed that we’ve had to take those steps but it should only be a temporary measure.”
Unfortunately, the Penarth Youth Project is not out of the woods yet.
As it stands, the only funding they recieve is set to run out on 31 December 2011, and if it isn’t renewed or replaced by then, the Penarth Youth Project will have to close its doors for good.
As Tracey Downes says: “2011 is going to be a crucial year for the Penarth Youth Project”.
The former centre of the Penarth Youth Project on Stanwell Road
What does the Penarth Youth Project mean to Penarth?
“The parents are very happy with our role in Penarth and we have a good relationship with the Town Council”, Tracey says.
Sue Lloyd, who runs a youth club in the town, says: “There’s nothing to do in Penarth. There are only two youth clubs in the town. The kids don’t want to go the church groups because of the stigma attached to it. People think, ‘Oh, you’re one of them”.
Most of the young people of Penarth I spoke to seem to agree with her in thinking that there’s not much for them to do in Penarth. One said: “It’s just boring. We try to play football, but we’re not allowed to play it in the park.”
Another said: “There’s nothing going on in Penarth. I have to go to Cardiff.”
What effects could the relocation have had?
The new office of the Penarth Youth Project is in a small, white building behind the town council offices (as seen from the street)
In terms of the effects of the relocation, Councillor Williams says: “There has been no negative effect from the closure of the Youth Project, particularly in terms of anti-social behaviour. Penarth does need better youth service provision, but there are youth groups doing good work.”
Whilst I was told by some I met in Penarth that young people can cause trouble, it doesn’t seem that this is much of an issue in the town.
Sergeant Ioan Jones of the South Wales Police told me: “Young people aren’t a problem: It’s perceived to be a worse problem than it actually is”.
Tracey feels willing to wait to discover what the effects of the Youth Project’s relocation have been.
She tells me that the Vale Youth Street Team, run by the Vale of Glamorgan Council, is currently carrying out a survey in which one of the questions asks what effects the closure of the Penarth Youth Project might have had. The results are expected early next year.
I decided to find out what the people of Penarth knew and thought of the Penarth Youth Project and its relocation. A video of a few of my encounters is below, but generally speaking, not many of the people I spoke to knew a lot, if anything, about the work of the Penarth Youth Project.
Below the video I’ve included a map of Penarth that features the former site of the Penarth Youth Project and West House, behind which it is currently located, as well as other points of interest in Penarth (the sites of interest to this article are in red).
Damian Fantato 
Posted on December 17, 2010
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