Emily takes instructions from kids

Emily Thornberry has been given instructions by a group of young footballers on how they would like to spend the Government's new £500,000 fund for youth facilities in Islington.

Emily met members of the Copenhagen Youth Project's under-15 football team to ask them for their ideas on how the Government's new Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds should be spent. The funds will be managed by the council but young people themselves will make the decisions on how to spend them.

Emily visited three local sites with members of the team who made it clear that money needs to be spent on improving the local facilities. They gave Emily a set of specific suggestions:

• the sunken pitch near York Way needs a cage to replace the existing worn-out net, and better maintenance to keep the area glass-free;
• the Cally Pitch off Copenhagen Street needs a new surface and better floodlighting;
• the pitch at Bingham Park is better than the other two, but needs better floodlighting for evening games, as well as a redesign of the pitch to allow basketball to be played alongside football without interference.

Emily pledged to make sure that the views of the young footballers and others like them are listened to by the council when the money arrives in Islington.

Emily said:

"I am glad the Government is stepping in to reverse council cuts to youth services in Islington. I am also glad we are putting young people at the heart of the decision-making process - in one afternoon the under-15's came up with better plans than someone in the council offices could have come up with in a month!

"The young people I met had clear ideas about how the money should be spent to improve their facilities. Their enthusiasm and success makes it clear that, as well as improvements to the physical facilities, we could put the money to fantastic use by expanding the number of teams and leagues in Islington"

Emily arranged to meet the under-15's following the Government's announcement of the new Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds that will see over £500,000 invested in activities and facilities for young people in Islington over the next two years.

Editors' Notes:
1. Allocations have been announced by Beverly Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families. For the 2006-08 period, the allocations for Islington are:
a. Youth Opportunity Fund: £272,706
b. Youth Capital Fund: £235,869
2. The football team at the Copenhagen Youth Project plays matches every Sunday and is coordinated by Steven Griffith
3. The members of the team who met Emily were Silas Willoughby, Keenam Bradshaw-Davis, Nathaniel Williams, Ahmad Tejam-Jalloh, Jeremy Atwere