OUT ON THE STREET

Youth workers fear kids now at risk of violence as brutal funding axe means they've been flung...

-  RUTH SUTER

YOUTH workers fear their kids will become victims of violence after their centre was hit with council funding cuts.

Teenagers using the service at YMCA in Bellshill Lanarkshire, now face roaming the streets with nowhere else to go.

The group, which helps vulnerable youths through its Early and Effective Intervention Service, was told on Tuesday that its entire funding of around £100,000 a year has been wiped out by the cuts.

It comes as the Daily Record's Our Kids, Our Future campaign called on the Scottish Government to invest in more community support amid a series of violent attacks on teens.

Ann-Marie Treacy, YMCA CEO, told the Record: "I am completely shocked at the decision to defund our service.

"Violence comes from kids being bored and unsettled and it comes from poverty. They need a different perspective to allow them to get back or the right track.

"Without us, the kids won't have anywhere else to go and will be put on the streets, where it is clearly no longer safe for them.

"To put children out there is tragic. Local kids are telling us they are scared of their peers.

"If they're vulnerable they're either going to be a victim of violence or they are going to be caught up in it because of pee pressure.

"The recent surge in incidents reported in the Record shows that kids need services like this now more than ever.