'Frustrating': Youth clubs only guaranteed funding until June

Youth clubs and centres across Northern Ireland are facing "frustrating" and unacceptable uncertainty over funding, according to a youth leader.

Karen Campbell from Roe Valley Residents Association (RVRA) in Limavady said plans to expand youth services to rural areas were at risk as a result.

The association's youth centre in Limavady has more than 450 people up to age 25 as members.

But it and other youth centres have only been assured of funding until June, according to a Department of Education (DE) official.

One MLA has called the uncertainty "absolutely reckless".

The RVRA youth and community hub is based in the centre of the County Londonderry town.

"We're in operation nearly 25 years," Karen Campbell told BBC News NI.

"We would run a wide range of youth services with drop-in facilities five nights a week, and then we would offer employability and personal development programmes."

15-year-olds Lewis and Ellie-Mai have been going to the youth centre for several years and now do some volunteering there.

"It's really important because if you're just running about the streets and doing bad stuff you can just come in here and the staff are really welcoming and you can just be yourself," Lewis said.

Ellie-Mai said that going to the centre had helped her in a number of ways.

"I think it's given me more confidence, I can speak to more people, I think I've learnt a lot of stuff too just about life in general to be honest," she said.

Youth centres provide fun and recreation, but also education, employment and mental health support.

But the uncertainty over funding for the RVRA centre beyond June means that a plan to expand its services to more young people in the area is at risk, according to Karen Campbell.

"We have also been awarded to develop youth provision within the rural areas around the Limavady area, and for us to be able to do that and make any positive inroads within the three month period is really limiting," she said.

"Working on a three month budget and a three month contract creates a lot of uncertainty for us.

"We have good quality staff, but we're trying to hold on to them. They have bills to pay, they have commitments outside of work."

Campbell added: "The fact that we can't offer them certainty after a three month period means we're at risk of losing staff that have already built up strong, positive relationships with our children and young people.

"It's frustrating and I suppose it's just, it's just not acceptable."

Recruitment of some youth workers has been frozen in a number of areas in Northern Ireland due to the uncertainty about longer term funding.

Those council areas include Antrim and Newtownabbey, Belfast, Derry City and Strabane, Mid Ulster and Causeway Coast and Glens.

Andrew Scott from the DE told MLAs on Stormont's Education Committee that youth centres help with "emotional health and well-being, leadership, social skills and confidence".

"This work is more relevant than ever," he said.

The Education Authority's (EA) youth service oversees funding and management for youth centres and clubs.

But MLAs on the committee heard that funding was only guaranteed for the first financial quarter of 2026-27.

"The risk of insufficient funding presents a real and imminent risk across all education services," Scott said.

"We recognise the impact that budget uncertainty has on our youth sector.

"In an effort to provide stability in the short term the EA has provided assurances to the community and voluntary sector at risk that funding will be available for the first financial quarter."

Scott said that youth services played a crucial role, but money for them was "constrained".

The committee was told the money the EA received for youth services - about £37m a year - was no longer ring-fenced and could be used to meet other needs in education.

Committee chairman Alliance Party MLA Nick Mathison said there was a "real risk" that some youth clubs and centres "may not be with us on the other side of June".

Sinn Féin MLA Danny Baker said the way youth services were being funded was "absolutely reckless."

"Youth funding will now be in direct competition with other pressures within the Education Authority," he said.

Baker also said the uncertainty amounted to "punishment of our young people".

He added that the current guarantee of funding for only three months of 2026-27 meant that many youth workers were looking for other employment.

"It is not the position that we want to be in," Scott replied.

He told Democratic Unionist Party MLA Peter Martin the draft budget brought "risk across all education services."

"I can't hand on heart say that youth services would be spared from that, it's risk right across the board," he said.

John Lynch, the CEO of Youthwork Alliance which represent more than 100 youth clubs across Northern Ireland, said these sort of decisions send the message that youth services "don't matter".

"Over the last 10 years, the constant message that our people are getting is 'we'll come to you whenever there's an issue, but we're not prepared to invest in you to keep you as part of the fabric of education'," he told Good Morning Ulster.