I have been personally involved in youth work in the area on a voluntary basis for 25 years and I also have three children and fully understand the needs and wishes of teenagers in the area for facilities for them.

At the moment there is no youth club provision in the Tynemouth to Cullercoats area and has not been since the youth club at Marden High School closed seven years ago.

The council have provided detached youth workers as a talking shop approach but they cannot replace an actual place to go and talk and take part in activities. Also many of these posts, as Ms McDougall points out, are not filled!

I note that discussions are going on about investment but who with?

I have not heard of any local discussions and dare I ask will any of this money be spent in this part of the borough or will go to the usual places of Wallsend, Longbenton and the rest on the usual postcode allocation which we never seem to benefit from?

I have heard of the £3million spend on play facilities but this is for the whole borough so again what if any will be spent in our area?
Please tell us.

The building of the skate park in Whitley Bay is one good sign - it's a pity it has taken ten years for this to be built; hardly a glowing example of quick thinking from the council.

The reference to Ofsted is good news – it's a pity the letter did not go on to say that on a previous inspection the council got a very bad report from Ofsted so any improvement from a low base will always look good.

The busy programme she notes is good to see – it's a pity, however, that most of these activities are not happening in our area – again this refers to the whole borough.

This statement I find particularly galling because of its reference to the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme – I actually help run the biggest unit on the coast with no help from Youth Services directly (apart from the co-ordinator).

So you can't claim any point there Ms Alexander – in fact, overall your letter is made up of bland statements stating work carried out over the whole borough but with no direct relevance to Ms McDougall and my concerns about provision on the coast.


ALAN RUDD
Millfield Grove,
Tynemouth.


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