Charity put under threat (From Stroud News and Journal)

Charity put under threat

A YOUTH charity that provides training for young people has had the rug pulled from under its financial feet.

Despite achieving enviable results, The Door in Stroud's Gloucester Street has seen government funding for its training programme slashed by almost 75 per cent in the last three months.

"It's come as a bit of a bombshell, we were cut down to seven trainees back in August which we could handle but now we're down to four and we're haemorrhaging money," said Brendan Conboy, project co-ordinator.

"We need the money to retain the service we have built up over the years, a service which at the moment is second to none.

"We're one of the highest achieving training centres in the county.

"Without more funding the simple fact is we cannot maintain that."

The charity has many strings to its bow but the training programme is a core project, helping young people who have been let down by society or mainstream education to learn vital vocational skills and build confidence.

"We've been told the funding we get through Young Gloucestershire is to be substantially chopped," said charity treasurer Graham Gill.

"They've slashed our grant from paying for seven trainees to paying for four.

"We've got to look at how we respond to that given the fact we've spent a number of years building it up.

"We do need to pull in an awful lot of money through grants and trusts.

"We're very grateful for any individual or corporate grants we receive but are needs are not diminishing, they are increasing all the time."

"We're at that threshold where we have to decide if we rein back some of these areas or try even harder to get more funds.

"I suppose the same thing has been said time and time again - it's amazing we're still here."

Anyone who can help the door with its financial crisis or would like to find out more about a variety of rewarding but challenging voluntary positions can contact Mr Conboy on 01453 756745.