A first step towards creating a new style of youth service for Wiltshire was taken on Monday evening but many people were left worried that not enough volunteers would be available to make it work.

Wiltshire Council’s portfolio holder for children’s services Laura Mayes chaired a Devizes Area Board meeting at Devizes School to launch a community-led model for youth services.

She said she was aware that people had high hopes and expectations but the youth service of the future would be very different to the one that had gone before.

Earlier this year Wiltshire Council made nearly all of its youth workers redundant but created the new posts of community youth officers.

She said that Devizes was lucky to have Sally Willox in this role and she would be pivotal in making the new style of youth service work.

Both Coun Mayes and Mrs Willox told the audience, largely made up of groups who offer youth activities but few young people, that in the future youngsters would be consulted more about what activities they wanted to do but they would have to find adult volunteers to run the clubs for them.

They said it was likely to be at least six months before the new way of running youth services was properly up and running.

After the meeting Devizes town councillor Andy Johnson, who was part of the Devizes Youth Advisory Group, said: “I left the meeting feeling very worried about the future.

“I have done a lot of volunteering and been involved in youth work for some time and usually it just comes down to a few people in any town.

“I am not sure there are enough volunteers out there in the community to make this work. I hope I am wrong but I am not feeling confident.

“I am also worried about how long it is going to take to get anything happening. As far as I am concerned all of this should have been put in place before the youth clubs were closed.”

Teenager Rosie Mullins, who was also part of the now disbanded youth advisory group, hit out at Coun Mayes for ripping apart the youth service in the county and asked why it was taking so long to put something new in place.

Coun Mayes replied saying that she had spent a lot of time with Miss Mullins explaining the situation and finally refused to allow her to ask any more questions.

Afterwards Miss Mullins, 18, said: “I thought she was patronising and pretty much just wanted to shut me up.

“I wanted to find out what was going to happen in the future if young people have a problem but no longer have a youth worker for support.

“They said there would still be youth workers for people to talk to – but there will only be four of them for the whole county.

“I really want to volunteer and be part of the future but they don’t seem to want to listen to me.”

Miss Willox, who officially took up her role yesterday, will be based at Estcourt Crescent, Devizes.

She said: “I will network and get myself known with organisations, and will help co-ordinate positive activities for young people.

“This will be done through a mapping exercise in Devizes of what there already is for young people. Then we will do an analysis of what young people want.”

  • Teens absent at showcase

Clubs in Devizes showed off the opportunities they can offer to young people at a youth fair held before the start of the meeting to showcase the new community-led model for youth activities.

Most old-style youth clubs run by Wiltshire Council have closed as the county tries to save money and employ far fewer staff.

Now it is looking for volunteers and existing clubs to take over the role of keeping young people off the street.
Sally Willox told a meeting of Devizes Area Board that a number young people she had spoken to at Devizes School thought there was little to do in the town.

But the clubs and organisations running stalls in a room off the school’s main hall on Monday evening told a different story.

Area board manager Richard Rogers said: “It was a bit of a shame that more young people were not at the fair but I think it showed there is plenty going on for young people in the town.”

Among those with stands were Devizes Canoe Club, Devizes Rugby Club, Potterne Cricket Club, Bright Lights Drama, Splash, Wiltshire Museum, Create Studios, Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts and Bromham Bike Track.