TEENAGERS deemed to be at risk of engaging in antisocial behaviour near Barnsley town centre could be included in a project which aims to get youngsters off the streets.
The Central Area Council is in the third year of a £390,000 agreement with Barnsley YMCA, which was commissioned to fund out-of-school activities for eight to 14-year-olds.
However at a meeting at Barnsley Town Hall on Monday, councillors called for the agreement to be amended in order to include those up to 16 - an age group that’s been blamed for persistent antisocial behaviour in the area.
Coun Margaret Bruff said: “In my Central ward there’s a transient population and although this project has worked very well, the eight to ten age group is the one which has the most engagement.
“It tails off somewhat afterwards but there’s a real need to catch the older end, as well as doing more for the 14-plus category which is not catered for in this contract.
“I think there’s a tendency to think that those of that age will be OK but it is not the case. It’s important they’re included.”
It comes after a teenage gang subjected a residential area near the town centre to a ‘reign of terror’ throughout last year, which saw the police and council work together to use civil injunctions to effectively ban perpetrators from areas such as Canal Street, off Old Mill Lane.
The matter, which has been discussed for months at public police meetings, was adopted as a top priority for the area’s neighbourhood policing team and at the town’s behind-closed-doors MAAG (multi-agency action group), which includes police and council staff.
According to a council report, 103 after-school sessions were put on between October and December 2018, which included two sessions per week in each of the area council’s wards including Central, Kingstone, Stairfoot, Worsbrough and Dodworth.
A total of 1,534 youngsters attended, with the eight to ten-year-old bracket accounting for 51 per cent, while 13 to 14-year-olds made up just 15 per cent.
Coun Phillip Birkinshaw, of the Dodworth ward, told the meeting that older teens had been difficult to attract.
“We put on an event at St John’s Church in Dodworth purely to engage youngsters and we did that between 6pm and 8pm,” he added.
“Not one person turned up so it’s proved to be especially difficult to get them engaged.”
Carol Brady, the area council’s manager, confirmed the contract with YMCA is in place until March 2020.
“The programme of activities remains varied and has been developed in response with consultation with the participants,” she said. “These are developed to support the achievements of positive outcomes for young people and contribute towards building emotional resilience and wellbeing.
“The model continues to be reviewed and it will be further refined in the next quarter.”
