Free Summer Kickabouts under threat

Liberal Democrat councillors have expressed concerns that free summer holiday activities for children could be at risk as a result of changes in ward funding arrangements made by the council’s Labour administration.

Following a successful Liberal Democrat Council motion to Full Council November 2023, the Council’s Children, Culture and Communities Scrutiny Committee held a session this week with the York City Football Club Foundation to discuss how best the Council could support the work they do in York’s communities.

During this discussion it was revealed that due to the changes made to ward funding arrangement by the council’s Labour administration, York City Football Club Foundation confirmed that they cannot be sure whether there will be any funding available to enable free City Kickabout summer park football activity sessions to go ahead.

Speaking at the committee meeting, York City Football Club Foundation Manager, Paula Stainton, said:

“One of the things we are going to be struggling with is, we have run City Kickabouts in the parks for 6 or 7 years.

“We ran it every year, even throughout the pandemic and obviously through limitations in ward funding – we do not have any parks projects so far for this summer…

“So, if there is any support anywhere for something like that, I would be very appreciative because I don’t know where that is going to be funded otherwise. So, it might not run.”

In response, Councillor Andrew Waller, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Children, Young People and Education said at the meeting:

“I would be devastated to lose the summer kickabout programme as it has been relied upon by local families to provide positive activities for free during the long holidays when people are looking for things to do.”

After the meeting, Councillor Waller added:

“At the November 2023 Full Council meeting, every single Councillor voted for the Liberal Democrat motion to actively engage with the York City Football Club Foundation to find ways in which the Council can work with and support them. It was good to see how some term time activities at Huntington School and York High School/Energise had been able to find alternative funding after having seed corn support from ward committees.

“However, the Foundation has come to the Children’s, Culture and Communities Scrutiny Committee with a specific ask to fund a programme that has been funded throughout the Liberal Democrats‘ time in administration through ward funding. The changes made by Labour means that, even in the more deprived wards such as Westfield, councillors have much less money to allocate to ward priorities.

“We need to get back to the system in place under the Liberal Democrats where there was the ability to plan ahead for investment in free holiday activities which enabled the York City Football Club Foundation, and York City Knights Foundation, to book venues and put other arrangements in place.”